In this episode of Caregiver Conversations, we sit down with Phyllis Edwards, Executive Director of Bridging Communities Inc., for an insightful conversation about the intersection of aging and housing. With over two decades of experience in senior advocacy, Phyllis shares real-world challenges older adults face when trying to age in place, including unsafe home environments, economic insecurity, and lack of access to critical resources. She discusses how programs like Age in Place help address these barriers, and why policy, community, and awareness must come together to support healthy aging. This conversation is a must-listen for caregivers, policymakers, and anyone invested in the well-being of Detroit’s aging population.
Guest: Phyllis Edwards, Executive Director, Bridging Communities Inc.
Hosts: Kristie King & Antonia Harbin Lamb
Topics Covered:
Resources Mentioned:
Bridging Communities Inc. – https://www.bridgingcommunities.org
Caregiver Conversations Podcast: caregiverpodcast@miseniors.org
Senior Regional Collaborative:
Neighborhood Legal Services:
Kristie: [00:00:00] Welcome back to Caregiver Conversations where we explore the real stories, challenges, and solutions that matter most to caregivers. I'm your host, Kristie King, executive director of the Southeast Michigan Senior Regional Collaborative,
Antonia: and I'm your co-host Antonia Harbin Lamb staff attorney at the Elder Law and Advocacy Center and program manager of Great Lakes Legal Mediation division.
Today we have a very special guest. Phyllis Edwards an advocate for housing justice and elder care resources. Phyllis has spent decades working on public housing issues and ensuring that communities have the support they need to thrive. She served as executive director of Bridging communities from 2010 to 2022, transitioned to a consultant role, and returned as executive director in 2024.
You're currently in the process of
Phyllis: transitioning.
Antonia: Transitioning again. Okay. As of December
Phyllis: the 16th.
Antonia: Okay. [00:01:00] And her passion for equitable housing policies and aging in place initiatives has made her a leading voice in this space. Phyllis, welcome to the show.
Phyllis: Thank you so much. As always say it's a great day in the neighborhood that is Phyllis.
Kristie: Indeed. So to get our conversation started, housing is foundational to wellbeing, especially for our older adults who wanna age in place, most of them. What are some of the biggest challenges facing seniors when it comes to finding and maintaining stable and quality housing?
Phyllis: As I always say, if living is your priority, then aging is your destiny.
So you have to plan for it. And unfortunately, a lot of our seniors, like many of us, will continue to do not plan for being able to remain in our homes. We buy homes at an early age, right? And when we are young and vibrant and can get upstairs and. All the things j jump in a tub and you know, all it to take a shower.
All the things that we take so much for granted. [00:02:00] But as you age, your body become more challenging. And the thing about it is your mind never catches up with your body. Your mind is always younger than what your body is. So remember that your, your mind will tell you you could do things. Your body said, Nope, we are not doing that today.
So, um, and as such, uh, we have stairs that we have to uh, navigate. We have. Smaller door spaces that we have to get walkers and wheelchairs through. We have higher cabinets that we can't reach. And so all those things have to be accommodated for, uh, grab bars in the bathroom just to even get off the toilet, right?
And so, um, as we age and as we age and place, the other thing that happens. Is the income reduction. Um, when you're working, you have more income. When you are two, two, uh, family household, there's a husband and a wife, and you know, both of those incomes are there when one of 'em transitions out, that income is lost.
And so being able to maintain a home is always challenging as well. And so a lot, oftentimes what I've found in [00:03:00] rehabbing homes is that seniors just don't have the money to keep the homes up, but that's where they want to stay. So I think it's imperative that we find the funding. To allow them to stand home, because oftentimes, seniors and communities are the caregivers for the senior pa, single mother who's down the street.
Oftentimes they're, they're baking things or baking for children for their school events. And so it's just a, uh, and they're historians to the community, right? And so maintaining that fabric, that social fabric that's been woven in communities is critical.
Antonia: And Phyllis, we've heard of some of the misconceptions about public housing and low income options.
Can you give us a few of the most common misconceptions about public housing and affordable housing programs?
