Testimony on Increasing Affordable Housing for Older New Yorkers and Improving Accessibility in the City’s Housing Stock

New York City Council

Committee on Aging

Chair, Council Member Hudson

Committee on Housing and Buildings

Chair, Council Member Sanchez

October 3, 2022

Oversight - Increasing Affordable Housing for Older New Yorkers and Improving Accessibility in the City’s Housing Stock.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify.

LiveOn NY’s members include more than 100 community-based nonprofits that provide core services which allow all New Yorkers to thrive in our communities as we age, including older adult centers, home-delivered meals, affordable senior housing, elder abuse prevention, caregiver support, NORCs, and case management. With our members, we work to make New York a better place to age. 

Background

Even prior to the pandemic, New York was in the grip of a housing crisis that made it difficult for tens of thousands of New Yorkers to find stable housing and make ends meet. Today, more than half of older renters are rent-burdened, as are a third of older homeowners. Further, roughly 2,000 older New Yorkers are living in homeless shelters, a number that is expected to triple by 2030 without significant intervention. LiveOn NY’s own research has found that there are more than 200,000 older adults languishing on waiting lists for affordable housing through the HUD 202 program, each waiting for 7-10 years on average for a unit to become available. This challenge is mirrored by the thousands of applications that come flooding in each and every time a new affordable senior housing lottery opens on Housing Connect. 

This crisis is particularly acute for older adults as many rely on fixed incomes, making it difficult to afford the rent while other costs rise. Further, much of the City’s housing infrastructure is inadequate to accommodate an older adult’s health and mobility needs, with 70% of the City’s housing stock only navigable by at least one set of stairs. In addition, NYCHA is a well-known provider of affordable housing for low income older adults, and yet in many situations for many older tenants living in NYCHA, their living experience is plagued by poor ventilation systems, broken elevators, leaking roofs, and recurring mold.

It is critical we address this crisis, as New York is aging rapidly and research shows that the majority of older adults would prefer the opportunity age in their community, surrounded by the networks of support built over a lifetime. Moreover, we’re all aging, and we all have a stake in ensuring there are affordable options to call home throughout the lifecourse.

Recommendations

Firstly, we invite the City to utilize our aging policy agenda, Aging is Everyone’s Business, released by LiveOn NY in partnership with Hunter College Brookdale Center for Healthy Aging, which is a bold policy agenda that provides actionable policy solutions, including housing, to make New York a better, more equitable place to age. 

LiveOn NY calls for a minimum target of 1,000 new units of affordable senior housing with services per year, as part of a total target to construct no fewer than 8,000 new units of housing dedicated to serving extremely low income and homeless households annually. As waitlists and limited housing stock pose an acute challenge for older New Yorkers, a considerable investment and consistent unit targets per year will be critical to paving a pathway out of this crisis. 

Further, this investment would build upon the clear success of the City’s Senior Affordable Rental Assistance (SARA) program, which has created incredible community assets in every borough, including examples such as West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing’s (WSFSSH’s) Tres Puentes in the Bronx and HANAC’s Corona Senior Residences in Queens. These two building are clear examples of what is possible through housing, with Tres Puentes not only offering 175 new units of affordable senior housing, but providing space for a new Older Adult Center, health center and pharmacy on site, and the Corona Residences offering 67 affordable senior units that  were built to the environmentally friendly Passive Housing standards, in addition to offering a new Pre-K on the ground floor.

LiveOn NY also recommends the City increase the per unit reimbursement rate for SARA services from $5,000 per unit, to $7,500 per unit, allowing for increased staff to more adequately address social isolation and significant case assistance needs. This increased reimbursement rate would make services better available to support an aging and formerly homeless tenant population, in turn enabling more older New Yorkers to age in place and avoid institutionalization.

Increasing capital funding for public housing to support upgrades throughout NYCHA buildings and improve infrastructure to accommodate older adults. NYCHA is also one of the largest sources of affordable housing for older adults, with 38% of households headed by an adult age 62 or older. However, NYCHA faces its own set of challenges. For one, the current condition of the housing poses a safety risk for older occupants. Poor ventilation systems, broken elevators, leaking roofs, lead paint on the walls, broken locks on the doors, and unattended water damage are just some of the challenges that older tenants continue to face. Further, community-based providers operating Senior Centers in NYCHA are not immune to these challenges, particularly when receiving fines for infrastructure related violations that are wholly out of the provider’s control.

