Vital support for community’s older adults 

The Oct. 22 article, “Jewish organizations work to shift senior living to ‘aging in place’ model” highlighted the significant need for, and benefits from, helping older adults age in place. According to a recent Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies report, by 2030, not only will one out of every five adults in the U.S. be over age 65, there will also have been a 230 percent increase in the number of those over the age of 85. Unfortunately, the same report stated that, in 2011, only 35 percent of those older adults eligible for HUD housing assistance actually received it. As the older adult population grows, this mismatch between need and availability will only become worse. 

The Harvard study also shows that high housing costs force low income older adults to cut back on other things, particularly food (households spending more than half their income on housing spend over 40 percent less on food than those living in affordable housing) and health care (severely cost-burdened households spend 70 percent less on health care than those living in housing they can afford). In 2012, 30 percent of adults paid more than 30 percent of their income for housing and half of those paid more than 50 percent of their income for housing. 

Covenant Place (formerly Covenant House) currently receives over $3 million in annual funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD),  consisting of rent subsidies for qualifying residents who pay no more than 30 percent of their income (after medical expenses). With the additional assistance made possible through a combination of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis, Covenant Place Foundation funds, grants and individual donors, Covenant Place provides supportive services that enable its older adult population to successfully age in place. Covenant Place’s offerings include the availability of a variety of supportive health care services at reduced rates. Covenant Place residents also benefit from living in the St. Louis NORC area, where they may take advantage of discounts offered at area businesses and at the Jewish Community Center. All of this, plus services offered by Jewish Family & Children’s Services, ElderLink St. Louis, NORC and the JCC, help meet the desire of Covenant Place residents to age in place. 

Four decades ago, the visionary leaders of B’nai B’rith, Jewish Federation, the JCC and the Jewish Center for Aged came together to build the Covenant Place complex, providing housing for thousands of seniors throughout the years. Unfortunately, the buildings are now approaching the end of their useful lives. 

The Covenant Place redevelopment project will not only provide improved physical surroundings for our residents, it will also extend the HUD rent subsidy contracts for an additional 20 years. The Phase II building of the redevelopment will house a senior community center that will be a hub for older adults throughout our community to find supportive services offered by our community’s agencies, health and wellness programs and services, affordable meals, lifelong learning, recreation and socialization. The goal of the center is to provide infrastructure to help older adults fulfill their desire to age in place. 

The Covenant Place housing model works. Residents are now living well into their nineties and hundreds where they continue to have quality of life, enjoy a social environment and live vitally into their elder years. 

Alan Witte, Covenant Place Board President

Joan Denison, Covenant Place Executive Director