Phyllis: A few. There's a multitude. Yes. Uh, several of them being that it's, it's designed, those [00:04:00] public housing units are designed for low income. Poor black people or people of color who have no hope, uh, no desire to, to uh, aspire to anything other than that particular living space, uh, is usually a single mom on welfare, some of that.
Um, but I always tell people remember, um, good times, right? And Good Times was about a family living in the projects. Mm-hmm. But if you look at that family, it was a two-parent household. Excuse me, a two parent household and they worked. Mm-hmm. Right? And their whole goal at the end of that show was to move out of the project, right?
Mm-hmm. And that's everybody's goal in the project. They don't wanna stay there forever. Mm-hmm. It's just a platform to give them a leg up Right. To the next, uh, entity that's available to them. And so. People in, in projects are hardworking people. They have hopes, they have dreams, they have, they're aspiring to do better.
Um, there have been some, uh, portrayal of these, uh, projects on [00:05:00] TV as it was conducive for them to show this negative image, um, in the news, of course. But for the most part, most of people who live there want to do better.
Antonia: Also too, we have a lot of rental. I think the rental situation, even in Michigan, there's more renters than there are homeowners at this point.
And then the rents are very high. Mm-hmm. So we need. These affordable housing platforms, you know, for individuals. Do you have anything that you wanna offer about that? Or have you thought about that?
Phyllis: Well, yeah, I was working, uh, with Mista, uh, when they were coming up with their estate plan. And one of the things I advocate for everywhere I go is public housing.
There's no way that you could talk about housing. Not include public housing in that conversation.
Mm-hmm.
Phyllis: Um, one of the things I like about Toronto is that when they built their public housing, it was infused into communities. Mm. And I know a lot of people have nimby, right. Not in my backyard. Mm-hmm. But it needs to be infused in communities.
So one, it doesn't [00:06:00] stand out, it doesn't become a target for deconstruction. 8, 9, 10 years from now, um, that people who live there actually are around people who maybe have the resources to get them to better jobs, to, uh, have their children attend quality schools. Because if you put it isolated somewhere, then you know, you leave it open for all kinds of, uh, decon.
All types of elements that you don't want there. Mm-hmm. Uh, if you infuse it in a community and people, you know, are are, are helping these folks or people have an opportunity to find the assistance that they need, rather, uh, it makes it a whole lot better and it's working well in Toronto. So I hope that here in the United States we, we come to some terms about where we place, uh, these public facilities in the first place, and second that we provide the resources needed.
But you can't talk about housing. Without talking about public housing, because a lot of our seniors who did not have the opportunity to aspire to greater jobs because of the way our [00:07:00] society was set up and the systems that they had in place have to have somewhere to stay.
Kristie: So part of that is. Making sure there's a stable home, making sure that people have a stable place to, to live, to work for their kids, to go to school, um, is not just having a roof over your head, but really it's all the pieces that you just talked about.
Um, and we know that's a major, major determinant of health. Can you talk about the connection between housing and health even? Um, particularly for our older adults and our caregivers?
Phyllis: Oh, most definitely. Um, your home is. A place where one you should be able to go to and have the. Atmosphere that allows you to not be stressed out.
Lemme put it like that. Um, and oftentimes, um, it's a safe place that you can go to and you feel comfortable and relaxed. Um, however, if your house is not up to par, like I found in many of the senior citizen loans, we. Redid probably about 50 [00:08:00] homes around the new bridge. Right. And a bridge in North America, which was a great partner, invested $20,000 in each one of those homes.
Mm-hmm. And you would think $20,000 is a lot of money. Well, when you invest $20,000 in a home and that home needs a new roof from the very. You going to gut the whole thing. That $20,000 is ate up with, you know, all the gutters and the new boards and all the things that go with that. So you had a home, you having homes with new roofs, but they still need windows and doors.
Mm-hmm. And electrical wiring and plumbing. So, um, as we talk about a home being, uh, impacted, impacting your health, if you are not sleeping well because of things that are going on in your home, if your home is infested right. Mm-hmm. With, um. Infested, I'll leave it at that. Mm-hmm. That's, that's an issue if you don't have adequate plumbing, uh, running water, electricity, and so all of those things play a, a very important part in your health and your wellbeing, especially as it relate to your mental [00:09:00] health.
