LeadingAge Establishes Center for Housing Plus Services
New Center Will Catalyze Housing Solutions for Seniors 

Washington, DC—LeadingAge is announcing the creation of a new Center for Housing Plus Services, which will serve as a national catalyst for the development, adoption and support of innovative affordable housing solutions that enable low- and modest-income seniors to age safely and successfully in their homes and communities. 

Since 2005, the LeadingAge Center for Applied Research has been studying the role that housing plus services plays in meeting the growing need for health and long-term services and supports among low-income elders. The newly-established Center for Housing Plus Services will expand and enhance this important work. 

“It is our responsibility to help the most vulnerable populations, and a central part of that process is ensuring that every senior, regardless of health status or income, has access to safe and affordable housing,” says Larry Minnix, president and CEO of LeadingAge. 

The Center for Housing Plus Services will advance change by: 

• Assembling the evidence base—evaluating affordable housing plus services programs to gauge their efficacy, cost-effectiveness and ease of replication and synthesizing the valuable lessons revealed in other relevant studies. 

• Educating—disseminating information and guidance through reports, conferences and other educational tools that explore both the design and implementation of housing plus services programs and strategies.    

• Advocating—fostering the development, implementation and sustainability of affordable senior housing plus services models and strategies by informing policy and regulatory action at the state and federal levels. 

• Partnering—bridging the housing and services worlds by convening and working with providers, policymakers and other relevant stakeholders. 

One initial activity is the piloting of LeadingAge’s first Housing Plus Services Learning Collaborative in partnership with Enterprise Community Partners.  The learning collaborative will engage teams of affordable senior housing providers and service providers in 12 communities to develop, share and explore replicable strategies that improve the health and well-being of low-income seniors in affordable housing, while generating cost savings to the health care system.  

The center has launched a new website (http://www.leadingage.org/Center_for_Housing_Plus_Services.aspx) that will offer a range of information and resources relevant to the “why” and “how” of affordable senior housing plus services strategies and models. 

“We are seeing a rapidly expanding population of low-income seniors who are going to need affordable housing options that can meet their changing needs as they age,” says Alisha Sanders, the center’s managing director. “By engaging with housing providers, service providers, policymakers, researchers and older stakeholders, we can help craft innovative solutions that can more effectively meet seniors’ health and supportive service needs and support their ability to age in their home and community.” 

About LeadingAge: 

To expand the world of possibilities for aging, LeadingAge members and affiliates touch the lives of 4 million individuals, families, employees and volunteers every day. The LeadingAge community (www.LeadingAge.org) includes 6,000 not-for-profit organizations in the United States, 39 state partners, hundreds of businesses, research partners, consumer organizations, foundations and a broad global network of aging services organizations that reach over 30 countries.  The work of LeadingAge is focused on advocacy, education, and applied research. We promote adult day services, home health, hospice, community-based services, PACE, senior housing, assisted living residences, continuing care communities, nursing homes as well as technology solutions and person-centered practices that support the overall health and wellbeing of seniors, children, and those with special needs.