Hi
The article Jo Ann sent was very interesting and I applaud the hard work of these women. There are a number of Senior communities (like "Ann's Choice") that I think offer these types of services.
Here's my question (and, yes, this is long)....what does a person do who does not have between $133,000 to $400,000 as an entrance fee and between $1,400 to $3,500 a month do? Where is the low income alternative? To my knowledge there are 3 low income residences in our area for disabled/seniors on Social Security (being disabled on SSDI I've looked!)....they all have waiting lists of at least 2 to 3 years; one of them (if you are lucky enough to be on the top of the list) gives you a time frame of one month to move, you can't even see the unit or where the unit is before moving in. And there is a yearly income cap of $20,000 - if you get any more than that a year from SS, you do not even qualify for this type of housing. Meaning if you get, say $22,000 a year, you're out of luck. Add to this that these types of housing are subject to State/Federal Government funding which is very shaky right now, these housing units may not even exist for the lower income people to move into.
I think there needs to be some sort of middle ground....the idea of multi income household types of housing is what, in my opinion, is needed - for the disabled and the elderly. Housing costs and rents are skyrocketing, health care costs are getting insane, the average yearly cost of living SS increase is 1.4% (this year) which Medicare increases eat most of. That's why people end up having to make decisions like whether to pay a utility, buy a prescription or buy food.
So if someone has the kind of money to be able to afford over $100,000 entrance fees, they're in a whole different sphere than many other people. For that kind of money, you could buy into a co-op, pay less per month and have independent living with building maintenance.
Just my opinion
Wendy
- [UC] Fwd: NYTimes.com Article: A Pair's Persistence Pays Off JAFISHBURN
- Shaera
