Creative housing options for seniors are in the news. I read yesterday about two women in Saratoga Springs, New York who sold their homes in a nearby town and bought one together
They had known each other for thirty years in a Birthday Group which got together several times a year to celebrate milestones. They are both named “Nancy.” When one of the Nancys was ready to retire and move to Saratoga Springs, she asked the members of the group if anyone would like to join her. The other Nancy said “Sure” and they started looking for a new house that would work for both of them. Each has a bedroom, bathroom and study and they share the kitchen, living room and dining room. The house is level- in except for the laundry and a bedroom in the basement in case they need to hire someone to care for them as they get older.
I also heard yesterday about a woman in the East Bay who is creating her own intentional community among the other homeowners on her little cul de sac. She is currently renting out a studio apartment as well as a room in her home and has a large room where she teaches yoga classes and holds a monthly women’s group for the women in her community. Her long term goal is to have her neighbors rent out space to like minded people and even to perhaps purchase homes as people move out and create cooperative housing.
There is another group of women who live in a condo complex in Point Richmond. They met when most of them were in their 60’s as they moved into the complex and have become a supportive network for each other. They get together for meals, entertainment, celebrations, grocery shopping, and to help when one is recovering from surgery or an illness. Some of them are feeling the need to move to a retirement community because they need more assistance. They plan to move as a group so they can continue to support each other.
I have clients who bought a small house on a very large city lot about two years ago with the plan of building a multi-generational co-housing project. Their grandmother and her new husband are moving from Cleveland in a few months and will reside in one of the units and their family of four will reside in another unit. The two units will be connected by a central unit which will contain the kitchen , dining room, and work space.
Finally, I know another woman who has a vision of creating loft space in one of the warehouses overlooking the Bay. She is talking with developers, contractors, city planners who have been very supportive of her idea. The residents will live in “tiny houses” inside the warehouse and will share studio space and a roof garden. One of the other tenants in the warehouse is a person who converts gasoline powered vehicles to electric vehicles.
I am so amazed at all of the housing options that our generation is creating. In combination with programs like Ashby Village, we will have alternatives to retirement communities.
For the last couple of years I have been trying to lose weight. I have lost about 30 pounds slowly and consistently (usually). I still have fifteen pounds to go. One of the tools that has been the most useful is a daily e-newsletter called Calorie Count. It has many of the same features as the Weight Watchers website, but this one is free. There is a food log for counting your daily calorie intake, daily articles by nutritionists, psychologists and physicians and occasionally, personal stories by people who have lost weight successfully.
As I have gotten older, I realize that I can only be successful losing weight if I eat less and exercise more. Today’s Calorie Count article is about exercise for seniors-how much we need, how to have fun and be safe. I really enjoyed this article and thought you might also.
Other resources that have helped me are Fitness after Fifty by Walter H. Ettinger, M.D., Brenda S. Wright, Ph.D. and Steven N. Blair, P.E.D. and Strong Women Stay Young by Miriam E. Nelson, Ph.D. and Sarah Wernick, Ph.D. These books are about weight training for seniors.
I am proud to say that I have never purchased a book from Amazon. I have purchased a few at one of the major chains after first checking to be sure that there was not a copy at my favorite independent bookstore. Sometimes I have ordered books that I could not find locally from Northern California Booksellers rather than order from Amazon. The difference in price between Amazon and the independent store is sometimes significant, but I think it is a small price to pay for having great bookstores in our community.
My good friend Amy Thomas, owner of Pegasus Books in Berkeley and Oakland posted the following Steven Colbert interview with Ann Patchett about why she supports independent bookstores. I have enjoyed many of Ann Patchett’s books over the years and I am glad to know that she is the owner of an independent book store in Nashville, Tennessee and a strong supporter of bookstores nationwide.
Back in the 80’s and 90’s I worked at Children’s Hospital Oakland. My friends and I frequently went out to lunch and our best source for good restaurants was our colleague, Lucille Poskanzer, the counselor in the Medical Genetics Department. She loved going out to eat and did so weekly. She knew more about local restaurants than anybody and her suggestions were always terrific. At that time she was xeroxing her reviews and giving them out to friends.
I must admit that I had not thought about Lucille’s restaurant reviews for years and was surprised last week when I saw an article in Berkeleyside by Tracey Taylor about Lucille’s restaurant guide. The article describes the history of “The Restaurants of the Berkeley Area” which has been online since 1995. Lucille wites the reviews, her husband Art helps with editing and publishing, son Jeff does the map. I have added a link for this site on the Berkeley Links list on the sidebar to the right and down a little from this article.
