Building emergency housing to meet the unique needs of older adults

Increasingly, the face of homelessness in America is growing older. Last year, more than 138,000 individuals experiencing homelessness were 55 or older, with nearly half of them spending at least one night unsheltered.

Those affected are members of the baby boom generation, which has been disproportionately impacted by homelessness. As young adults, they entered a crowded labor and housing market that was soon followed by recessions in the 1970s and 1980s. And now, inflation and skyrocketing housing costs are eating up larger portions of their fixed incomes, putting many in the cohort at a heightened risk of poverty and homelessness today, said Marc Dones, policy director of the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative at the University of California, San Francisco.

As more of the generation reaches retirement age, a recent report by Benioff projects the population of unhoused older adults will triple between 2017 and 2030, underscoring the need for policymakers to consider how housing and homeless services should be adapted to meet the needs of an unhoused aging population.

Compounding financial, social and health factors make older adults “vulnerable upon vulnerable upon vulnerable,” said Phillip Scharf, the CEO of Central Arizona Shelter Services, or CASS, an emergency shelter provider based in the Phoenix metro area. 

It’s imperative for housing services aimed at supporting older adults to meet their unique needs to ensure they have a better chance at finding permanent, affordable housing solutions, he added. 

That’s why Arizona is using $10 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds to help CASS convert an old hotel in Phoenix into a 170-bed facility that’s “100% dedicated to people over the age of 55,” Scharf said. The grant money will allow the shelter to operate for its first three years, serving as “a catalyst to get [older adults] back into independent housing.” 

The facility is slated to open its doors in September to provide unhoused individuals with services ranging from daily meals, laundry, transportation, case management and behavioral health resources, among others. Clients will have their own room or share with another adult, allowing them to preserve their privacy and dignity as they navigate the rehousing process. 

“Imagine if you spent your whole life working minimum wage jobs, you’ve paid [taxes], you’ve got a fixed income, and suddenly you find yourself at 67 years old and you’re priced out of every single place in the town you live in,” Scharf said. 

In traditional emergency homeless shelters, individuals often stay in rooms with multiple beds with limited personal space, which can feel more like a prison than a place of refuge, he said. Plus, shelters often have communal bathrooms, and that lack of privacy can be shocking for older adults transitioning to life unhoused. 

“If that’s your first time ever experiencing that, what is the likelihood of you being successful at navigating that?” Scharf asked. 

To help serve unhoused older adults transition back to more permanent housing, CASS’ homeless shelter will screen new clients to assess what level of assistive services they need, such as help with obtaining identification or providing aid with applying to new housing. 

The shelter will also assess individuals’ balance and fall risk upon intake, which helps staff place high-risk clients on the first floor to reduce their chances of injury, Scharf said. And some rooms will include removable railings in the bathrooms and showers or toilet seat risers, which older adults often depend on to support daily life activities as their mobility declines in life. 

CASS will work with mobile health care providers and nursing students from Arizona State University who can provide health care and services to clients to provide checkups and help manage individual’s health needs during their stay. 

Under federal requirements, clients can stay at the shelter for up to 90 days, but Scharf said they will grant extensions to older adults who can demonstrate that they are actively seeking alternative housing options. In that case, clients can remain at the facility for up to 270 days in total. 

“We are trying to think of every variable to make sure we can give our [aging] clients the best possible opportunities to be successful in getting rehoused,” he said. 

Reprogramming homeless resources with aging adults’ needs in mind is something more states and localities should be preparing for, said Dones of the Benioff initiative. “We’re hearing the concern rising … but the actual implementing of those changes is not necessarily taking place.” 

While COVID-era relief can help governments like Arizona initiate older adult assistive programs, Dones said that officials must consider how they will sustain that funding to ensure long-term success. 

“The country is in the midst of a housing crisis so severe that people who have worked their whole lives are suddenly becoming homeless,” Dones said. “We cannot allow this to be the state of play.”