Notably, the City must also invest in the workforce of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), by hiring new staff required to ensure that affordable housing goals can be met. While the pace of development has only quickened in recent years, hiring freezes and now PEGS have resulted in understaffing at HPD that puts the entirety of our City’s affordable housing goals at risk.

LiveOn NY encourages that attention also be paid to improving work order processes initiated by community-based organizations offering services within NYCHA facilities. Community-based organizations operating within NYCHA buildings, such as older adult centers, are critical resources for NYCHA residents and the community at-large. These spaces must also be considered when updating work order processes or should be funded directly to address maintenance concerns considered outside the purview of the authority.

Additionally, it is critical that the City prioritize public and institutional land (e.g., hospitals, libraries, etc.) for affordable senior housing. By prioritizing institutional land such as hospitals in particular, the City will reflect an understanding of the connections between health and housing, and a commitment to treating housing as the social-determinant of health that it is.

Improve the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption “SCRIE.” The ability for seniors and individuals with disabilities living in certain housing types to freeze rents helps to ensure thousands of older New Yorkers will not be priced out of their housing as rents otherwise continue to rise. Despite the strength of this program, it remains underutilized and does not ensure affordability as it caps rents at the period of application, which may already be a place of severe-rent burden for the tenant. To respond to this, LiveOn NY recommends the City continues its strong outreach effort to ensure older adults know about and enroll in SCRIE. 

Proposed Legislation

Intro. 676

LiveOn NY supports the intent of Intro. 676, which would require the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) to develop a list of universal design principles and require a percentage of dwelling units receiving city financial assistance to be universal design units. Much of the City’s housing infrastructure is inadequate to accommodate an older adult’s health and mobility needs, with 70% of the City’s housing stock only navigable by at least one set of stairs. This bill is an opportunity to incorporate universal design into dwelling units to ensure housing is accessible for everyone, regardless of age, physical ability or stature. However, LiveOn NY recommends the City gather input from nonprofit community housing providers and ensure adequate funding is allocated to support community-based housing providers with the ability to comply with universal design requirements. 

LiveOn NY supports the intent of  Intro. 584, which would require the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) to provide tenants with disabilities with information about legal services when such tenants are facing eviction. While this bill is a step forward to address the housing crisis among people living with a disability, we urge the City to work in coordination with community-based organizations with existing housing programs and legal services (ex. The Assigned Counsel Project) that are an additional trusted resource for older New Yorkers and people living with disabilities. 

LiveOn NY supports the intent of Intro. 322, which would require the installation in multiple dwellings of certain protective devices for older adults and persons with disability in multiple dwellings. 35.5% of the City's older adult people 65 and older have reported having some form of disability. This is significantly higher than among the population at large, and is a reality that makes certain housing accommodations, such as protective devices including grab bars in the shower, crucial to support the independence of individuals living  in the City. Nonetheless, the city should ensure that nonprofit housing providers receive the funding needed for these requirements.

Furthermore, LiveOn NY supports Council Member Caban’s Resolution 236 calling upon the New York State Legislature to pass, and the Governor to sign, S.5102/A.1475, which would allow municipalities and localities that have a senior citizen rent increase exemption program to establish an automatic enrollment program for eligible seniors to be automatically enrolled or automatically re-enrolled in the program. Currently, LiveOn NY offers a Benefits Outreach Program, which supports hundreds of older New Yorkers in applying for benefits each year. Through this work we recognize the opportunity to address under-utilization of benefits such as SCRIE by removing barriers in the application processes.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify.

Testimony on the Mayor's New Housing Plan

New York City Council
Committee on Housing and Buildings
Chair, Council Member Pierina Sanchez
July 1, 2022
Oversight - “Housing Our Neighbors”: A First Look at the Mayor’s Housing Plan.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify. 

LiveOn NY’s members include more than 100 community-based nonprofits that provide core services which allow all New Yorkers to thrive in our communities as we age, including older adult centers, home-delivered meals, affordable senior housing with services, elder abuse prevention, caregiver support, NORCs, and case management. LiveOn NY is proud to host our Affordable Senior Housing Coalition, which works with our non-profit members and partners to address the significant need for affordable senior housing. With our members, we work to make New York a better place to age. 

