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The Appalling Plight of Our Seniors

Guest Commentary By DAVE SCHMIDT

Published: Thursday, December 24, 2009, Petaluma Argus-Courier

As president of the board at PEP Housing, I hear about the hardships that low-income seniors face every day. But this year has been especially difficult due to cuts in Medi-Cal and Supplemental Security Income.

At a recent board meeting, I was shocked and appalled by the resident stories that staff shared and knew I had to let the Petaluma community know what’s happening to our seniors.

Bear in mind that PEP Housing provides affordable apartments to the poorest of the poor — seniors 62 and over who can no longer work and depend upon what little they get from Social Security to live on. Because the cost of living in California is so much higher than the rest of the country, many seniors receive Supplemental Security Income to bring them up to the poverty level. (Imagine that poverty level is a step up!) This year, these poor seniors have been hit three times with decreases to their SSI due to California’s budget woes. Now they don’t even have the bare minimum they need to live on. One gentleman’s SSI went from $175 per month down to $109. That $66 may seem like a drop in the bucket to you and I, but to a senior living off of $14,000 a year, that might mean one less meal per day.

That’s not the only hardship they’ve faced in 2009. In June, California’s Health and Human Services Agency announced that Medi-Cal will no longer pay for certain benefits. These cuts include dental services, audiology services, optometric services ... the list goes on. The not-so-funny joke at PEP Housing is that Medi-Cal won’t pay for anything from the neck up. The other day, PEP Housing’s executive director told me about a resident whose dentures were old and breaking apart. She couldn’t afford new dentures, and Medi-Cal no longer covers that expense, so she was using Super Glue to keep them in! Another senior had a dead tooth that was rotting in her mouth. She couldn’t afford to go to the dentist, so she was treating it herself with hydrogen peroxide.

Medi-Cal will pay for a low-income senior’s optometry exam, but won’t cover the cost of glasses. They’ll pay for a podiatry exam, but not for the orthopedic shoes. It’s like our government doesn’t care if seniors can eat, or see, or hear or walk.

PEP Housing does care. Even though our mission is primarily to provide affordable housing for seniors, we also care about their quality of life. We want them to live in comfort and dignity. We do what we can to see that happens by providing emergency funds to residents with critical health or other quality of life issues through our Resident Assistance Fund. This small fund was established by individuals, congregations, and other local funders, like the Harrison Mecham Relief Fund and the Community Foundation of Sonoma County. Its existence is completely reliant upon the generosity of the community.

PEP Housing expends as much as they can from the Resident Assistance Fund to help seniors in need. However, when multiple residents come to us with dental or health bills that are more than $2,000 each, the fund can only partially help them. Otherwise, the monies would quickly be depleted, leaving us unable to help others. These are heart-wrenching choices that staff must make.

Despite these hardships, I remain impressed by the resourcefulness and frugality of PEP Housing’s stalwart senior citizens. They live on very little and are very grateful for what they have and the help they do get. They take pride in their ability to live independently and treat their apartments like the safe havens PEP Housing’s founders envisioned when they established this organization 31 years ago.

If your parents or grandparents are able to live out their retirement years in their own houses, without worrying if they can make ends meet each month, give thanks this holiday season. There are so many other seniors — former teachers, firefighters, veterans, and more — who are not as fortunate. Should you find that you have a few extra dollars in your pocket, please consider donating it to PEP Housing’s Resident Assistance Fund.

(Dave Schmidt is president of PEP Housing’s board of directors. He has lived in Petaluma since 1977. His Petaluma banking career has spanned more than four decades.)

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The Appalling Plight of Our Seniors

Guest Commentary By DAVE SCHMIDT

Published: Thursday, December 24, 2009, Petaluma Argus-Courier