Elderly/Homelessness Conference

For John, BLUF:  A learning experience about the elderly and the homeless.

As previously noted in this blog, Lowell held it's Eighth Keys to Ending Homelessness Conference yesterday, Friday, 12 April, at the UMass Lowell Inn and Conference Center.  The focus was homelessness and the elderly.

The Conference was kicked off by City Manager Bernie Lynch and included talks by State Treasurer Steve Grossman and Aaron Gornstein, Undersecretary of the State Department of Housing and Community Development.  In addition, there were eight breakout sessions, in two phases, and a final panel session with lunch.

Reporter Hiroko Sato wrote up the story for today's edition of The [Lowell] Sun, which can be found here.

The issue is not just homeless people who become elderly, although that is a serious problem.  It is also the fact that the number of people 65 or older is going to be growing out to the year 2050.  In 2010 the percent of the total US population over 64 was 13%.  By 2020 it will be 19.3 percent and by 2040 it will be 20.2 percent—1 in 5 Americans will be 65 or older.  This and other data from the US Census Bureau can be found here.  The last of the Baby Boomers will hit 65 in 2029, but they will be living longer lives and will be with us for quite some time.  Consider the impact on the housing market when all the Baby Boomers begin to sell their homes, and with relatively fewer people coming behind them to purchase those homes.  The question is, with a smaller ratio of working taxpayers to support the Baby Boomers, and with Boomer assets perhaps not being valued as highly after they retire as before, will we find we are facing problems in terms of the ability of Boomers, and those who have gone before to sustain themselves?  There are no magic formulas out there, so we need to be planning now for those days ahead.

And this brings us back to the situation of those who are homeless today.  Being homeless ages people physically, emotionally and mentally.  An indication of the problem is the fact the average life expectancy of homeless people is 48 years old.  Those who are homeless and 50 are more like the average person who is 65.  Plus, for the elderly, additional support services are required, both for the homeless and for those on the verge of being homeless, due to lack of income or some diminishment in capacity.

These are the kinds of issues tackled by the conference and which will need to be tackled at local, state and federal levels.

Conferences are tricky things.  As mentioned in the article, the ramrod for the Lowell Homelessness Conference is Ms Linda King.  She had to be away the second half of this last week and it fell to her volunteer staff, with Ms Kathy Muldoon taking the lead, but others joining in.♠  A good job was done by all.

But, not just the Lowell Homelessness Committee's Conference subcommittee.  There is also the staff at the UMass Lowell Inn and Conference Center, headed up by Ms Carol Scalesse.  The staff prepares the rooms, sets up tables and easels and prepares a light snack for breakfast and a lunch.  Sure, they do use Pepsi products, but aside from that they are great, and do things like cater to vegetarians.

One of the people who stands out in my mind is Mr John Morrison, Audio/Visual Manager for the Inn and Conference Center.  We show up with computers and projectors and he sets them up, provides the projection screens, loads the thumb drives of the presenters and makes sure there are the extension cords needed to do the job.  He is also anticipating our needs, including asking if we need screens for our luncheon panel, or if he should put them away so they don't distract.  When Mr Marc Duci arrives from LTC to video the plenary session, Mr Morrison works with him to make sure all is good to go.  Mr Morrison understands what it means to be a service organization and he provides that service.  Thank you Mr Morrison.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  At the risk of missing someone, other volunteer subcommittee members included Patricia Bergan, Deb Sevigny, Sue Smith, Dan O'Conner, Bruce Akashian, and Ann Scannell.  Susan Rourke is part of small crowd, although she couldn't make this Conference.  A big help to us was Roberta from Lowell DPD, as we scrambled to get it all together.