First and foremost, LiveOn NY is deeply appreciative of the release of the Mayor’s new housing plan, created under the leadership of Chief Housing Officer Jessica Katz, Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) Commissioner Adolfo Carrión, Department of Social Services (DSS) Commissioner Gary Jenkins, and New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) Chair and Chief Executive Officer Gregory Russ, among others. The release of the plan signals to New Yorkers an understanding of the dire nature of today’s housing crisis and a commitment to taking meaningful action to address such a plan. LiveOn NY is appreciative of the collaborative spirit that went into the creation of the plan, and was pleased to have the opportunity to give feedback early in the process around the ways in which a housing plan could better support all New Yorkers as we age. Evidence of this collaboration, we are particularly pleased to see the plan is inclusive of all types of housing in New York, namely both housing under the purview of NYCHA, as well as that developed through HPD.

In advance of further articulating the aspects of the plan in which LiveOn NY is most supportive of, the following offers further background on why such a plan is so critical to address the affordable housing crisis as acutely experienced by older New Yorkers.

Background

Today, more than half of older renters are rent-burdened, as are a third of older homeowners. Further, roughly 2,000 older New Yorkers are living in homeless shelters, a number that is expected to triple by 2030 without significant intervention. LiveOn NY’s own research has found that there are more than 200,000 older adults languishing on waiting lists for affordable housing through the HUD 202 program, each waiting for 7-10 years on average for a unit to become available. This challenge is mirrored by the thousands of applications that come flooding in each and every time a new affordable senior housing lottery opens on Housing Connect. 

This crisis is particularly acute for older adults as many rely on fixed incomes, making it difficult to afford the rent while other costs rise. Further, much of the City’s housing infrastructure is inadequate to accommodate an older adult’s health and mobility needs, with 70% of the City’s housing stock only navigable by at least one set of stairs. In addition, NYCHA is a well-known provider of affordable housing for low-income older adults, and yet in many situations for many older tenants living in NYCHA, their living experience is plagued by poor ventilation systems, broken elevators, leaking roofs, and recurring mold.

It is critical we address this crisis, as New York is aging rapidly and research shows that the majority of older adults would prefer the opportunity age in their community, surrounded by the networks of support built over a lifetime. Moreover, we’re all aging, and we all have a stake in ensuring there are affordable options to call home throughout the lifecourse.

Response to the Housing Plan

Chapter 1: Transform NYCHA

1. In addition to supporting the overarching goals of transparency, resident decision-making, and partnership, LiveOn NY is also appreciative of the effort to reform work orders within NYCHA to create a more efficient and effective system for repairs. Recognizing that this system extends beyond the residential units, LiveOn NY encourages that attention also be paid to improving work order processes initiated by community-based organizations offering services within NYCHA facilities. Community-based organizations operating within NYCHA buildings, such as older adult centers, are critical resources for NYCHA residents and the community at-large. These spaces must also be considered when updating work order processes or should be funded directly to address maintenance concerns considered outside the purview of the authority.

Chapter 2: Addressing Homelessness and Housing Insecurity

1. In addition to supporting the overarching goals to better measure homelessness, and serve those experiencing homelessness, LiveOn NY also supports the goal to streamline and expand access to supportive housing and combat source-of-income discrimination.

Chapter 3: Create and Preserve Affordable Housing

1. First and foremost, LiveOn NY deeply supports the primary goal to “accelerate and increase capacity for new housing supply citywide.” We look forward to partnering with the Administration to determine ways to lower costs and accelerate the pace of production, as outlined in this section.

2. LiveOn NY deeply supports the intent to utilize zoning to encourage a wide range of housing types. Within our membership, we have seen the power of diverse housing types, for example, the Project FIND Woodstock Hotel represents one of the first examples of how an SRO can come to provide stable housing, and offer services such as Older Adult Center, to aging New Yorkers over the course of decades. Within this section, we specifically support: the intention to legalize Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), which offer incredible opportunities for caregivers to live close by to care recipients; the conversion of vacant hotels into affordable housing; and leveraging zoning to “allow greater square footage for affordable housing for everyone who needs it.”

3. Given our research, Paving the Way for New Senior Housing, which first identified the opportunity to develop affordable senior housing on underutilized HUD 202 parking lots, LiveOn NY wholeheartedly supports the intent to “prioritize people over parking,” particularly in transit-rich neighborhoods.

