Housing and Services Resource Center

                                                           

Affordable and accessible housing that is safe and connected to services and supports from the community is a basic human need and a social determinant of health. For older adults, issues related to housing serve as one of the top reasons they contact the Eldercare Locator.

Although most older adults and people with disabilities want to live in their homes and communities, few communities have a sufficient supply of affordable, accessible and supportive housing. As a result, homelessness among older adults and people with disabilities are rising concerns for communities. Unmet housing needs are particularly high among African Americans, Latinos, and American Indians and Alaska Natives due to longstanding structural injustices. Housing instability and homelessness can exacerbate health conditions and lead to preventable falls and injuries, avoidable hospitalizations, transitions to nursing home or residential care, social isolation and more.

Partnerships between the aging and disability networks and the housing sector are a powerful way to enhance housing options for older adults and people with disabilities. By working with the housing sector, AAAs, Centers for Independent Living and other community-based organizations can align resources and service delivery to help address for unmet needs in the community and develop creative solutions that would be beyond the reach of a single organization.

USAging supports the Administration for Community Living (ACL) as it partners with other federal agencies to make community living a reality for all older adults and people with disabilities. Under subcontract to New Editions, USAging serves as a major partner in the administration of the federal Housing and Services Resource Center (HSRC), an initiative by ACL and other agencies in the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Through the HSRC, these agencies will coordinate and collaborate to foster partnerships between the community-based supportive service networks and the housing sector. The goal is to improve access to affordable, accessible housing and the critical services that make community living possible.