BRISTOL, R.I. — At age 82, Roberta Rabinovitz realized she had no place to go. A widow, she had lost both her daughters to cancer, after living with one and then the other, nursing them until their deaths. Then she moved in with her brother in Florida, until he also died.
And so last fall, while recovering from lung cancer, Rabinovitz ended up at her grandson’s home in Burrillville, Rhode Island, where she slept on the couch and struggled to navigate the steep staircase to the shower. That wasn’t sustainable, and with apartment rents out of reach, Rabinovitz joined the growing population of older Americans unsure of where to lay their heads at night.
But Rabinovitz was fortunate. She found a place to live, through what might seem like an unlikely source — a health care nonprofit, the PACE Organization of Rhode Island. Around the country, arranging for housing is a relatively new and growing challenge for such PACE groups, which are funded through Medicaid and Medicare. PACE stands for Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, and the organizations aim to keep frail older people in their homes. But a patient can’t stay at home if they don’t have one.
More people 55 and over without homes
As housing costs rise, organizations responsible for people’s medical care are realizing that to ensure their clients have a place to live, they must venture outside their lanes. Even hospitals — in Denver, New Orleans,New York City, and elsewhere — have started investing in housing, recognizing that good health isn’t possible without it…