4. LiveOn NY supports the continued prioritization of creating new community spaces within affordable housing, and is appreciative of the new older adult center facilities built to date, such as that included in the newly developed WSFSSH Tres Puentes and the SAGE Stonewall House. Beyond this, we recommend a deeper partnership with agencies such as the Department for the Aging (DFTA) to analyze where community facilities would be best incorporated into future housing developments in order to serve an emerging population of older adults or to offer an updated older adult center where the current space may no longer prove sufficient.

5. LiveOn NY supports the plan to “partner with H+H to create a nexus between housing and health,” as well as to expand broadband access through affordable housing.  By prioritizing institutional land such as hospitals in particular, the City will reflect an understanding of the connections between health and housing and a commitment to treating housing as the social-determinant of health that it is. 

6. LiveOn NY deeply supports the clear focus on meeting the housing needs of older adults and people with disabilities. 

   1. Within this, we support the work to facilitate automatic enrollment in SCRIE and streamline application and recertification processes for eligible households. Currently, LiveOn NY offers a Benefits Outreach Program, which supports hundreds of older New Yorkers in applying for benefits each year. Through this work we recognize the opportunity to address under-utilization of benefits such as SCRIE by removing barriers in the application processes.

   2. LiveOn NY also supports accelerated production of supportive housing, including that for older adults. We encourage the Administration to also prioritize the acceleration of lighter touch housing built for older adults, as developed through the Senior Affordable Rental Assistance (SARA) program. The SARA program offers a unique opportunity for non-profits and partners to meet the needs of older adults who may not require the level of services provided in supportive housing, but would greatly benefit from some level of support in order to foster aging in place while preventing isolation.

   3. We support the intent to aid federally assisted properties serving older adults, particularly those with expiring benefits, as well as to explore innovative ways to leverage social services dollars to better serve the continuum of needs that exists across aging New Yorkers. Given the outsized impact that housing can have on reducing healthcare spending, we are particularly supportive of the intent to work with the State, and through the 1115 waiver, to improve services.

7. LiveOn NY supports the effort to prioritize M/WBE and non-profit projects in the HPD pipeline.

Chapter 4: Improve the Health and Safety of New Yorkers

1. Recognizing housing as a social determinant of health, LiveOn NY greatly appreciates the blueprint’s clear emphasis on improving the health and safety of New Yorkers through our housing stock. From fire safety, to lead, to asthma, to climate change, we appreciate the holistic approach to utilizing housing as a springboard for creating healthier communities.

Chapter 5: Reduce Administrative Burden

1. LiveOn NY deeply supports the intent to reduce administrative burden experienced both by developers of affordable housing and tenants seeking to secure affordable housing. Specifically, we are supportive of the work to streamline Section 8 processes at both HPD and NYCHA, and in other forms and evaluations related to affordable housing. LiveOn NY and our Affordable Senior Housing Coalition seeks to be a resource in this endeavor, with the shared goal of reducing administrative burden to more expeditiously renting up projects developed through the City’s housing programs. 

Additional Recommendations

To build on the foundation laid in the housing plan, LiveOn NY recommends the following core principles be adopted, funded, and prioritized by this Administration. Much of the following amplifies recommendations collectively advocated for by the United for Housing Coalition, which includes more than 80 organizations that have come together around a set of bold but attainable recommendations to address the housing crisis in our City.

1. While appreciative of the initial affordable housing capital investments outlined in the FY23 budget, LiveOn NY continues to believe it is time to double down in our investment in affordable housing. Given this, we support the United for Housing led call for a $4 billion annual investment to fund a comprehensive affordable housing plan.

2. While recognizing that a diversity of metrics will be critical to implementing a housing plan, with units but one component, we continue to call for a minimum target of 1,000 new units of affordable senior housing with services per year. This must be part of a total target to construct no fewer than 8,000 new units of housing dedicated to serving extremely low income and homeless households annually. As waitlists and limited housing stock pose an acute challenge for older New Yorkers, a considerable investment and consistent unit targets per year will be critical to paving a pathway out of this crisis.

3. It is currently unclear the extent to which the agencies that intersect with this plan are fully staffed as a result of the FY23 budget. Given the historical concerns around staffing, particularly as a result of previous hiring freezes and PEGS, LiveOn NY continues to recommend that the City put forth the full resources necessary to quickly and robustly staff HPD and its sister agencies to ensure all affordable housing goals can be met.

