Letter
Letter to Congress Supporting Housing for the Elderly and Disabled, April 21, 2010
Letter from Bishop William F. Murphy, Chairman, Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development to Congress Supporting Housing for the Elderly and Disabled, April 21, 2010
On behalf of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, I urge you to support full funding of the Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly and Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities programs in fiscal year 2011. These programs have provided critically needed resources to help develop supportive and affordable living communities for our country’s poorest seniors and people with disabilities.
The Catholic community provides housing and supportive services in cities, towns, and places throughout the United States. A study done for Catholic Charities USA in 2008 found that in 2007 nearly 800,000 people were provided housing by Catholic agencies across the country with 19 percent of those served being elderly. Most of the senior housing provided were Section 202 units.
Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly program serves 300,000 seniors, with an estimated 10 seniors waiting for every Section 202 unit that becomes available. This essential program serves seniors who have very-low incomes and few housing options; neither market rate housing nor housing built solely with tax credits meet their needs. Seniors have come to rely on our nation’s affordable housing programs and Congress created Section 202 housing specifically to provide supportive housing options for our seniors where they could age in place. Without this specific housing option poor seniors will face homelessness, substandard housing, inappropriate and premature placement in nursing homes, or having to choose between paying for housing or other basic needs.