Low-income senior housing "Waitlists"

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dko1951

Member
There is no affordable housing for low income seniors. I am on numerous waitlists that range from 3 to five years. I live in California so the cost of living only exacerbates the problem. I have even been rejected because my income was too low? Anyone in a similar situation and is there light at the end of the tunnel other than the ones we hear about in near death experiences?
 

Here, the wait is 2-3 years. Is there something like a council on aging to help you? Maybe with emergency housing to bump you up the list to #1?

Are you in a position to get a roommate? The Washington Post had an article a day or two ago on older folks getting younger roommates - often a bit lower rent in exchange for help, always with participation in household chores as is usual for roommates. The article spoke of agencies that vet roommates for seniors -- not government agencies, I don't think.

To read articles in WAPO you have to join (not forced to subscribe) and only get a few articles a month free. I got to read this one because I came to them from the Ukraine via my VPN. You can try it, if you are interested; link below.

One roommate is 85, the other is 27. Such arrangements are growing.​

https://www.washingtonpost.com/life...nerational-housing-roommates-nesterly-senior/​

 
dko1951 said:
There is no affordable housing for low income seniors. I am on numerous waitlists that range from 3 to five years. I live in California so the cost of living only exacerbates the problem. I have even been rejected because my income was too low? Anyone in a similar situation and is there light at the end of the tunnel other than the ones we hear about in near death experiences?
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I am in NY state and we have waiting lists too but I don't think our list takes that long. Four years ago I applied and got my apartment within three weeks. I was put on the top of the list due to urgent need. The company that owns my building are constantly adding more buildings to their "affordable housing" inventory. It probably depends on the area you are looking too.
 

WheatenLover said:
Here, the wait is 2-3 years. Is there something like a council on aging to help you? Maybe with emergency housing to bump you up the list to #1?

Are you in a position to get a roommate? The Washington Post had an article a day or two ago on older folks getting younger roommates - often a bit lower rent in exchange for help, always with participation in household chores as is usual for roommates. The article spoke of agencies that vet roommates for seniors -- not government agencies, I don't think.

To read articles in WAPO you have to join (not forced to subscribe) and only get a few articles a month free. I got to read this one because I came to them from the Ukraine via my VPN. You can try it, if you are interested; link below.

One roommate is 85, the other is 27. Such arrangements are growing.​

https://www.washingtonpost.com/life...nerational-housing-roommates-nesterly-senior/​

Click to expand...
Thank you for the info. I will check it out. We do have Council on Aging but the housing in CA. is worse than most with all of the fires many people are still trying to rebuild from the fire in 2017. I have considered room mates and have in my life had a few all with bad experiences. Rent prices are very high in this area. Studios start at $1500 a month. I have been looking in Redding where the rent runs about half but my children and grand kids are all here.. Thanks again.
 
JaniceM said:
I haven't noticed any wait lists locally, but there's little available and what is available sucks.
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Thanks for your reply. I'm kind of amazed at how little response has come from this thread. I'm starting feel like I'm all alone on this but I know better since all the waitlists are full and long.
There are many dedicated complexes in my area, just too many people in need. I have checked all over this state and some others, it's the same everywhere. Thanks again.
 
dko1951 said:
Thanks for your reply. I'm kind of amazed at how little response has come from this thread. I'm starting feel like I'm all alone on this but I know better since all the waitlists are full and long.
There are many dedicated complexes in my area, just too many people in need. I have checked all over this state and some others, it's the same everywhere. Thanks again.
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I think that some of the reason for how little response there's been is that some fortunate people have already found a good senior's place to live, some don't want to move from where they are now no matter how much they possibly should (like my huzz), and some have given up whether it's because of the lack of housing or because their sig. other refuses to (my case).
 
officerripley said:
I think that some of the reason for how little response there's been is that some fortunate people have already found a good senior's place to live, some don't want to move from where they are now no matter how much they possibly should (like my huzz), and some have given up whether it's because of the lack of housing or because their sig. other refuses to (my case).
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My reason is I couldn't in good conscience advise anybody to move to this area. While of all the areas I've lived in it has the second-lowest cost of living, the drawbacks wouldn't make it worthwhile.

On a side note, when I said little available, I was referring to 55+ apartments. But there are plenty of places that are assisted living.
 
I feel you OP, I'm still working and worried. If you are in an area affected by fires, as I am, it's even harder. Many people looking, many people displaced, low availability and prices increasing.

And they are not building for the needs of the community, they are building to make money.
 