4. LiveOn NY also recommends the City increase the per unit reimbursement rate for SARA services from $5,000 per unit, to $7,500 per unit, allowing for increased staff to more adequately address social isolation and significant case assistance needs. This increased reimbursement rate would make services better available to support an aging and formerly homeless tenant population, in turn enabling more older New Yorkers to age in place and avoid institutionalization.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify.

Testimony to New York City Council on Housing and Buildings Preliminary Budget

New York City Council
Committee on Housing and Buildings
Chair, Council Member Sanchez
March 14, 2022
Oversight - Preliminary Budget Hearing - Housing and Buildings

Thank you for the opportunity to testify.

LiveOn NY’s members include more than 100 community-based nonprofits that provide core services which allow all New Yorkers to thrive in our communities as we age, including older adult centers, home-delivered meals, affordable senior housing, elder abuse prevention, caregiver support, NORCs, and case management. With our members, we work to make New York a better place to age. 

Background

Even prior to the pandemic, New York was in the grip of a housing crisis that made it difficult for tens of thousands of New Yorkers to find stable housing and make ends meet. Today, more than half of older renters are rent-burdened, as are a third of older homeowners. Further, roughly 2,000 older New Yorkers are living in homeless shelters, a number that is expected to triple by 2030 without significant intervention. LiveOn NY’s own research has found that there are more than 200,000 older adults languishing on waiting lists for affordable housing through the HUD 202 program, each waiting for 7-10 years on average for a unit to become available. This challenge is mirrored by the thousands of applications that come flooding in each and every time a new affordable senior housing lottery opens on Housing Connect. 

This crisis is particularly acute for older adults as many rely on fixed incomes, making it difficult to afford the rent while other costs rise. Further, much of the City’s housing infrastructure is inadequate to accommodate an older adult’s health and mobility needs, with 70% of the City’s housing stock only navigable by at least one set of stairs. In addition, NYCHA is a well-known provider of affordable housing for low income older adults, and yet in many situations for many older tenants living in NYCHA, their living experience is plagued by poor ventilation systems, broken elevators, leaking roofs, and recurring mold.

It is critical we address this crisis, as New York is aging rapidly and research shows that the majority of older adults would prefer the opportunity age in their community, surrounded by the networks of support built over a lifetime. Moreover, we’re all aging, and we all have a stake in ensuring there are affordable options to call home throughout the lifecourse.

Recommendations

LiveOn NY is proud to support the recommendations of the United for Housing Coalition, which includes more than 80 organizations that have come together around a set of bold but attainable recommendations to address the housing crisis in our City.

More specifically, LiveOn NY joins the United for Housing Coalition in calling for a $4 billion annual investment to fund a comprehensive affordable housing plan.

This $4 billion capital investment must include a minimum target of 1,000 new units of affordable senior housing with services per year, as part of a total target to construct no fewer than 8,000 new units of housing dedicated to serving extremely low income and homeless households annually. As waitlists and limited housing stock pose an acute challenge for older New Yorkers, a considerable investment and consistent unit targets per year will be critical to paving a pathway out of this crisis. 

Further, this investment would build upon the clear success of the City’s Senior Affordable Rental Assistance (SARA) program, which has created incredible community assets in every borough, including examples such as West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing’s (WSFSSH’s) Tres Puentes in the Bronx and HANAC’s Corona Senior Residences in Queens. These two building are clear examples of what is possible through housing, with Tres Puentes not only offering 175 new units of affordable senior housing, but providing space for a new Older Adult Center, health center and pharmacy on site, and the Corona Residences offering 67 affordable senior units that  were built to the environmentally friendly Passive Housing standards, in addition to offering a new Pre-K on the ground floor.

This capital investment and overall affordable housing plan must also prioritize the preservation of public housing. By investing $1.5 billion in NYCHA, as part of the larger $4 billion capital investment, the City will take a serious step towards addressing the capital backlog that plagues these buildings across the City. In addition, this investment must prioritize not only the residential units within NYCHA, but support the community spaces such as Older Adult Centers that too have been harmed from decades of disinvestment.

Notably, the City must also invest in the workforce of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), by hiring new staff required to ensure that affordable housing goals can be met. While the pace of development has only quickened in recent years, hiring freezes and now PEGS have resulted in understaffing at HPD that puts the entirety of our City’s affordable housing goals at risk.

Additionally, it is critical that the City prioritize public and institutional land (e.g., hospitals, libraries, etc.) for affordable senior housing. By prioritizing institutional land such as hospitals in particular, the City will reflect an understanding of the connections between health and housing, and a commitment to treating housing as the social-determinant of health that it is.