I know that the Ashby Village events committee consult with Lucille when they are looking for new restaurants for their monthly luncheons. Now you can, too. This is a great resource for all of us. Thank you Lucille!
Frequently people ask me about the differences between Assisted Living and Skilled Nursing facilities. One of my readers sent this link which is a great summary of the differences between the two types of care:
This was a busy week for the Women’s Housing Options (WHO) group. We met with Lois Leynse and Anne Lowery of Financial Fitness Center to answer the recurring question from several members of the group: “Should I rent or buy?” Lois and Anne provided good information which will help the group members make their decisions.
The truth is that everybody’s situation is different, there are no magic formulas, but there are several factors to consider:
1) How much equity do you have in your house? If you sell it, will you have enough to invest and live off the interest? It is important to know your cash flow needs so you can structure your investments to provide the cash you need.
2) What are the tax implications? Single home-owners who have lived in their homes for 2 years or more receive a $250,000 capital gains exemption when they sell their homes (couples receive a $500,000 exemption.) If a homeowner over the age of 55 years sells her home and buys a new one of lesser value, she can transfer her tax basis to the new house if it is in Alameda or another California county which reciprocates with Alameda County. (Contra Costa County is not a reciprocating county.) Homeowners can transfer their tax basis once in their lifetime. Go to Alameda County tax assessor’s website to find details about this program.
3) The rules for exemptions and tax basis transfers are different for commercial property and property which is held as tenants-in-common or as joint tenants.
Our group also met last week with a group of seniors from the Elder’s Guild who are exploring the same type of alternative housing options that we are. We were so excited to find that another group of seniors is also exploring alternate housing possibilities.
The Elder’s Guild group have been meeting longer and are a little farther along in their discussions about housing options. They have identified a large house in North Berkeley where five of them could rent for awhile to see how they like living together. Their long term plan is to build or develop a senior housing compound which would provide educational/cultural services for the public benefit. The two groups will meet together again in a few weeks to continue our discussions.
The exploration of alternate housing options continues. At our meeting with Ann and Lois, one of the members announced that she is thinking about selling her house and doing long-term house-sitting for a year to figure out her next move.
If you have been trying to figure out how Ashby Village works, perhaps this video can help. Last week Channel 5 featured Ashby Village in a news report. I really liked the piece because it showed how Ashby Village works–from the perspective of a member receiving services in her home, a volunteer helping a member with chores and the office staff responding to a request. Click on the link below to see the video.
I have not done a good job of writing articles for my blog over the past few months, but I am determined to do better in 2012. The past year has been really tough with the changes in the adult day services program in the state and cutbacks in essential services for the elderly. The news is not good. We are all living longer than before and as we get older, our need for services will increase. It is pretty scary to think about what it will be like in twenty or thirty years when the proportion of seniors in the population will be much higher.
A bright spot for me is a group of women in the East Bay who are meeting monthly to discuss alternative housing options as they grow older. I joined them about three months ago and am enjoying helping them explore different ways of living as we grow older. We are all 60 years of age or or older.
Some are homeowners who are questioning whether owning a home is the best option for them as they age. Would they be better off renting? Others are renting and wondering if that is a good long term solution for them. (For an upcoming meeting, I invited a financial planner who will help these members decide their best options.)
A few members of the group would like to live in better neighborhoods where they could walk more and use their cars less. Others are planning to downsize from their large family homes to condos or smaller homes. We have gone to see properties with multiple units (duplexes, triplexes,etc) where they could live in close proximity to each other, but maintain their own units.
We heard about a group of women who live in a condo development in Point Richmond. They have all been there for about 20 years and have become good friends over the years. Recently, several of them have developed health conditions which are forcing them to think about assisted living and they are looking at retirement communities now with the plan of moving together. We are going to get together with them at a future meeting.
A local architect came to one of our meetings and discussed building five or six small accessible units (about 600 square feet) on a large lot. This would enable them to have their own individual spaces, but be part of a supportive community, as well. We know of one family doing this in El Cerrito.
Another member is interested in a multi-use property with housing units and work spaces for health and wellness providers (massage therapists, acupuncturists, etc.).
A couple of members live half of the year in the Bay Area and the other half in Florida. They would be interested in sharing a house with another family who would use the house while they were away.
The idea of co-housing is appealing to some of the members. This weekend we are meeting with another group of older women contemplating these issues. They are part of the Elder’s Guild in Berkeley and are considering a cohousing project for older women.