I have a friend who waited more than 3 years to get into senior housing (public). She finally got an apartment in a building that is not under the city's public housing umbrella but it is for seniors. When I was going to let my Honorary Daughter (HD take my apartment because it would have been more affordable for her. She had serious health issues affecting her ability to work consistently. As a co-op stockholder (aka apartment owner) I would have "leased" my two bedroom unit to her for the same price I was paying which was $494 at the time. I found out how daunting the process is. The wait lists in my city and the next town over were 3 - 4 years and I wasn't looking at municipal public housing (MPH) apartments. MPH in our area charges 33% of one's income. I also found out that the application process for apartments is too invasive. Since my HD really needed a three bedroom (which she already had), she told me she'd manage and to stay here.

I had a neighbor who moved several blocks away to an apartment complex mostly for seniors about 5 years ago. She was paying around $750 a month for a one bedroom. It's not public housing and the rent may have gone up since then. It was one of the places I had applied to where the process was too invasive. My friend who had been looking for more than 3 years finally found a place just last month and is paying about $750 for her one bedroom. That's a very good price for this area and a great price when one considers rental costs in surrounding areas.

Naturally, if a senior needs to be in assistant living, the cost is prohibitive for many.
 
Yes, it's very tough for folks on a limited income. Quite different from my in-laws in Canada (the majority of the extended family live in either BC or Alberta), where they get to choose which senior housing facility to live in. Nothing luxurious but good, solid, basic housing, at government-subsidized rates. Or, they can stay where they are if income-qualified (see link below for further explanation).

So many Americans diss Canada's "Socialist" healthcare system without knowing anything about it. Canada not only covers its citizens from birth to death, it also has a number of different senior options, from private senior communities (usually upscale, similar to ones found in US) to a variety of subsidized programs, ranging from rent subsidies to independent living (houses or apartments), including co-housing, life lease, and Assisted Living.

You can get an overview of what a "Socialist" healthcare system offers - which of course, is nothing of the sort if one understands what a Socialist is and IS NOT - from this Canadian blogger's website:
9 Housing Options for Seniors in Canada (Including Independent Low-Income Living)
 
I'm living in the second "subsidized housing" building since 2014. I've moved to be near different family members. Each move involved a waiting list. In both places, they offered a vacancy well before the wait time had arrived. I got caught off guard both times because I thought there wasn't a need to have money for a couple years. I am very happy in my current apartment building. I am near my parents. Dad is 92, and will likely remain where he is as long as he and his wife are able to live independently.
 
dko1951 said:
Some of the affordable apts. are privately owned and they are able to set there own qualification standards. At least that is what I've been told.
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Yes, and in addition, there are multiple different types of so-called low income rentals, and some want you to have a minimum income as proof that you will be able to regularly pay whatever portion of the rent that you are required to and responsible for.

Some of them also do have minimum flat rents, even if the rents above that are generally sliding according to each tenant's income.

Another reason they sometimes want to see a minimum income is because they think people who have one, might try to hide some of their income in numerous ways.
 
dko1951 said:
There is no affordable housing for low income seniors. I am on numerous waitlists that range from 3 to five years. I live in California so the cost of living only exacerbates the problem. I have even been rejected because my income was too low? Anyone in a similar situation and is there light at the end of the tunnel other than the ones we hear about in near death experiences?
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Yes, unfortunately that is so true. Here in Thousand Oaks in Ventura County we have this wonderful low income housing agency/provider called Many Mansions. Besides having an upper income limit, they have a lower one as well. Most seniors living on just Social Security or, God forbid, SSI or disability cannot even get on a waiting list for such housing, because their income is too low. They simply do not qualify. Here in Cali we have homeless seniors living in their vehicles or in tents. Its quite sad.
 
sch404 said:
Yes, unfortunately that is so true. Here in Thousand Oaks in Ventura County we have this wonderful low income housing agency/provider called Many Mansions. Besides having an upper income limit, they have a lower one as well. Most seniors living on just Social Security or, God forbid, SSI or disability cannot even get on a waiting list for such housing, because their income is too low. They simply do not qualify. Here in Cali we have homeless seniors living in their vehicles or in tents. Its quite sad.
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I met an 84 yr old woman, riddled with arthritis, at the park. She lived in a mini-van. She told me the church around the corner allowed her to sleep in the parking lot. Spirited and positive. I haven't seen her in a long time. Maybe she moved on.
 
MarciKS said:
interesting. have you looked into HUD housing? do they have section 8 housing?
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Section, or what is now called housing vouchers, is the main waitlist people try for. Their are some privately run ones that have there own list. List year when I applied for the section * list, there were more than 30,000 applicants and they did a lottery drawing of 750. That's just to get on the list. No housing guarantee. Then you need to try again after a certain period of time passes.
 
The neighbors who just moved in tell me they found this area to wait out the 3 years to get into some sort of retirement community .
I am not sure what income levels place has as many here have a bit of all incomes ......
have been told by others that affordable senior apartments have a 3-5 year waiting period also.... very difficult when prices are going up and people are still on same fixed income.
 
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