At a recent Anaheim City Council meeting, the council passed my proposal to create the city’s first-ever
Senior Safety Net
program. This program will provide support for senior citizens experiencing a hardship due to unforeseen circumstances such as a medical condition, loss of a family member, dramatic rent increases or other mitigating circumstances that create a risk of not being able to afford the cost of housing.
For the last 25 years my professional career has revolved around caring for senior citizens, and I’m passionate about the work that I do. Our elderly residents are among some of the most vulnerable in our community, and I hear regularly from families who want their loved ones to be able to remain in their homes as independent as possible, for as long as possible.
The Senior Safety Net, which is a pilot program, allocates existing federal housing dollars granted to the city along with other existing restricted funds to provide case management services and short-term housing cost support for seniors, based on eligibility requirements and availability of funds. Under the council’s action, $645,000 was allocated for this program in the current fiscal year. There is no impact to the city’s General Fund, which protects taxpayers and preserves funding for public safety and other vital city services.
As part of our council action, city staff was instructed to finalize the details of the program as soon as possible, with an expected roll-out date of January 1, 2020. More information on how to apply for funds under the Senior Safety Net will be shared by the city soon.
You can view the staff report on the program
here
.