Antonia: Are there any specific health risks or conditions that tend to be exacerbated by housing instability or poor living conditions? Can you tell us about that?
Phyllis: Well, some I found, um. Uh, how could I put this? You may have mold in the house. Mm-hmm. Uh, maybe it flooded. They didn't have it properly. Uh, fumigated and, and, and disinfected.
And so there's mold, black mold.
Mm-hmm.
Phyllis: Um, you may have, um, homes that are, um, the homes I've seen are just. It hurts me to my heart, um, where I walk in and I can actually see the dirt on the ground through the floor.
Mm.
Phyllis: Uh, so you can imagine all the things that might be coming in there to impact their health.
Um, you, uh, adequate, uh, air supply, right? If they haven't had that ducts cleaned out and I don't know when, never thought about it. That air that they're breathing. Uh, right now we're [00:10:00] getting ready to do a, uh, air quality, uh, initiative down in Southwest 4 8 2 1 7 in the surrounding areas, uh, putting air quality app, uh, machines in their homes to monitor that, to see what the air quality was before the machine and what the air quality is since the machine.
Because as you may know, a lot of folks around that area have. Respiratory issues mm-hmm. Uh, as a result of all the factories down there. Mm-hmm. And so, uh, that's another thing. Um, homes that are placed in, in communities where they allow different types of factories to be there, oftentimes aspect, I mean, uh, increase the, um,
number of homeowners who suffer respiratory issues. And so, um. Uh, as you, as you, as you think about your, he think about health in, in homes, there are a number of things that contribute to that, but, uh, [00:11:00] I just say that everybody deserves to have a quality home to live in. Mm-hmm. Uh. We need to do something about that sooner rather than later.
Because with the increase in rents right now, you have these warming centers, right?
Mm-hmm. But
Phyllis: the truth be told, the homeless population is continuing to grow. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Uh, and so, you know, if you go to our capital of this great country, people are laying on the street and people walk past them like they're not even there.
Mm-hmm. Which is, you know, Philadelphia. I saw the same thing. Detroit, you see the same thing. Mm-hmm. So, you know, we, we become numb. To the issue because it's not us. But you know, if we only, most, most people say one paycheck away, one, uh, instance away. Uh, one of the guys that I met who was homeless, he was a firefighter.
Mm-hmm. Uh, and unfortunately. He was coming home from work and his house was on fire with his wife and his three kids, and they all died in that fire.
Mm.
Phyllis: Uh and so he never recuperated from that. Mm-hmm.
Right.
Phyllis: Uh, and as he has [00:12:00] gotten his himself together, he realized he doesn't want to be in the systems.
That he was in before he chooses to be homeless. Right. He chooses to live independently like that. And so, you know, I admire people with that skillset who can live that way. Mm-hmm. Uh, live independently, not worry about bills, not worry about, you know, the status quo. Yeah. They just. Living. Living. Yeah. It's their best life.
Like they on an island somewhere. Right? Yeah. But were they just missing the beach and the palm trees? Right.
Kristie: I think that's something to think about when we think about the, the homeless or the unhoused, is that it's not what we think. Oftentimes we think it's someone that's on drugs and, and not that that's not the case sometimes, but a lot of times our unhoused population are older adults.
Mm-hmm. Or their families. Mm-hmm. There's families every single day with kids. There's moms, there's dads with kids. So definitely thinking about the diversity of how we house people, how it has to look different, how it has to feel different, and really changing the stigma of [00:13:00] homelessness. So when you say we walk over and because we walk over 'em, because we figured you were on drugs.
Exactly. And that's why you laying out in front of that building, not because you chose it, because you chose not to be in the system or that life happened. Mm-hmm.
Phyllis: You think about the, the young lady who just lost her two children. Mm-hmm. Right? Because they froze to death, right? Mm-hmm. A working mom, right?
Yeah. She's working, she's tried all the systems. She's reached out to all the systems that was supposed to help her, failed her. They failed her, right? Mm-hmm. Because there are, there's not enough adequate housing, and that's what we should have said. Yeah. There's not enough adequate housing to place these people in who needs, who's sincerely looking for a place to stay and can afford the place to stay.
