To help some of our most vulnerable neighbors, The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Inc., and the Mizuho USA Foundation, Inc., of Mizuho Bank have partnered with CSH to ensure that quality affordable housing combined with support services is available to older New Yorkers.
”We are committed to investing in a healthier future for older New Yorkers,” said Julio A. Urbina, PhD, MPH, Vice President, Director, Healthy Aging Program, The Fan Fox & Leslie R. Samuels Foundation. “Our partnership with CSH aims to prevent homelessness among aging New Yorkers by promoting the creation of more supportive housing that specifically addresses the unique housing and social service needs of older individuals.”
”Expanding and improving affordable housing for older New Yorkers, together with the provision of health-related and other services, will be critical to solving this growing problem,” stated Kenji Yoshioka, President of Mizuho USA Foundation, Inc. “We are pleased and proud to partner with CSH and its supporters in efforts to prevent homelessness and stabilize those aging in supportive housing environments.”
In 2015, CSH received $75,000 from the Mizuho USA Foundation, Inc. and $100,000 from The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Inc, to help create supportive housing for aging New Yorkers and ensure high-quality housing-based services are provided to this vulnerable population.
For 25 years, CSH has demonstrated how supportive housing improves the lives of individuals and families in need of affordable homes tied to community support services, including medical and behavioral health care.
Supportive housing is gaining traction as the solution for addressing the growing numbers of aging individuals who are unstably housed or homeless, said Deborah De Santis, President and CEO of CSH.
“There is some troubling evidence that homelessness is beginning to increase among older adults across the nation,” said De Santis. “Growth in the overall elder population as baby boomers turned 65 and recent reports of increases in the number of homeless adults ages 50 to 64 portend a dramatic rise in the older homeless population over the next decade.”
Advocates and the federal government estimate elder homelessness (65+) will increase nationwide by 33 percent from 44,172 to 58,772 in 2020 and will more than double between now and 2050, when over 95,000 elderly persons are projected to be homeless.
“Thanks to the caring and generosity of The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Inc., and the Mizuho USA Foundation, Inc., we have identified several opportunities over the past eighteen months to maximize resources for the creation of supportive housing for the aging,” said De Santis.
CSH is using the awards from the Mizuho USA Foundation, Inc. and The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Inc. to:
— Add new supportive housing for aging adults to the development pipeline in New York.
— Promote use of best practices in supportive housing for the aging homeless and supportive housing tenant populations.
— Disseminate broadly the lessons learned in how best to serve and help older New Yorkers aging in place in supportive housing.
In January 2015, CSH formed an Aging Learning Collaborative consisting of 11 organizations (9 New York City-based and 2 supportive housing providers from surrounding counties) for the purpose of identifying best practices and core competencies for supportive housing staff serving aging and elderly adults tenants. Through the work of the Collaborative spearheaded by CSH, the “Home to Stay: Creating Quality Supportive Housing for Aging Tenants Core Competencies Checklist & Resource Guide” was developed to call attention to the unique housing and services needs experienced by aging formerly homeless adults. The Guide also highlights promising approaches for improving supportive housing providers’ capacity to deliver and coordinate flexible and responsive services to aging residents with complex health and social support needs.
In December 2015, CSH joined with Breaking Ground to host a convening of leaders from the provider system, development sector and government to discuss emerging trends, best practices and comprehensive approaches to improving housing stability and enhanced services delivery for residents aging in supportive housing.
The Learning Collaborative, the Guide, the CSH and Breaking Ground convening, and the dissemination of a host of materials generated by it, were made possible by the investments from The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation and the Mizuho USA Foundation.
ABOUT THE FAN FOX AND LESLIE R. SAMUELS FOUNDATION, INC.
The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Inc. was established by Fan Fox Samuels, originally of Hartford, Connecticut, and her husband, Leslie R. Samuels, originally of Ogden and Salt Lake City, Utah. Mr. and Mrs. Samuels were married in 1940 and settled in New York City where they lived together for over forty years. They were great patrons of the performing arts, especially Lincoln Center and its constituents, and they firmly believed that their wealth should be used to make New York a better place to live and work. In the nearly 20 years since Mr. and Mrs. Samuels’ deaths, the overall goals of the Foundation have remained those of its founders. The Foundation has consistently supported the performing arts, which remain a major focus of its grant making, and has devoted substantial resources to health and social service programs that will improve the lives of older New Yorkers.
ABOUT MIZUHO USA FOUNDATION, INC. OF MIZUHO BANK
The primary mission of the Mizuho USA Foundation, Inc., of Mizuho Bank is to provide Program Grants to not–for–profit charitable organizations to support community development programs that contribute to the strength and vitality of urban neighborhoods. The Foundation seeks to fund innovative programs in low–income neighborhoods that foster economic self–sufficiency and address critical needs such as affordable housing, economic development and workforce development. The Foundation’s primary geographic focus is New York City. Mizuho Bank is a subsidiary of the Japan-based Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. (NYSE: MFG), one of the largest financial services companies in the world, with offices in thirty-five countries and regions. Mizuho Bank has offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta and Houston.