In 2018, the Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation awarded an 18-month grant to CSH to support building the capacity of supportive housing providers and developers to better meet the needs of vulnerable older New Yorkers.
This funding, along with generous support from the AARP Foundation, enabled CSH to run two NYC Healthy Aging Academies during the grant period, reaching around 50 individuals and over 30 unique affordable housing and supportive housing providers. Academy participants identified common issues associated with aging, learned best practices for engaging and advocating for tenants, and found out how to connect to local resources to better serve aging tenants. Learnings from the local Academies directly informed the creation of a National Healthy Aging Academy through CSH’s Training Center, which also was funded in part by AARP Foundation and reached 135 participants.
The overall homeless population in the U.S. is rapidly aging; half of all single homeless adults in the U.S. and nearly 40% of supportive housing residents are over the age 50.
With nursing home rates in New York City soaring to over $140,000 annually and potentially preventable falls serving as the leading cause of older adult injury hospitalizations, there is a tremendous need to re-balance our costly long-term institutions and reduce avoidable hospitalizations for seniors. Access to safe, affordable and accessible housing with flexible, comprehensive services is key to healthily aging in place and preventing avoidable injuries, ER visits and premature placements into nursing homes.
In addition to training, the grant from the Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation allowed CSH to provide technical assistance and predevelopment/site acquisition financing to 7 organizations to advance the creation of 360 new supportive and affordable housing units for seniors.
To address the growing need for supportive housing catered to an aging tenancy, CSH is working to raise awareness about, and the scale of, effective models of supportive housing that enable tenants to age in place and thrive in their communities.
