Wilson questions DSS on LGBTQ+ older adults housing
Council Member Wilson asks about housing for LGBTQ+ seniors, citing 2017 data showing high poverty and substandard housing rates. Dalton and Russell describe 55+ and 65+ shelters with partnerships to senior service organizations, and Dalton commits to working with the aging commissioner.
Thank you, Chairs.
Good morning.
I have some questions I think best for DSS as well.
First is around LGBTQ older adults.
In 2017, a survey of queer older adults, you know, nearly one quarter of the respondents earned less than 30% of area medium income.
And nearly one in four of the respondents reported living in substandard housing and some even in shelters.
So what steps can we take to ensure that seniors...
Have stable, safe housing where their medical and social needs are met?
And are there specific programs for LGBTQI plus seniors that may be in shelter?
Thank you for the question.
I'll start.
Yeah, I think across the country we've seen a rise in older adults facing homelessness.
And, you know, from my perspective, certainly not acceptable for our folks, older folks on fixed incomes to be.
At this stage in their life trying to figure out where they're going to spend their next night.
And so I think all of our programs, diversion and so on, are, of course, available to older adults.
And I think it's a good point.
I can't speak to the ways we might be working with our colleagues in aging, but we have a great commissioner there that I'd love to work with to make sure people
understand what's available, understand how they might be able to stay successfully within their homes, what we might do to reduce entries into the system.
So that's something I can take as a follow-up.
And it is nice to hear, again, being new to New York, that we have specific facilities and shelters for 55-plus, 65-plus.
And I suspect, but I'll let the deputy commissioner speak to it, that there are good partnerships with the senior centers and other aging systems within those shelters.
But let me see if she has something to add.
Thank you, Commissioner.
So as Commissioner Dawson started out with, our shelter providers do work.
directly with those not-for-profits that perhaps offer assistance for our more mature population that again are 55 or 60 plus.
So we give a level of autonomy to those providers to build those relationships with organizations that can tailor their services for those that are in that particular shelter.