LiveOn NY also recommends the City increase the per unit reimbursement rate for SARA services from $5,000 per unit, to $7,500 per unit, allowing for increased staff to more adequately address social isolation and significant case assistance needs. This increased reimbursement rate would make services better available to support an aging and formerly homeless tenant population, in turn enabling more older New Yorkers to age in place and avoid institutionalization.

The City must fully fund and implement a Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) for essential human services workers. Throughout the duration of the pandemic human services workers, including those providing services in affordable housing, have stepped up to provide critical services, from assisting in scheduling vaccination appointments, to combating social isolation. And yet, human services workers are consistently underpaid for their services as a result of City contracts. In order to rectify this, it is vital that these important workers receive a COLA in the FY 23 budget and in subsequent budgets. 

Finally, LiveOn NY also encourages our City colleagues to join us in advocating on the State level for the passage of Senate Bill 4547 and Assembly Bill 4854, which seeks to legalize Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). ADU legalization will help address our City’s affordable housing crisis, giving homeowners a new source of income, and providing more options for multigenerational families. Older adults especially stand to benefit from the legalization of ADUs, both because it would create more affordable homes, and second because it would allow more seniors to age in place by giving older homeowners the ability to have a live-in caretaker, or more income to pay expenses.

Thank you for the opportunity to testify.

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LiveOn NY Joins Call for State 5-Year Capital Investment in Affordable Housing

Led by the New York Housing Conference, LiveOn NY joined a coalition of 16 organizations to craft our newly released report calling on New York State to make a new, expanded 5-year capital plan and investment.

Recommendations in the report are centered around a call for a new, five-year $6 Billion Affordable Housing Plan and continued reoccurring program spending, totaling $1 billion over the next five years.

Within the report are numerous recommendations specific to serving an aging population:

• Establish the Affordable Independent Senior Housing Assistance Program: The 5-year plan should include:

  • 200 million in capital funding for affordable senior housing development

  • $5 million dollars annually ($25 million over 5 years) to allow for resident assistants in new and existing affordable senior housing developments. (Learn more below)

• SCRIE Reform: In order to address the many older adults who are and may soon be overburdened with rising housing costs, the State should enact three pieces of legislation to keeping older people affordably housed; increase renter education and program salience.

  • S2897, (Sen Kavanagh): Provides for annual adjustment of the maximum income threshold by CPI Increase;

  • S512/A719, (Sen Krueger and AM Rosenthal): SCRIE lease noticerider; and

  • S3920/A2474 (Sen Sander and AM Reyes): Freezes rent at original date of eligibility.

You can help to amplify the need for this robust housing plan by taking to social media using the hashtag, #NEWNYHOUSINGPLAN

Report collaborators include: LiveOn NY, New York Housing Conference, Rural Housing Coalition (RHC), New York State Association for Affordable Housing (NYSAFAH), LISC NYC, Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH), Community Preservation Corporation (CPC), Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development (ANHD), Supportive Housing Network of New York (SHNNY), Neighborhood Preservation Coalition of New York State (NPCNYS), Center for New York City Neighborhoods (CNYCN), Regional Planning Association (RPA), New York State Rural Advocates (NYSRA), Enterprise Community Partners, Habitat for Humanity NYC and Westchester County, Leading Age New York, New Destiny Housing

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More on the need for an Affordable Independent Senior Housing Assistance Program

To further promote the need for the Affordable Independent Senior Housing Assistance Program in specific, LiveOn NY, along with partners at LeadingAge New York, led an effort to memorialize this request in a letter to Governor Hochul in advance of the new session.

Letter signatories include: LiveOn NY, LeadingAge New York, Enterprise Community Partners, New York Housing Conference, Selfhelp Community Services, WSFSSH | West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing, Catholic Charities POP Development, Homeless Services United, RiseBoro Community Partnership, SAGE, JASA, Breaking Ground, Selfhelp Realty Group | The Melamid Institute for Affordable Housing, Foxy Management, Chinese-American Planning Council, Inc., SKA Marin, Sisters of Charity Housing Development Corporation

LiveOn NY Testifies at City Council Aging Hearing on Senior Residences and Communities During the Pandemic

New York City Council
Committee on Aging
Chair Council Member Chin
June 22, 2021
Oversight - Serving Seniors in Senior Residences and Communities During the Pandemic

Thank you for the opportunity to testify.

