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**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**
March 21, 2008
Contact: Sarah Krauss
212) 669-4193; (917) 541-0936
Release #: 009-2008
PA Gotbaum: City Must Address Senior Housing Crisis
Alternative housing an important option but survey of 961 seniors finds 83.8 percent unaware of programs
Read Report
MANHATTAN – A new report released by Public Advocate Gotbaum today found that with a growing number of seniors, increased senior poverty and a shrinking stock of affordable housing, the city is not doing enough to provide seniors with information about and access to alternative housing options like shared housing and social services programs in naturally occurring retirement communities (NORCs). Senior poverty increased 27 percent between 1990 and 2005; senior homelessness increased by 30 percent between 2002 and 2007; and evictions increased over 80 percent between 2001 and 2007. Today Public Advocate Gotbaum visited Project Share, a shared housing program on Staten Island, and toured a shared home of three Staten Island seniors.
Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum said, “We have a shortage of traditional housing and the City is not doing enough to provide seniors with information about and access to alternative housing arrangements. We are talking about seniors, many parents and grandparents, who deserve better and deserve more from us. Shared housing options work, but only if seniors know they exist and know what the benefits are. This administration needs to take aggressive steps to prepare for an aging baby boomer generation by getting the word out to more seniors about alternative housing options.”
The report highlights deteriorating housing options for seniors, including a years-long wait-list for Section 8, which is now closed, a long wait list for Section 202 housing, deregulation of affordable units, and a Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE) program that has failed to enroll 72,000 eligible households. The SCRIE program exempts low-income senior citizens from rent increases and allows landlords to deduct the exempted increase from property taxes.
The report includes a survey of 961 seniors, which found that 83.8 percent were unaware of programs facilitating shared housing. Furthermore, nearly 17 percent of all seniors and 42 percent of all low-income seniors indicated that they had unmet needs, such as housing and food shopping needs, and financial needs. Shared housing programs and social service programs in NORCs can mitigate the negative impact on health and well-being of aging alone.
Public Advocate Gotbaum’s report recommends that the New York City Department for the Aging (DFTA):
•Develop a public information campaign to increase awareness of benefits of shared housing options;
•Expand efforts to educate seniors about SCRIE and enroll them in the program;
•Reconsider funding cuts to NORC social service programs and Councilmember discretionary funds for senior programs;
•Maintain and expand the NORC Supportive Service Program model in neighborhoods with high senior density and high risk for social isolation.
Located on Staten Island, Project Share is one of New York’s oldest shared housing programs. Project Share’s living residence program, a housing arrangement in which a small number of seniors live together as a household, has worked to match hundreds of residence over the years – for rents as low as $450 a month.
According to population estimates, the number of New York City residents age 65 and over is projected to grow to 1.35 million by 2030 – a 44.2 percent increase since 2000. DFTA reports that seniors living alone have the highest poverty rate, 33 percent, among all senior households.
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