Spots are filling up in the latest round of San Diego County’s rental subsidy program for low-income seniors.
The program will give 195 qualifying adults $500 a month for 18 months to help pay rent. It also offers case management services to help with balancing their budget and to connect them with other resources. Seniors make up about one third of the unsheltered population in the county, according to data from the most recent federally-mandated homelessness count in January.
“They're oftentimes on very limited incomes and having to choose between spending money on medication, food and that type of stuff, and rent,” said Dijana Beck, the Director of the county’s Office of Homeless Solutions. “It does become very difficult so that little bit of extra funding that goes toward their rent can allow them to then look at their household budget, stabilize it a little more.”
The application is currently open on the county’s website, but Beck said they’ve already received many.
A qualified applicant is at least 60 years old, head of household, extremely low-income and rent-burdened, which means they’re spending 50% or more of their income on rent. Those accepted also must live in San Diego County, cannot use another form of rental assistance and their landlord has to agree to the program.
Beck said this new round is first come, first serves, unlike earlier versions that were based on a lottery system.
The organization Serving Seniors provides services and advocates for older adults in San Diego. CEO and President Melinda Forstey said that programs like this are the most effective ways to help low-income seniors.
“So these are folks they've worked their whole lives, they helped raise families, but they're on fixed incomes,” Forstey said. “And we all know we hear a lot about affordability and so as rents go up as the cost of living goes up, they simply can't make those numbers work.”
Serving Seniors conducted a regional study published in 2021 that found most struggling seniors need an extra $300 to $500 a month to meet their basic needs. That study influenced the county’s effort to expand rental subsidies for older adults.
Forstey said many people often don’t realize how many seniors are homeless or are at risk of losing their housing.
“I do think there is a misconception that the majority of unhoused individuals may be experiencing challenges with substance abuse or may be having significant behavioral health issues,” she said. “And while that is, of course, the case with some individuals, unhoused folks are not a monolith. And particularly with older adults, it's truly economic.
Forstey said rental subsidy programs regionwide have a 96% to 100% success rate of keeping people housed during the program. But she said Serving Seniors is working on the statewide level to convert temporary subsidy programs into permanent, ongoing subsidies.
Forestry also said there’s a need to make homeless shelters more senior-friendly, which could include reserving bottom bunks for this population and providing caregiving services.
Beck said in the previous two rounds of this program, 400 older adults were served.
The county oversees the program, but is contracting a private company to give the money directly to landlords and administer case management services. The county identified unlocked reserves earlier this year and allocated some funding for this new round of the program.
Earlier iterations have been extended past the 18-month period, and Beck said the same may be possible, but only if more funding becomes available.
The application will close when county staff have identified the first 195 qualified households.
