Help Keep Seniors Safe at Home

Homelessness among individuals 55 or older is tragically the largest and fastest growing segment of people living unsheltered in San Diego and nationwide. According to the latest point in time count, seniors over the age of 55 account for 29% of San Diego County’s unsheltered homeless population, with 46% falling into homelessness for the first time. 
 
Preventing unsheltered homelessness before it begins is critical for a myriad of reasons. 
 
 

As little as $250 per month, or $3,000 per year, can keep a senior safely housed, compared to an average cost to taxpayers of $35,000 per unsheltered person per year due to greater emergency room use, more frequent inpatient admissions, longer hospital stays, and many other reasons.

Our “Seniors Safe at Home” program targets seniors experiencing a housing crisis, such as facing eviction, or situations where fixed incomes simply cannot keep up with sharp rises in inflation and housing costs. This effort also includes case management and employment navigation to help seniors secure employment. 
Subsidies combined with case management and employment navigation will have the dual benefit of preventing human trauma and being a cost-effective use of resources to prevent unsheltered homelessness before it begins. 
 
LDF is raising money to fund this effort, which is being implemented in partnership with Serving Seniors and the San Diego Housing Commission.