Mm-hmm. If there was enough public housing, she could have moved into public housing. Her and her five children and her mom. Yep. And this wouldn't have happened. But the truth of the matter is there is not enough space for that. Yeah. And so, you know, she's not somebody on drugs. She's not somebody who was in the casino.
Mm-hmm. She didn't leave her children in the car. All of 'em was in the car [00:14:00] together. And these two just happened to have froze. So, you know, when we think about the homeless, when we think about housing, you know, we are building all of these great, uh, apartments here in the city of Detroit, but. They say that, you know, uh, you save a percentage of 'em for, um, low income.
Well, that a MI is 80%. Mm-hmm. 80% you're paying 15, $1,600. Right. If you could pay 15, $1,600, you can probably find a place pretty good. Mm-hmm. But if you can only afford six or $700, if you are on SSI, you're getting $800. Mm-hmm. Right. You can't afford that. So we really need to begin to think outside of the box of what can we do?
To provide adequate housing for the folks that really need it.
Kristie: So what does that well-balanced and accessible housing system look like? What does it look like holistically and what does it specifically look like for our aging population?
Phyllis: For our aging population, it's uh, maybe we need shared housing where it's not necessarily they can live in, they wanna live in an apartment alone.
Sometimes people wanna have company, right? But there [00:15:00] is no one, because one of the things that happens is the older you get, the more your friends and your relatives a transition out of life. And so you want to have a space where you have someone there, a shared housing arrangement. We need to build cottages, right?
The smaller. Cottages. We have the tiny homes at which mm-hmm. Also be included, but there's something just a little bit smaller to just give people that leg up to get them off the street. Mm-hmm. Uh, I think they've done it in, in, I don't know, I don't wanna say Baltimore. I don't think it was Baltimore.
Boston. Boston, yeah. Boston. Mm-hmm. They've done it in Boston and it's shown to be, uh, approved to be a great thing that they've done. Mm-hmm. They're looking and expanding that to someplace else. And with all the land that we have around the city of Detroit. We can do this, right? Uh, we could be that model city that takes that, that initiative to say, Hey, look, we're gonna house our people and this is how we're gonna do it, uh, working with the federal government.
Well, we hope we can work with the federal government. Well, we don't know what it might look like right now because everybody's still uncertain because of all the executive orders that are going on, but [00:16:00] certainly, you know, looking at how we can really create something that can be modeled throughout this.
Throughout the country, and not only throughout our country, but these people are experiencing homelessness all over this, all over this world. Whether I was in Belize or Panama, everywhere I went, I saw homeless. You know, I make it a point just to go to the real world, uh, not just the tourist sites, right?
And because that's what we do. We go places we go to where the tourists go. But I like to go to the real world where people see how people are living, see how people are really living. And one of the things that was fascinating to me in Panama was that, um. Our current president has a building there, but there's a wall in between, uh, his building and they've covered it up with trees and stuff, but behind those trees are where the, uh, uh, Panamanians live.
And so it's just amazing because when they built it, they also cut off. Part of the access to the ocean. Mm. And so they have to wait [00:17:00] until night to go fishing now, because the tide doesn't come in until night. So in the daytime, their boats are just sitting in the mud. So, wow. When we talk about things, we need to really talk about like, what's really happening to poor people or people of color, or, you know, homeless people.
Uh, you know, not all homeless people are people of color.
Kristie: Yeah.
Phyllis: Uh, not all homeless people are, you know, are poor, and some of them have income, they just can't spend it because there's nowhere to spend it at. Mm-hmm.
Antonia: And as more older adults choose to age in place, what housing models or initiatives have you seen that provide innovative solutions for seniors and caregivers?
I know you talked about tiny homes and things like that, but what, what else have you seen those?
Phyllis: Well, actually, the, uh, senior living facilities, uh, if they're well managed are great. I think that you have to make sure that the management company has an understanding of what it is that you expect as an owner.
