Housing program for seniors gets hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding

SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI) — Rosalinda Flores and her husband moved out of their apartment in East County while it was undergoing repairs. When they returned, they said they discovered it had been turned into Section 8 housing.

They were placed on a waitlist but didn’t have the necessary voucher for move-in, leaving them with few options. They initially started living out of their car near Mission Bay.

“Taking a shower in the park, it was like cold and it’s terrible, it’s terrible. My feet, I could feel like all of my insides, everything freezing, my bones and everything,” said Flores, a Seniors Safe At Home initiative recipient.

Eventually, the couple was able to buy a camper with a water heater, but that didn’t fix all their problems.

“In the day, we would park there. In the night, they would close the park, and so we had to move out and live, you know, outside of the park,” said Flores.

Flores describes the evenings as one of the most distressing times, having significant safety concerns.

“I don’t ever want to do that again. It’s terrible. It’s awful,” said Flores.

Thanks to the Seniors Safe At Home initiative, she’ll never have to.

Serving Seniors was able to get Flores and her husband into permanent housing 12 years ago and the initiative is ensuring they can stay put.

“In San Diego County, seniors are the fastest growing and largest segment of the unsheltered homeless population and just about half of them are falling onto the streets for the very first time in their lives, almost purely for economic reasons,” said Lucky Duck Foundation CEO Drew Moser.

The Seniors Safe At Home initiative is a homeless prevention effort for elderly residents close to falling into homelessness.

“So, there’s an extensive study done that was led by serving seniors that ultimately said all that seniors need really is an additional $250-$300 dollars a month to stay in their homes,” said Moser.

The Seniors Safe At Home initiative is making up the difference to help seniors make ends meet and stay off the streets.

“You know that’s a big help when our rent keeps going up every year,” said Flores.

Now they’ll be able to help two dozen more seniors thanks to funding from the Rancho Santa Fe Foundation and the Lucky Duck Foundation.

“When you look at $4,000-$6,000 per senior to keep them safely housed, that’s a heck of a lot more affordable than $40,000 plus once they’re on to the streets,” said Moser.

Flores, who worked as an in-home care worker for most of her life, spent years caring for a community that is now caring for her.

“I have my beautiful home. I love it. It’s a little one-bedroom, but it’s my home,” said Flores.

For more information about the program visit Seniors Safe At Home – Lucky Duck.