7/21/2017
Daniel Ellis, Executive Director and Susan Tifft, Chair of the Board of Directors, Neighborhood Housing Services of Baltimore
Challenge: Aging residents are often isolated in their homes and invisible to the various government and nonprofit programs designed to help them. The challenge, however, is to connect the aging-in-place population to the resources critical to their health and safety.
The National Association of Homebuilders now estimates that more than 70 percent of homeowners doing a remodeling project are planning for the future needs of themselves or their parents. With approximately 10,000 people turning 65 everyday, 45 percent of all homeowners will be over 55 by the year 2020.
Yet, in many cities and towns, programs designed to help residents with home improvements operate independently with little coordination of services.
Launched in September 2015, Housing Upgrades to Benefit Seniors (HUBS) is Baltimore's response to the challenge of allowing older residents to safely stay in their homes. HUBS is a broad collaboration of community development, social and health service providers. It was funded in 2015 for three years by the Leonard and Helen R. Stulman Charitable and Hoffberger foundations, two Baltimore-based philanthropies who focus on providing low-income elderly people with access to health care and other services that enable them to remain safely in their homes.
The HUBS collaborative consists of a central leadership team that provides resources to five providers on the ground. The leadership team—Neighborhood Housing Services of Baltimore (NHSB), CivicWorks, Rebuilding Together Baltimore, and Green and Healthy Homes (formerly the Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning)—establishes policies, provides executive oversight and works to assure there are sustainable resources available for housing upgrades. All of the leadership team members offer property rehabilitation services in Baltimore City.
The local providers are Banner Neighborhoods, Action in Maturity (AIM), Meals on Wheels of Central Maryland, Sinai Hospital of Baltimore/Comprehensive Housing Assistance, Inc. (CHAI) and Strong City Baltimore. Each operates in a different catchment area, working collaboratively to provide services for older adults throughout the entire city. This diversity in providers allows us to see the results of different models and determine the strengths of each. Of particular interest is the collaboration between traditional community development groups and health care providers.
Each of the five provider sites received a portion of the Stulman-Hoffberger grant to fund a social worker dedicated to coordinating housing and related services for Baltimore adults aged 65 and older who earn 80 percent of less of the area median income. The goal for each is to assist 75 seniors annually for three years—a total of about 1,125 beneficiaries.
HUBS social workers conduct outreach in Baltimore's communities, meeting one-on-one with clients, assessing their home-modification needs and determining what resources are available. Services include minor improvements, such as the installation of grab bars and better lighting, major repairs such as the installation of exterior access ramps, general handyman help, tax assistance and guidance related to foreclosure prevention.
Although housing is a central focus of the ability to age in place, there are many more factors beyond the house that are critical to residents. Research has shown that being greeted by numerous people as they walk down the street provides daily evidence of belonging, and a sense of security is derived from familiarity with the wider community, both in terms of people (such as neighbors who comprise "your own little community") and places (the "little details" of knowing the local supermarket or health services well). The friendships, clubs, access to resources and familiar environments help seniors feel attached to their communities as comfortable "insiders."
One of HUBS' clients is Mr. Harris, a Vietnam veteran and long-time resident of Baltimore City. At 68 years old, Harris is an amputee and has lost most of his sight. Despite his age and multiple disabilities, he wanted to remain in his home, a house that was structurally unsafe and desperately in need of weatherization and other repairs. After working with a HUBS social worker, Harris resolved an outstanding water bill (and the risk of a forced house sale), and is in the process of repairing his house's structural deficits.
HUBS has provided Mr. Harris, and other seniors much like him, access to opportunities for a better home and a stable neighborhood life.