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Elderly increasingly at risk for homelessness
BY MELANIE LEFKOWITZ
STAFF WRITER

February 27, 2006

Angelo Cardenas' American dream led him from Cuba to New York City,
"My children, in Texas, New Mexico and Florida, they are
After he retired, he gave up his floor-through apartment in the Castle Hill
He rented a room in another family's apartment for $125 a week, but when
That's how he wound up living at Peter's Place, a 24-hour drop-in center in
"We're seeing more and more older adults experiencing homelessness for
The elderly are the fastest growing segment of the city's population.
Waiting lists for federally subsidized senior housing can last years, and a
"I hate to say it, but given our economy and a safety net that's not
Officials at the city Department of Homeless Services say the number of
City data show a rise in the number of seniors above 65 who have entered
"Homelessness among seniors is a tragedy we never want to see happen.
Patrick Markee of the Coalition for the Homeless noted that among both
"I would say that's a pretty alarming fact right there. I think it
The city's Department for the Aging aims to help seniors at risk and
Though some of the chronically homeless, who are often plagued by physical
"It's really shocking and surprising how many people who are residing
Elderly homelessness may be more apparent at Peter's Place, which is nearly
"They're older and they don't want to be cooped up in a shelter, where
Pearl Amankwah, a 55-year-old native of Ghana who became homeless when she
"I never dreamed that I would go to a shelter," Amankwah said.
Though more services exist to help the elderly than some other low-income
One 70-year-old woman living at Peter's Place said she was forced out of a where he owned a furniture store and raised eight children before he retired at the age of 72 and wound up homeless.
in good positions, high level, but I don't want to stay with them forever because they are enjoying life," said Cardenas, now 78. "I don't want to be a pain in the neck."
section of the Bronx because it was too costly.
they needed the room and asked him to leave, he couldn't find anything he could afford with his Social Security income.
Chelsea for older homeless people, which has experienced a gradual rise in clients such as Cardenas.
the first time," said Arnold Cohen, president and chief executive of Partnership for the Homeless, which runs Peter's Place and has begun researching senior homelessness as social workers recognized the trend recently. "They're making choices between food and rent, food and medical care and prescriptions, and they're finding ways to double up, they're moving back with their kids, and they're looking for strangers to move in with, because housing costs are just eclipsing the fixed incomes of seniors in the city."
According to the U.S. Census, the number of residents 85 and older jumped nearly 19 percent between 1990 and 2000, and the city's elderly poverty rate of 20 percent is twice the national average.
recent Food Bank for New York City report shows a growing number of seniors using food pantries and soup kitchens. As housing costs climb, baby boomers age and the number of seniors continues to rise, some experts fear the elder homeless issue could develop into a full-fledged crisis.
supportive any longer, I think it's inevitable that we're going to be seeing more and more seniors fall into homelessness," Cohen said.
people ages 45-64 in shelters has risen, but say that is due to the general aging of the population. They say there has not been a substantive increase in homelessness among those 65 and older.
city shelters in recent years, from 645 in 2002 to 760 in 2005. However, officials say they are such a small percentage of the shelter population -- 2.6 percent in 2005, compared with 2.48 percent in 2002 -- that the rise is not statistically significant.
Fortunately, the city does not have a large population of seniors without permanent housing and although we have seen a slight increase -- less than one-half percent, they make up less than 3 percent of the city's homeless population overall," Homeless Department spokeswoman Angela Allen said in a statement.
single adults and families, the elderlypopulation is rising faster than the total homeless population, according to city data. Among single adults in shelters, people 65 and older increased by 17.8 percent between 2002 and 2005, compared with a 12 percent increase of the total shelter population.
shows that safety net for seniors is not as strong as it ought to be," Markee said. "And what it shows more than anything is that housing affordability pressures on seniors are as great as they've ever been."
recently began a pilot program, the Assigned Counsel Project, to help elderly tenants facing eviction hold on to their homes and improve their quality of life. Since the program began in July, it has helped about 100 seniors, department spokesman Chris Miller said.
or mental illness or substance abuse problems, are also aging, advocates said they are noticing a disturbing trend among first-time elderly homeless who don't face those typical issues and spent most of their lives comfortably middle-class.
[in Peter's Place] right now have master's degrees, have PhDs, and because of the rental market or because of the death of a loved one they had no other recourse," said Paige Bellenbaum, advocacy director for Habitat for Humanity. "There's a strong contingency of that population that is high functioning, that doesn't suffer from the same substance abuse and mental illness problems, but there is also a large population that has been aging on the street for years. And you can see it walking around the city, particularly the folks camping outside, are typically in the older age brackets."
always over its 125-person capacity and serves about 2,000 people a year, than at city shelters, which many seniors are too intimidated to enter, said Peter's Place director Deborah Ellis. Peter's Place is not a shelter, although visitors can sleep in their chairs, or are bused to church basements to spend the night.
first of all they're victimized, where they don't have freedom," Ellis said. "They've led rich, interesting lives and they want respect."
left an abusive situation as a live-in health aide and could not find another nursing job, ended up at Peter's Place after she collapsed on the streets of Newark after two difficult weeks and was referred there by nurses at St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan.
"I don't even know where the shelter is."
groups, advocates are concerned that seniors' pensions, Social Security benefits and savings can't always keep pace with the city's booming housing market.
$275-a-month, five-room apartment on East 92nd Street where she had lived for 17 years. She believes her landlord orchestrated harassment, including broken windows and intruders on her roof and fire escape, to intimidate her because she was paying so little. Unable to pay market rate for another apartment, she became homeless.

"I was not afraid nobody will kill me in the daytime. But I couldn't sleep," said the woman, who did not want her name printed. "From whom to ask for help?"

Bobbie Sackman, director of public policy for the Council for Senior Centers and Services of New York City, said she is concerned by the increasing numbers of older New Yorkers, more and more of whom are living alone and are affected by poverty and hunger.

"It's not a pretty picture. And it's a quiet struggle. Most people don't really see seniors going through this struggle. It's not obvious, it's not public," she said.

And after a lifetime of hard work, advocates said, many struggling elders prefer to keep their hardships from their families.

"I don't want anyone to know. No one. It's very embarrassing," said a 63-year-old New Jersey woman at Peter's Place who asked to be identified only as Susan L. because she keeps her homelessness secret from her grown son and daughter.

"I never thought that I'd ever become homeless. I never thought I'd end up on the streets. That thought never entered my mind."