LiveOn NY’s members include more than 100 community-based nonprofits that provide core services which allow all New Yorkers to thrive in our communities as we age, including senior centers, home‐delivered meals, affordable senior housing, elder abuse prevention, caregiver support, NORCs, and case management. With our members, we work to make New York a better place to age.

With our City on the road to recovery, we are presented with the opportunity to re-envision how we serve older adults in senior residences and throughout our community. The COVID-19 pandemic uncovered the growing need for aging services as well as shined a light on the visible inequities in supporting all New Yorkers as we age. 

Senior Residences 

While New Yorker’s have heard of the stark and heart wrenching realities that took place in nursing homes during the COVID-19 crisis, the dichotomous experiences of independent senior residences has been less explored to date. While loss was a reality across New York, HUD 202s and Senior Affordable Rental Assistance (SARA) buildings fared significantly better than one might have feared. The challenges in this relative success were significant, as providers were not only worried about safety, but of ensuring older residents remained fed and avoided social isolation during this time.

The stars in confronting these challenges were not only the non-profit organizations that stepped up to connect older residents with the City’s emergency feeding programs, or in other pop-up programs such as LiveOn NY’s work with World Central Kitchen, Citymeals, and others, but the Service Coordinators who remained a lifeline for tenants throughout the pandemic. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the availability of service coordinators in buildings saved lives during COVID-19.

Unfortunately, not all senior residences can afford to hire service coordinators or staff the building to the extent that would be ideal. As the City looks to become a leader in public health, this, creating a fund for senior residences to hire service coordinators to assist older New Yorkers in the enhanced needs that come with aging in place, is the empirically proven first step in that direction. Our member, Selfhelp Community Services, has research proving the effectiveness of this investment, as the presence of a service coordinator in buildings, even prior to COVID, meant reduced health care expenditures, namely: lower emergency room use, shorter stays per use, and increased use of primary care services.

Further, as the population ages, it is critical that increasing  investments be made by the City to meet demand to combat this crisis-level shortage of housing supply.

Many older New York rely on affordable senior housing with services to comfortably age in place. The need for affordable senior housing with services continues to rise with many older New Yorkers living on fixed incomes that cannot keep up with rising rent cost; experiencing mobility challenges that limit housing options within an aging rental-stock. In 2016, LiveOn NY found that an estimated 200,000 older adults were on waiting lists for housing through the HUD202 program in New York City. 

In addition, NYCHA developments also represent one of the few affordable housing options for older adults in our City. Just as the buildings are aging, so are the tenants that occupy them, making the need for quality, safe services in NYCHA paramount to the success of the community. 

• The City must work to continue to increase capital funding for public housing to support ventilation upgrades and other critical infrastructure improvements that will improve both residential and community space within NYCHA;

• Increase the supply of affordable housing by investing in the construction and preservation of 8,000 units of affordable housing annually, including 1,000 units with services to be set aside for older New Yorkers. This recommendation is included in the New York Housing Conference led United 4 Housing Coalition report which lays out numerous goals to equitably address our City’s affordable housing crisis.

• Restore and baseline all one-time funds for NYCHA Social Clubs. All funding for senior programming in NYCHA community spaces should not rely on one-shot funding from the Administration, but should be sustainably baselined and incorporated into the full scope of DFTA services;

Communities

While strides have been made, particularly with the reopening of senior centers, there is still more to be done. For years, the Department for the Aging (DFTA) remains critically under-resourced, receiving less than half of one percent of the overall City budget, in contrast to the rapidly increasing older adult population. 

New York City is entering a critical phase of the recovery, as we progress forward in building a New York for all ages. The City must continue to show its commitment to older adults with critical investments in senior services:  

The City should support essential services that include: 

• Restoring All City Council Aging Discretionary Funds To FY20 Levels 

• Restore and Baseline all Executive One-Time Funds, including funds for NYCHA Senior Centers. 

• Use FY21 accruals to cover costs associated with reopening in person senior services as well as $30 million for HVACs repairs, safety precautions, and Senior Center upgrades. 

• $48 Million Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for essential human services workers, who have been on the frontlines throughout the pandemic. 

• $16.6 million for Home-delivered Meals that would provide $13.6 million for weekday meals and $3 million for weekend and holiday meals, both to increase capacity to meet new demand and bring the per-meal rate to the national average. 

Thank you for the opportunity to testify.