Vulnerable seniors deserve safe homes

Housing individuals helps the city as a whole, Arlene Adamson writes.

Calgary is a city so many of us are proud to call home. But our city is also the epicentre of homelessness in our province — a city where more than 3,000 do not have a home and more than 14,000 households are at extreme risk of homelessness.

The Resolve Campaign is a unique collaboration of nine partner agencies raising capital to create urgently needed affordable rental housing with support services for up to 3,000 homeless and vulnerable seniors, families, youth and people living with disabilities or mental health challenges.

To date, Resolve has raised almost $70 million, enough to provide 1,750 homeless and vulnerable Calgarians with keys to affordable homes with the wraparound support services needed for them to thrive. This is an amazing accomplishment for our community, but there is still work to be done.

Additional housing is urgently needed for our vulnerable citizens. These are people you and I see every day — people we would not think are homeless or at risk of being homeless. Look next to you on the bus, in the line at the supermarket, at the playground, at work, or in your doctor’s office.

There are adults, children and seniors all around us who are just getting by who are too proud or too afraid to reach out for the hand up to help them find a safe, stable place.

As chair of the Resolve Campaign’s steering committee and CEO of Silvera for Seniors, I have personally seen the effect this unique fundraising initiative has had on our city. As one of Resolve’s three seniors’ agencies, our focus at Silvera is providing safe, affordable housing with a continuum of support services to lowerincome Calgary seniors.

The number of Calgary seniors is set to double by 2042. More affordable housing with supports is needed now, and much more will be needed in future. The provincial government has made major commitments to affordable and supported rental housing, but help is still needed.

There are hundreds of seniors living in Calgary hospitals today. Many don’t require hospital care, but cannot be discharged because there is simply not enough affordable housing. No one should call a hospital their home.

Let’s look at the costs of this. An acute care hospital bed is roughly $1,400 per day, compared to about $75 per day for an affordable supportive housing unit. If a senior spends one year in hospital, it could cost more than $500,000, compared to just $27,000 in supportive living.

It is clearly more effective to spend taxpayers’ dollars on affordable housing than unnecessary hospital stays. When it comes to the Resolve Campaign, it’s also clear that the best investment a donor can make is in affordable housing.

Aging can be both a lonely and frightening experience for many low-income seniors. An affordable home with supports provides important relief from the fear of an uncertain future — especially for those who have no family to advocate on their behalf. Such a home also provides an entire community of people with whom they can build supportive relationships.

Let me offer one example. Frank, a low-income senior, struggled with depression and found himself living in an unsafe communal rooming house before finding a home with Silvera — a home that has helped transform his life. Having found his new home and a community of friends that was part of it, he returned to school and became a certified fitness instructor. Frank has a safe, positive environment and a new lease on life.

Contributions you and others make to Resolve will help provide more vulnerable people with futures full of hope and dignity and a secure, stable place to call home.

Calgarians are proud to make contributions in their own backyard. An investment in Resolve is an investment in your city.

Arlene Adamson is chair of the steering committee of the Resolve fundraising campaign. She is also the CEO of Silvera for Seniors, one of Resolve’s partner agencies. The Herald is presenting Finding Home, a special report on homelessness, throughout March. Go to calgaryherald.com/finding home to read more.