Maryland Affordable Senior Housing Workgroup

This collaborative effort seeks to address challenges related to providing quality and affordable services, support, and housing for older adults in Maryland.

Funded originally through a grant from The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, the Affordable Senior Housing Workgroup meets regularly and serves as a place of shared learning and collective impact.

Goals

The overarching goal of our Workgroup is to foster a collaborative space for those who care about ensuring older Marylanders have access to quality, affordable housing services and supports. Together we work to:

Collectively Generate Creative Solutions

to the challenges affecting older Marylanders’ ability to access quality and affordable housing, services, and supports.

Build Awareness and Advocate

for greater resources and efforts at state and local levels to expand and preserve quality affordable senior housing in Baltimore City and across the state.

Share Information With and Support

not-for-profit affordable senior housing developers and operators to ensure they can fully access and utilize all available state and federal preservation and funding tools and resources.

Workgroup Members

Any individual or organization who cares about affordable senior housing in Maryland is invited to join the Workgroup. Members of the Workgroup include affordable senior housing providers across the state, the Maryland Department of Aging, foundations, consultants, and other stakeholders and partners who care about aging and affordable senior housing in Maryland. Current members include leaders from:

Bon Secours Community Works
Catholic Charities Senior Communities
CHAI Community Housing Partners
CSI Support and Development
GEDCO
The Community Builders
The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation
The Housing Authority of Baltimore City
The Maryland Department of Aging
The Maryland Philanthropy Network
Victory Housing

Now entering our third year together, this workgroup has already advanced several important initiatives. Together this year, we:

Held two in-person meetings featuring guest speakers and conversations with Maryland Department of Aging, and the Baltimore Metropolitan Council.
Held regular monthly Preservation and Development Subgroup meetings to provide a place for group members to connect and learn from one another.
Developed a draft brief about affordable senior housing in Maryland to share with state leaders and legislators (attached)
Developed a grant proposal and secured $350,000 in funding to support the Connecting and Equipping Staff Teams Within Affordable Housing for Older Adults. In case you missed it, our project was noted recently by Forbes!
With input from this workgroup, LeadingAge Maryland submitted comments on the Comments on the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development’s Multifamily Rental Financing Program Guide and the MD Qualified Allocation Plan, resulting in the addition of HUD 202 Supportive Housing as allowable leveraged operating subsidies.

Workgroup Projects and Initiatives

Scaling What Works: Connecting and Equipping Staff Teams Within Affordable Housing for Older Adults

In fall 2023, LeadingAge Maryland was awarded nearly $300,000 in grant funding to support an initiative that grew out of the Workgroup’s subgroup on education. The project, officially known as will refine and evaluate a novel training program for environmental and property management staff. As a result, LeadingAge Maryland and its partners anticipate that older adults in these communities will experience a variety of improved outcomes related to service utilization, social connectedness, and physical well-being. The project will engage property managers and environmental services staff to train them on the special needs of older adults with the goal of preparing them for an enhanced role to support the well-being of residents in the communities where they work. These frontline staff will learn to work with on-site service coordinators who assist residents with addressing their social services and health needs to help optimize emotional well-being and physical and mental health. The premise of the proposed intervention is that these staff often have the most frequent contact with older adult residents and are, therefore, in the best position to intervene when help is needed.

Expanding Awareness About Affordable Senior Housing in Maryland

LeadingAge Maryland hosted a graduate level intern in early 2023 to compile a preliminary overview about affordable senior housing in Maryland. The results of this work led to the development of a one-pager that housing providers and other stakeholders can use to raise awareness about the need for more affordable senior housing in our state. The document provides talking points and data that illustrate the need, and concludes with a “call to action” related to Maryland’s current Qualified Allocation Plan.

Download the 1-Pager Here

Benefits of Affordable Senior Housing

Affordable senior housing, with its tailored services and supportive community environment, offers distinct advantages over non-age restricted housing in meeting the needs of older adults and promoting their quality of life.

Download | Benefits of Affordable Senior Housing