AARP Foundation Invests $2.5 Million in Innovative Housing Strategies to Help Vulnerable 50+ Population
Washington, D.C. – June 13, 2013 – (RealEstateRama) — AARP Foundation is pleased to announce $2.5 million in investments to fund three housing organizations that serve the vulnerable, 50+ population. The Foundation’s new impact investment instrument will serve as a valuable funding source for these organizations while at the same time spark housing solutions for low-income people age 50 and older. Each investment will create or preserve homes for residents who are measurably low-income and over 50 years of age. The investments will leverage market-rate financing to multiply impact.
AARP Foundation’s Program Related Investment (PRI) aims to create new models of housing that are scalable and replicable; that result in an increase in affordable and adequate housing to fill the gap in surrounding rural housing and rental housing; and finally, to increase the number of affordable and/or adequate units of housing.
“As people age, their need for safe and affordable housing grows more critical. For vulnerable older Americans housing upkeep is a challenge to maintain, particularly in these tough economic times,” said AARP Foundation President Jo Ann Jenkins. “By utilizing this ‘new’ instrument of impact investment, AARP Foundation will be a catalyst for organizations to leverage these funds and make sure more families can find a way back to stability.”
At least 13 million people who live in low-income, 50+ households struggle with unaffordable and/or inadequate housing. The Housing Impact Area of AARP Foundation seeks to win back opportunity for the struggling 50 and older population by helping to preserve adequacy and affordability within current homes; increasing the supply of adequate and affordable housing; raising awareness of housing needs of the low-income 50+ population; and building thought leadership ideas on the subject through various research techniques.
The national organizations that were selected by AARP Foundation include the following:
· NCB Capital Impact will use the investment from AARP Foundation to bring to scale The Green House Project’s innovative nursing care model, which offers an alternative approach to the traditional nursing home. Elements of Green House homes including their small scale, unique staffing model, and home-like layout, restore the dignity and sense of wellbeing to elders in need of nursing care. This model is very exciting because of the potential for broad-scale market adoption across a variety of geographic and demographic markets, as well as a wide range of income levels. The AARP Foundation funds will bolster support to The Green House Project, also generously supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Weinberg Foundation.
· An investment with Enterprise Community Loan Fund, Inc., to help fill the financing gap in the creation of affordable rental housing, rural housing and livable communities with a focus on low-income seniors. In addition to housing, Enterprise also invests in federally qualified health centers to provide and expand community-based health services for low- and moderate-income individuals.
· The third organization, ROC USA®, will use the AARP Foundation investment to empower owners of manufactured homes, a vulnerable and aging group, to cooperatively purchase the land on which their homes are located. This serves a unique but growing niche in that manufactured housing is the largest source of unsubsidized affordable housing in the country. www.rocusa.org
“All of these projects aim to build, retrofit or purchase safe and affordable housing that not only helps older residents avoid high housing cost burdens, but also addresses their need for community either by helping them age in place or create a new community based a non-institutional model,” added Jenkins.
About AARP Foundation
AARP Foundation is working to win back opportunity for struggling Americans 50+ by being a force for change on the most serious issues they face today: housing, hunger, income and isolation. By coordinating responses to these issues on all four fronts at once, and supporting them with vigorous legal advocacy, the Foundation serves the unique needs of those 50+ while working with local organizations nationwide to reach more people, strengthen communities, work more efficiently and make resources go further. AARP Foundation is AARP’s affiliated charity. Learn more at www.aarpfoundation.org.
Contact:
Hillary John
(202) 434-2560 | 