Is it something that. We've done at [00:18:00] Bridging. I made it clear my rule of thumb is if I don't wanna live there, nobody else wants to live there either. Mm-hmm. Making sure that they understand that it's, it is a priority, that it's clean, that it's people are, have the resources that they need. So bringing resources into the building that's needed.
Talking about pain management, medicine management, making sure that they have resources. And then the, the thing about it too is someone keeping an eye on them. Right? So whether it's other residents or whether it's the management company. Because as people age, sometimes they, the, their greatest fear is going into long-term care facility.
Mm-hmm. And there's a real reason why they don't want to go there. Right. I have a friend there, and I, if it wasn't for us being there every other day, checking on her, there's no telling what her situation would be. But, uh, sometimes they can no longer live independently in those facilities. Mm-hmm. And so there has to be a plan for transition out of those facilities, and they have to come to terms with that.
Where they want to go. Um, and there's never really a conversation around which [00:19:00] long-term care physical facilities might be best for them. Right. You heard of the Homes for Mom. I think it's homes for moms and moms. Moms for, yeah.
Kristie: Mm-hmm.
Phyllis: Something like that, that actually sit down and have a conversation.
Mm-hmm. Well, that conversation needs to be had with everybody because truth doesn't matter is if you don't have a caregiver and you can't take care of yourself, you can't stay at an independent living facility.
Kristie: What about in that ideal around innovation? Talk a little bit about your solo ages and the solo homes that you have a team of people that you've been talking to about that, that concept around solo aging.
Phyllis: Well, a lot of people, uh, don't have children and so as they age, they are living along. Um, the homes are quite large and so they want to transition out. We call it the missing middle, right? Mm-hmm. Uh, and so now we are looking at building homes that are a little larger than the tiny homes, but not as large as a home that might [00:20:00] be two or three bedrooms for a larger family.
Uh, and putting those in a situation where in Baltimore, they're in, they, they've had probably had about 12 or 13 of those homes in a circle so that the. All the doors face the middle of that circle, face the circle so that when people, uh, are outside, they see each other. Because one of the things we do now, and I call it the de socialization of America, right?
We built these great big, fabulous homes. People don't socialize anymore, right? They drive into their garage. The automatic garage door. Drive into the garage, close the door, the lawn man, we don't mow our grass anymore. The lawn man come do our lawn while we at work. Uh, children go in their rooms and close the door.
You don't know what's going on in there. There's no sitting down at the family table anymore, like mm-hmm. And so it was the de socialization to me of America. Right. Especially with these phones and apparatuses that we have, but now we need to get back to just socializing with [00:21:00] each other. I had a group of youth who we were teaching about elders in the home.
Right. And so we put on the little greasy glasses so they couldn't see, plug their ears up. Mm-hmm. Uh, tied their legs. So they had to walk a different way. Right. And they really began to understand the challenges of seniors. That seniors have. And so we don't talk about that to our younger people. We act like it's way over here.
Mm-hmm. But they need to know, because a lot of our, our teens or younger people become caregivers to their grandparents. Or their parents, right? Uh, sooner than what it should be. But that's just life. And so they have to know how to deal with all of that and understand that. But we are, um, we, we continue to try to find innovative ways to, to address the issues of the missing middle, smaller homes, then leaving their homes free for our larger families, and then building that social fabric while they still young enough, 55, right.
I remember when I thought 55 I was old, but it's not, [00:22:00] now that I'm, now that I'm past 55, I wish I was 55. Right. But, uh, knowing, knowing that, uh, you know, that we are gonna age, like I said, if living is your priority, age is your destiny, right? And so knowing that we have to plan for that, but, uh, we've left out that that group of folks.
Missing middle folks. Those single people who didn't have children who want to transition out, don't wanna live in an apartment building, don't, is not ready to live in long-term care, but just want something smaller. Mm-hmm. Uh, and so we, we and wanna be in a community where they can build that social fabric as they age, they all age together.
Right. Um, and so that's what we are working on. That's what we are hoping to, to develop sooner rather than later, um, to address that.
Antonia: I have another question too, a little bit off topic, but I know that you know about senior housing and apartments for those older [00:23:00] adults that choose to live in apartments, do you have any comments about older adults living in senior housing, living in a community, maybe going from a house?
