The report recognizes that Dallas has funded some programs to help the senior population but it hasn’t been enough: “... the senior population’s needs are exponentially greater than the city’s effort to address the problems,” the report said.
The report maintains that the city hasn’t adequately addressed the special needs of senior citizens even though they are the fastest-growing segment of the population. More than 200,000 Dallas residents are 60 or older, and at least 30,000 of them live on incomes of less than $1,000 per month.
The report was put together by an ad hoc committee on funding priorities of the city and included members of the Senior Affairs Commission. It was reviewed and approved by the full commission.
Peter Kline, a member of the commission for the last four years, is the current chair until his term expires in September. One point that has always frustrated him is the lack of credible information about issues facing seniors. “I think the senior population is kind of an invisible group,” he told the Observer. Even if you spoke to the seniors most in need of help, Kline said they’d probably tell you they were getting by OK.
This can make it difficult to get a good idea of the scope of the problems they face. On top of this, he said, very little philanthropy is dedicated to senior causes, so they become the government’s responsibility. “The government doesn’t do a really great job of that,” he said.
To make matters worse, the COVID-19 pandemic shut down many services seniors relied on, he said, and these services have yet to reach their pre-pandemic levels.
Kline said it’s hard to convince people sometimes that more money and resources need to be spent on these services. When people throw money at programs that help children, it’s looked at as more of an investment, he said. Spending money on senior services feels more like an expense to some, Kline said. He said he hopes the information in the report will help people understand the problems facing seniors and why more money should be spent trying to solve them.
The report focuses on the senior citizen population as a whole, but it also mentions the need for better data on the LGBTQ+ portion of this group. LGBTQ+ elders are included in these statistics, but the report says they “are virtually invisible in the demographics we have for the city of Dallas.”“I think the senior population is kind of an invisible group." – Peter Kline, Dallas Senior Affairs Commission
tweet this
National statistics show that one-third of LGBTQ+ seniors live at or below 200% of the federal poverty level. They’re less likely to reach out to senior centers, meal programs and other vital services, including medical help. About two-thirds of them say they’ve experienced victimization at least three times in their lives, and more than half report being discriminated against in employment and housing. The report also says that LBGTQ+ people experience higher rates of poor physical health and mental distress.
When it comes to the LGBTQ+ population of senior citizens, Kline said their issues aren’t much different from others, but they’re often made worse by discrimination.
An addendum to the report was written by the commission’s only openly gay member, Portia Cantrell. She recommended the creation of an LGBTQ+ senior liaison position on the city council and an LGBTQ+ senior center in Dallas. “Such a center would provide a safe and welcoming space for LGBTQ seniors to socialize, access resources, and receive support services catered to their unique needs,” Cantrell wrote in the report.
Cantrell told the Observer that many LGBTQ+ seniors come from families and generations in which it wasn’t acceptable to be gay or trans, and some don’t feel welcome at the places where they go to obtain services.
“It has been my experience personally, as well as the experience of so many others in my community, that when we go into places like the rec centers, churches, we are looked at as though this is not some place we belong,” Cantrell said. “We want to connect with each other in a place where we are accepted, where we have shared history, where when I talk about my wife or girls I used to go out with or things I used to do, somebody’s not going to look at us like we’re freaking perverts or something like that.”
This is why Cantrell is recommending an LGBTQ+ senior center in Dallas. She also noted it has been an uphill battle for her to get anything involving the LGBTQ+ community into the report.
Alarmingly, the report said Dallas hasn’t made the well-being of its elderly population a priority. Senior citizens are barely mentioned in the city manager's goals, the Dallas 365 citywide measures deemed most important to residents and performance measures used to hold city departments accountable. There’s no senior city executive tasked with the overall responsibility of assessing senior citizen needs, tracking the city services provided for them or providing good communication to inform them about these services.
The city does have some senior programs. There’s the senior dental health program, the DART Rides program and others, but not many people use them. Fewer than 5% of Dallas seniors use the programs offered by the city, according to the report. The various programs that fall under the senior services umbrella are generally serving fewer than 500 individual seniors in a typical year.
Nonetheless, there have been some steps in the right direction.
In May 2019, the city approved the Age Friendly Dallas Plan, which set goals to make communities accessible to all age groups, focusing particularly on seniors. The plan has brought some improvements to transportation services, housing and communication, but the pandemic crippled its efforts and exacerbated some problems facing senior citizens.
For example, senior citizens are being hit hard by inflation, according to the report. The tight labor market has affected them. Staffing shortages among healthcare workers and city services are hampering Dallas' ability to adequately serve seniors most in need.
Senior citizens are also having trouble keeping up with the rising cost of housing, and they’re getting priced out of their homes. “For seniors who are living on a fixed income, these increases make it virtually impossible to continue to live independently because the supply of less expensive apartments simply does not exist,” the report said.
The report notes that about 30% of all single-family homes in Dallas are owned by residents over the age of 65. Even without a mortgage, it is often difficult to keep up with price increases. Residents have seen large increases in property taxes, for example. In 2016, the average property tax bill was $2,851. In 2021, it was $4,671, according to the report." ... when we go into places like the rec centers, churches, we are looked at as though this is not some place we belong.” – Portia Cantrell, Dallas Senior Affairs Commission
tweet this
Grocery prices and the lack of grocery stores near seniors living in low-income areas have made food insecurity a big problem. Senior citizens also feel more socially isolated than they used to. The report cites a statistic from the Administration for Community Living that 21% of Medicare beneficiaries felt more lonely or sad since the pandemic. Another 15% said they felt less financially secure and 38% said they felt less socially connected to friends and family.
Additionally, a lack of transportation, as well as mobility issues, can make it harder to go out and socialize, get medical attention or shop for groceries. “Nearly 30,000 Dallas seniors report having two or more disabilities, and as people age, almost everyone has some sort of mobility issue, making it difficult to get to DART bus stops,” the report stated.
It's clear that funding hasn’t kept up with the growing population of senior citizens in Dallas. This is something the Senior Affairs Commission hopes will change in the city’s next budget.
To solve communication issues and make sure every senior knows about the services available to them, the commission recommended a full-time position be dedicated to gathering this information and compiling it all in one place. Another $100,000 should be set aside to retain a communications consultant to help with this effort. It was recommended that some of these resources should be earmarked for addressing awareness and education about the LBGTQ+ senior community and promoting inclusivity of this group.
Kline doesn’t expect the city to be able to solve all of these issues, but he does expect it to work toward solutions with others.
“It may or may not be the city’s responsibility to solve all these problems,” Kline said. “But I do think it’s the city’s responsibility to understand what the problems are of their citizens and work with other agencies, other nonprofits, and the whole community on finding solutions.”
