In 2001 there were over 170,000 people aged 65 and older living in Dallas County (this is 7.7% of the total population).  Sixty percent of these older adults were women.  Over 16,000 of this population were aged 85 years and older.  On top of this, in 1999 over half of persons 65+ lived amongst nine states - Texas being one of them with over 2 million older adults living in this state.

Texas is one of ten states with the highest poverty rates for older adults.  And 41% of surveyed older Americans (1999 Census) are working in retirement or plan to work after they retire. 

In Dallas County, people age 50 and over make up a third of Dallas County's homeless population (which is 5,163 according to a 2007 count by the Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance).  This number is up 25% since 2004. 

Dallas County is also a tough County to live in for the destitute or homeless because of the city ordinance laws. Homeless individuals cannot loiter, sleep, camp, etc. in public places in Dallas County.  There are strict sanitation guidelines (where food can be passed out and where it cannot be) as well, and individuals are not allowed to beg for money/food.

This population poses a problem for shelters, which struggle to find housing for seniors earning as little as $600.00 a month in federal benefits.  Many shelters are also not prepared to handle older adults facing medical issues such as cancer, heart problems, dementia/Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, diabetes and a host of other medical, physical and/or cognitive issues/deficits. 

This petition however is not about homelessness in the elderly, but rather the lack of affordable housing for elderly.

In 2006, Bush authorized Section 202 and Section 811 grants to assist elderly with affordable housing, as well as develop more affordable housing for elderly, however this money was only provided to certain facilities/projects and not readily available to the population as a whole.

Many of these elderly persons, do not start out requiring lots of care or assistance.  However because they have no other option, they end up staying in their homes until they have a major incident (stroke, heart attack, fall, untreated wound, etc.) and end up being hospitalized and then placed in a nursing facility.  Some recover, through skilled nursing (therapy and assistive services) and can return home or to an assisted living, but many never recover and end up living out the rest of their lives in these nursing homes on the state and federal dollars, which only further exacerbates the problem of little to no funding to assist in providing affordable housing.

There are under funding programs, such as Community Based Alternatives, that will assist in the costs of assisted living and/or group home placement for older adults, however this program and programs similar to it are under funded and overwhelmed, with waiting lists that are years long - just for the assessment.

These seniors do get a cost of living increase in their social security income each year, however nursing homes, assisted living facilities, retirement communities and senior housing apartments all increase their rates each year as well.  It is a vicious cycle that seems to be never ending and ends up costing this vulnerable population in the end.  If there was more affordable housing from the onset, seniors would likely live longer in their own homes and/or retirement communities on their own dollars, and would spend less state and federal dollars to pay for expensive hospitalizations and nursing home care.

We need to advocate to our local and state representatives about the problems this forgotten population is facing.  However small this population may seem to the common eye, we will all be old someday, we all know an older person and likely have been influenced in our lives by an older person and therein lies the significance of the need to advocate for these that cannot and/or will not advocate for themselves.

Dallas County needs funding from organizations, private entities and taxpayers to help fund programs, initiative and education for the this vulnerable population and to the general public about this serious issue. This is the only way that thousands of elderly individuals in Dallas County will be able to lead independent lives, longer and more prominently than in the past, and utilizing less taxpayer dollars in the end on costly healthcare resources. 

By: B. Gideon