You know, they couldn't stay there and now they have to live in a community and get along with. All of those in a community.
Phyllis: The thing about living in whether you are senior or whether you are a person, when you transition from living independently to living in a building with I would say 79 other people, it's difficult 'cause one, you're not used to seeing people every day.
Mm-hmm. You see people every day. Two, you're not used to, you're only used to your own smells. You're not used to smells. Mm-hmm. Uh, coming outta all the other apartments. You are not used to some people being very nice and some people being very hostile. You used to your own way of doing things and now you have to be accommodating to all everyone, right?[00:24:00]
And so it's not an easy journey for some, some adapt more readily than others. But the, the thing about it is if you're gonna live somewhere, you have to remember, I remember, uh, one of the guys that. Was he around when skimming was doing their good neighborhood? He would say, in order to have community, you have to be community, right?
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. And so you, if you wanna live in a space that you want to be S safe, you want to be welcoming, you have to create that. We just had to let someone out of our resident, I wouldn't say Vic, but I would say let someone transition out of our resident because he was meeting his needs with. Some of the women of the evening, but when his knees were met, the women of the evening did not leave the building.
So he got fair warning time and time again. But, you know, those are the things that you encounter. You know, you don't want strangers that [00:25:00] you're doing three or four o'clock in the morning. Yeah. Uh, and so security costs are high, right? You have cameras, you see things going on. You address it that way. And moving from a house to an apartment is always.
A challenge in and of itself. Mm-hmm. Because you, you don't have to downsize the smallest space, but living with, I would say it's a 80 unit apartment, living with 79 other folks is not easy. I think about, I'm not married 'cause I don't think I can live with another person every day, all day.
Kristie: You ain't leaving, you still here.
Yeah. It's you again this morning. Don't you have somewhere to
Phyllis: be? No, but you know, so it's like, you know, you have to make those adjustments and, and some people make 'em well and some people don't. Right. But like I say, and then. When you're living with someone. The other thing is somebody, you might be nice and neat and clean, but the person next door to you, you might not be right.
Mm-hmm.
Phyllis: And so you're having to deal with that. Um, you're not supposed to be smoking in the building, but after [00:26:00] five people do things that we have to address the next day. Right. So and so with smoking building and then there's the, um. The mentality, right? Mm-hmm. Of the people living in there, right? You have some folks who are mature enough to deal with it, and then you have some folks who act like they're still in junior high school, right?
Mm-hmm. So, you know, all of that comes into play in the building, but. The, the rule of thumb for me is if I didn't wanna live there, nobody else wants to live there, so I try to make them as comfortable as possible, and you have to work closely with the management company to make sure they understand that.
Antonia: Just transitioning a little bit to housing justice, and that's not something that can be solved by one organization alone. What role does community collaboration play in ensuring equitable housing for aging populations?
Phyllis: Well, I can just tell you what Bridging does, right? One of the things, a couple things we have are community meetings to educate residents on what's available.
Uh, because oftentimes people know that they [00:27:00] don't know what's available in their community as it relates to even. A rehab or, uh, services that they may need. Um, just last this week right, we had major flooding in southwest Detroit.
Yeah.
Phyllis: Um, you know, those people were not prepared for that flood. I don't think anybody's prepared for a flood.
Right. Yeah. Especially of that magnitude. And so, you know, knowing what resources are available, community. Organizations have come together and you know, we are collecting water and, and clothing and things that they may need, but the city's also doing a great job right now too, in terms of that. But we all know that as time passes, the next issue rises.
Mm-hmm. Then they move on to the next issue. So what we have to do is to ensure that we continue to support the families that we're impacted by it. Continue to support families and homeowners who are impacted by, you know, all the things that come our way. Uh, they wanna say it, maybe it's climate change, maybe it's just the way the weather is.
We don't know. Mm-hmm. Continue to provide those resources, educate the community, [00:28:00] connect them to connect them to those resources, uh, help them apply for those resources, filling out applications, making sure we live in a very diverse culture. Now, people don't wanna realize that, but we need things in different languages, right?
