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By Jonathan Goetz
View video, which originally aired on KNSJ Radio
July 13, 2024 (Mt. Helix) -- Miriam Raftery, Editor of East County Magazine, recently interviewed Melinda Forstey, Chief Operating Officer of Serving Seniors, (www.servingseniors.org) a nonprofit providing services to help seniors thrive including nutrition, housing, health and social services. Serving Seniors has been around since 1970 and provides wrap around services primarily for low-income seniors, including a nutrition program serving over 1.4 million meals.
In the interview, Forstey discussed the financial stresses on seniors, the root caues of the growing number of seniors becoming homeless, and efforts to help them--including Serving Seniors' senior housing project in Ramona, shallow rent subsidies for seniors, food program for seniors and more.
Raftery asked, "Why are so many seniors winding up homeless all of a sudden?"
Forstey replied, "What we've seen is really the root cause of seniors becoming homeless has been economic, like the points you made earlier. This could be due to the loss of a job, a spouse, a medical problem. But a lot of the time it is simply due to increasing rent."
Forstey sees shallow rent subsidies as "one of the most effective homelessness prevention tools, citing a program recently expanded by San Diego County. “This is usually a set amount, so it could say $500 a month, and that subsidy goes directly to the landlord," she said. That frees up money that seniors can use for other expenses, such as food, utilities, or medical bills.
Serving Seniors has a 62-unit affordable housing project, the Schmale Family Senior Residence in Ramona. It’s open to seniors earning between 30 and 50 percent of the area’s median income. This is a 100% voucher program, with residents all referred by the County of San Diego. Seniors pay no more than 30% of their income in rent and the rest is paid through Section 8 housing vouchers. They have a kitchen in every unit, AC, a patio and shared common areas including laundry facilities.
"The primary funding is tax credits... affordable housing is by far the number one need of older adults,” says Forstey. “So while we are proud to provide these 62 units in Ramona," the need is so great beyond that.
The organization also provides food for seniors."We partner with senior centers across the County and we actually do partner with La Mesa Older Adult Enrichment Center. So. at that site, we do provide meals Monday through Friday. We provide lunches and then to-go breakfasts,” Forstey says. “For the home delivered meal program we serve two meals Monday through Friday and then double deliveries for the weekend and then we've also launched our frozen meal program and that provides seven meals per week; the only qualifying criteria is that you're 60 and above for all of our services."
The 2024 Point-in-Time Homeless Count reveals some significant changes for East County. East County’s total homeless population dropped by 28% overall from January 2023 to January 2024, from 1,703 to 1,232. That’s in sharp contrast to the county overall, which had the number of homeless people increase by 3% to a total of 10,605,
However, some East County communities had sharp rises, notably in communities closest to San Diego, which recently enacted a ban on encampments:
-La Mesa’s total homelessness rose 86%, with a 47.2% rise in unsheltered individuals
-Lemon Grove’s unsheltered homeless numbers rose 85%
When asked about the recent increases in homelessness in East County areas adjacent to San Diego, Forstey stated,"We do think that the increases in La Mesa and Lemon Grove are directly attributed to the homeless encampment ban," but acknowledges that, "in every community there is a lack of affordable housing."
Many people fall into homelessness over catastrophic one-time expenses. There is a need for "additional funding for these one-time expenses," such as medical bills or car repairs that could launch people into homelessness.
Forstey mentioned family reunification programs to help homeless individuals reunite with family members. Another option is shared housing, where two people share a two-bedroom apartment as opposed to shouldering all the expenses of a one bedroom.
Forstey observed, "I think it's really critical as we're looking at the issue of older adults needing housing... these are folks that worked their whole lives... They contributed to our society and they're all of the sudden, for the first time for many of them, finding themselves on the street... As a community we really need to step up and provide those wrap around services... many of our clients that we work with have stayed away from shelters due to fear of violence and drug use."
Forstey and Raftery discussed seniors who need additional assistance such as bathing, getting dressed, or feeding themselves, which are not provided at homeless shelters. Forstey stressed the need for "more recuperative care...to ultimately transition them into housing or if they need a higher level of care, to be sure that it is a sustainable long-term solution."
Wrapping things up, Forstey concluded, "I welcome everyone to our website, http://www.servingseniors.org (or call) 619-235-6572. We actually provide meals both at senior centers across the county (such as La Mesa) and then for our home delivery meal programs," there is a network of drivers, "that delivers these meals Monday through Friday."
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