It is exciting to me that there are so many options for seniors as they get older. I think the questions the group is asking and their ideas are fascinating. The women like the ideas of community and support. They have different ideas about achieving those goals, but this is the primary need for all of them.
At our last meeting I asked if I could report on the group’s activities in East Bay Smart Senior. Everyone agreed. The ideas we are exploring are important for many women and the women in the group want to share what they learn with others. You can look forward to more information about this group in the next few months.
This has been a very rocky year for adult day programs in Alameda County. From April through November, it looked like all of the programs would be shut down. These programs funded by Medi-Cal provide medical care, socialization and respite for family caregivers. The statewide program costs $169 million per year and serves 35,000 seniors.
The legal advocacy group Disability Rights California filed suit against the state Department of Health Care Services to stop the cuts. As a result of the lawsuit, a new program Community Based Adult Services (CBAS) will go into effect in March 2012. This new program will cost the state less than half the current costs of the adult day services programs. Under CBAS, a reduced number of Medi-Cal recipients will continue to receive their allotments for subsidized adult day services. Those with less pressing medical or disability needs will receive services at home with occasional trips to the doctor.
This month specially trained nurses will begin assessing patients currently attending adult day programs to determine eligibility for the CBAS program. Those who are deemed ineligible for CBAS may qualify for services under one of the Medi-Cal managed care programs (Alameda Alliance for Health or Anthem Blue Cross Partnership) or a state funded PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) which provides services to keep patients in their own homes rather than skilled nursing facilities. These programs provide home based services with transportation to medical providers.
Those centers serving very fragile seniors will probably survive. These include Lifelong Medical Care’s East Oakland Adult Day Program and Hong Fook Adult Day Program in downtown Oakland. Others like the Oakland site for Alzheimer’s Services of the East Bay will close in February. Patients in that program will move to the sites in Berkeley or Hayward.
The big question is how families are going to continue caring for their loved ones who do not qualify for adult day services. They are asking, “Should I quit my job so I can continue to care for my mom or send my mom to a nursing home?”
To find out more about the status of the Adult Day programs in Alameda County, http://oaklandnorth.net/2011/12/26/adult-daycare-centers-facing-cutbacks-saved-from-total-funding-cutoff/.
Last winter I wrote about a funding crisis with the Adult Day Health Centers in the state. The legislature had agreed to go along with Governor Brown to eliminate ADHC on the promise of a new program Keeping Adults Free from Institutions (KAFI.) The new program was to be funded as a federal-state partnership-AB 96-which the legislature expected Brown to sign. Unexpectedly Governor Brown vetoed AB 96 which directed the state to apply for federal funding for the new KAFI program.
Legislative leaders had made it clear that their intention was to keep ADHC doors open under different federal rules designed to serve the neediest patients with one-half of 2010 funding. The legislature’s plan to save the ADHC infrastructure and obtain matching funds through a federal waiver has been blocked by the governor.
The events of the past 10 days have furthered threatened ADHC and the development of a new federal waiver program to replace it. Please call or visit your state legislators ASAP (Alameda County contacts attached). Follow the California Association for Adult Day Services script below to insist on Emergency Legislation to keep Adult Day Health Care alive.
There was strong support among the legislature during the budget negotiations for keeping the doors of ADHCs open. We need to keep talking to legislators about keeping ADHC alive until a new waivered program can be developed.
Here is the script, fill in the blanks:
“I am a __________(mother, caregiver, student, neighbor, etc.) in __________(your district).”
- CMS approved elimination of ADHC to take effect August 31, 2011.
- Where is the new ADHC/KAFI waiver program as promised by your leaders?
- What are you doing to honor the commitment to keep ADHC center doors open?
“I do not want to lose ADHC as a choice. Don’t force patients into more expensive care in emergency rooms, hospitals and nursing homes at taxpayer expense.”
Here are phone numbers for calling East Bay legislators in Sacramento:
Senator Ellen Corbett (Senate District 10) 916-651-4010
Senator Loni Hancock (Senate District 9) 916-651-4009
Assemblyman Robert Wieckowski (20th District) 916-319-2020
Assemblyman Mary Hayashi (18th District) 916-319-2018
Assemblyman Sandre Swanson (16th District) 916-319-2016
Assemblbyman Nancy Skinner (14th District) 916-319-2014
Assemblyman Joan Buchanan (15th District) 916-319-2015
For more details and information on all elements of the Governor’s proposed budget, see the California Budget Project at http://www.cbp.org .