Everything that Bridging does is in three languages, English, Arabic, and Spanish. And so we have to make sure that they understand what it is, have translators there, uh, so they can understand what exactly what's happening. They don't have to guess or try to figure that out. It's just a matter of just common courtesy.
The same thing you would want everybody else wants too. I always tell people that, um, you know, Maya Angelou says we're more alike than not alike, right? Mm-hmm. So if you think about the things we eat, rice, beans, chicken. Beef, right? It's all the same rice, chicken, beans, beef beans, and beef. However, it is the seasonings that goes in it that makes it taste different.
And so we all want the same things. A great home to live in. Education, a great place for our kids to get educated. Great jobs. We wanna do it on our own. We wanna do it ourselves, but [00:29:00] sometimes we don't provide those tools, uh, necessary for people to do that.
Kristie: So. Phyllis, I know you from bridging communities.
I wonder why you know an amazing place that does great work. It's a great example of how organizations make a real impact and I really, really mean that 'cause I've seen it. Great group of people, wonderful team there. Can you share a short story of someone whose life was changed by access to stable housing through bridging
Phyllis: or a similar program?
Well, there's a resident that volunteered with us. We didn't know her housing condition. We only knew that she was a wonderful person that came to volunteer at Bridging. Right. She liked bridging and wanted to spend time there. Mm-hmm. Come to find out that, um, she applied for one of our rehab programs and it included a roof.
When we went out to do the inspection, she got very emotional and her family [00:30:00] wasn't coming over. Grandkids wasn't coming over because her roof was terrible. She had buckets everywhere, catching rain, uh, was afraid that the walls was gonna fall in and so she was able to get a roof. Uh, not only was she able to get a roof, I think we gave her a HVAC too, and it made all the difference in the world for her.
Um, matter of fact, she's become one of our greatest advocates. She was at our spirit of the New Year, which started back this year, and she gave testimony to how. It made a difference in her life. Mm-hmm. And so, um, sometimes we take for granted, um, that people are living well just 'cause they're out being sociable, but we never know the conditions that people are living in until we actually see it for ourselves.
Yeah. And like I said, I've seen a unbelievable things infestations where I thought it was the wall, but it was actually infestation of some things. Uh, I've walked in and seen the floor. I walked in and saw [00:31:00] cords running all across the, the floor. Trying to connect to an electrical socket with, you know, that's in and of itself is dangerous.
Mm-hmm. Could start fires, um, doors with gaps in it, that anything could come in and under it. So, you know, uh, people may be in houses. But it's not the house that they should be in or could, it needs significant improvements mm-hmm. For it to, for it to really make a difference. And as we talk about health issues, all these things impact health.
Uh, whether you are extremely cold or extremely hot or, you know, like I said, you have infestations and things like that. So, um, a home should be a place where you go and you are there and you, like I said, you're comfortable. You have all I, I think about my house, you know. And I tell people all the time that I'm with people who live in their houses.
You have running water, you have adequate lights, you have heat, you have air, uh, you're blessed. Mm-hmm. Because, and we take it for granted, but I guarantee you [00:32:00] that the people that lost their homes in the fires, in the floods, whether it was Canada, whether it was Hollywood, they don't take homes for granted it.
Mm-hmm. Very true.
Kristie: So Phyllis, you've worked on housing policy at both the local and national levels. What policies do you believe are most critical to ensuring equitable housing access for older adults?
Phyllis: Well, certainly, um, any policy around hud, um, because HUD is a big, uh, financial funder for, uh, quality housing.
Um. But the thing about it is what I've found most fascinating people will vote in national elections, but a lot of decisions are made in local elections. And so we in Detroit, have an election coming up. People need to get out and vote in your local election because those are the people who make decisions about your city, uh, and have influence in what, where that money is going.
And [00:33:00] so I would just say, and then be involved. Know who your local politicians are, know who your state politicians are, know who your national politicians are. Have conversation with them about what's needed in your community, and don't let up just because they say, okay, call 'em on a regular basis and say, what are you doing about this?
