For Immediate Release
WRITTEN BY: Jenna Gladfelter, Public Policy Associate
CONTACT: Katelyn Andrews, Director of Public Policy, kandrews@liveon-ny.org, 212-398-6565 ext. 244
New York, NY – On Tuesday, February 25th, 2020, LiveOn NY hosted an event entitled Beyond Bricks: Affordable Senior Housing Symposium — the largest event in New York City to focus on both aging and housing. Stemming from our work with our Affordable Senior Housing Coalition, Beyond Bricks brought together housing executives, management companies, elected officials, and other representatives from public, private, and governmental organizations within the housing and aging services industries.
Deputy Mayor Vicki Been delivers keynote address
Deputy Mayor Vicki Been kicked off the symposium by delivering the keynote address. Been has extensive experience fighting to make New York a more affordable and equitable city; now, she leads the Administration’s efforts to grow and diversify New York City's economy, invest in emerging industries across the five boroughs, build a new generation of affordable housing, and help New Yorkers secure good-paying jobs. The Deputy Mayor laid the groundwork for the day by sharing about the City’s commitment to affordable housing, and the steps that are being taken to help older adults obtain and secure affordable housing.
Our first panel, entitled Developing Health: How the State Can Connect Health & Housing, focused on the intersection of health and housing and how the State can best leverage existing, low cost community-based services to address the housing need. With Lauren Weisenfeld of The Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation as moderator, we were joined by Nicole Ferreria of NYS Homes & Community Renewal, John Cochran of the NY State Office for the Aging, Michael Gusmano of Rutgers University, and Sydelle Knepper of SKA Marin. In partnership with Selfhelp Community Services, Michael Gusmano completed a study of Selfhelp housing residents compared to older adults in the surrounding community. On average, Selfhelp residents had a 30% less rate of hospitalization, and were discharged one day earlier than nonresidents. Overall, the findings of this study suggests that investments in housing with supportive social services have the potential to reduce hospital use, and thereby decrease medical spending for older adults and enable them to remain in their homes longer.
Council Member Cornegy Jr, Council Member Salamanca Jr, Public Advocate Williams, & Scott Short of RiseBoro Community Partnership
For our second panel, we were joined by Council Member Rafael Salamanca Jr, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Council Member Robert E. Cornegy Jr, and Scott Short, CEO of RiseBoro Community Partnership. The topic of discussion was entitled The Drafting Table: What Commitments are Needed to Meet the Demand for Senior Housing? Council Member Salamanca reported that 63,000 New Yorkers slept in shelters the night before. “We need more housing for these seniors,” said Salamanca. Public Advocate Williams recognized NIMBY-ism, or Not in My Backyard, as a real obstacle to building new housing; but the solution is to involve the community in the process. “There are some communities who want to remain the same — but if the city looks like it does in 100 years, then we failed.”
Mackenzie Price, PhD from Frameworks Institute, a nonprofit think tank that advances the mission-driven sector’s capacity to frame the public discourse about social and scientific issues, delivered closing remarks for the event. Frameworks has done a great deal of research regarding both housing and aging. Price challenged attendees to consider how they are framing their messaging of affordable senior housing. “It’s not just what you say; it’s how you say it,” said Price.
LiveOn NY also released its new report, entitled Beyond Bricks: Affordable Senior Housing with Services, which highlights several of the affordable senior housing models throughout the city, as well as individuals who live in them. The report also includes targeted recommendations, including increasing city subsidy for service coordinators, making investments on the state level, and reviving the Federal HUD 202 program entirely.