What are you doing about that? Um. You just have to, uh, be vigilant about contacting your, your, your representatives and art and articulating to them what it is that you need in your community, especially around housing, especially because we disregard seniors so adamantly it doesn't make sense to me.
Here we are, you know, we are still giving back, we're still volunteering, we're still doing the things that we, we have always done, but yet you dismiss us as irrelevant, and that's not acceptable to me.
Antonia: Phyllis, many of our listeners may be wanting to get involved in those housing policy issues. What are some specific policies or [00:34:00] initiatives they should support to improve housing access for seniors and
Phyllis: caregivers?
I don't know the number of the policies that are currently, um, of, uh, being promoted, but what I do know is there are always some out there, and so I would just say, as I just previously said, contact your local legislative. Mm-hmm. Contact your city council and ask them what are they working on as it relates to senior housing.
Uh, I know that the city was very adamant about preserving affordable housing. Current afford the current affordable housing stock, and they've invested quite a bit of money into doing that. But also, I know that there's something that needs to continue and call your state legislator and ask them what they're doing at the state level and the federal as well.
I know congresswoman. Rashida Lib has a housing, uh, committee that she works on, that she always seeks input from local leaders as to what she needs to do at the federal level for the state of Michigan. Just continue to reach out. That's, that's the best way I can say and learn what policies are on the book.[00:35:00]
Kristie: So Phyllis, what's your hopes for the future? What do you hope for around housing Justice specifically for the aging population?
Phyllis: I hope that we begin to honor our aging population for the wisdom, for the, uh, sacrifices they've made for us to be here, uh, to be able to live the kinda life that we currently live.
I pray that everyone, uh, have a place to stay. A, not just a place to stay, but a quality place to stay that they can call home. I hope that we. Continue to decrease the number of homelessness, uh, in, in, in our country, in our city. And I pray that, um, seniors, when they are in their living facilities, if it's an apartment building, that they actually, uh, come together so that they voice could be united to address the issues that's impacting them the most.
Because as I told the seniors at [00:36:00] Pablo Davis, our Elder living center, you know, I'm here from eight to five. You guys here the rest of the time. You don't lift up your voice and say, what's going on and what's needed, I can't address it. You know, uh, we have protocols in place, uh, that they have to follow for sure, because we don't want everybody just running over to bridging communities.
Mm-hmm. Because we are paying a management company to do a job. So there's things in place, but, you know, just being able to unite their voices. One of the places that I like. 83 30 on the river. I don't know if you've ever heard of it. Mm-hmm. I've seen mm-hmm. 83 30 on the river. They have an awesome, awesome resident council.
Mm-hmm. Uh, and they do awesome things in the building without, I mean, in management knows about these things, but they've taken on a lot to do mm-hmm. For themselves and taken care of the building and the residents that come in, um, every building should go and see that model. And, and, uh, try to, uh, duplicate it in their building because it makes a big difference.
Um, it's a difference in mindset. It's a difference in [00:37:00] wellness. It's different in stress release, right? Mm-hmm. Um, and so I just think that, uh, lifting up their voices and being able to advocate for themselves.
Antonia: If listeners want to support the work you're doing or access resources from bridging communities, where can they go?
Phyllis,
Phyllis: you can come to 6900 McGraw Detroit, Michigan, 4 8 2 1 0. That's our office building. You can call 3 1 3 3 6 1 6 3 7 7. Again, that's 3 1 3 3 6 1 6 3 7 7. You can go to our website, www.bridgingcommunities.org. One of those three will get you to us.
Kristie: Phyllis, we thank you for joining us today and sharing your expertise.
Your work is truly making a difference in the lives of so many
Antonia: into our listeners. If you found today's conversation helpful, please subscribe. Leave us a review and share this episode with caregivers and advocates in your community. For more resources and [00:38:00] updates, follow us on social media or visit www.scmirc.org.
You can also reach us at info@miseniors.org or call 8 8 8 3 4 1 8 5 9 3. To learn more about Neighborhood Legal Services Michigan, the Elder Law and Advocacy Center, visit www dot nls. michigan.org or call 3 1 3 9 3 7 8 2 9 1. Until next time,
Kristie: take care and keep caring.