banner_meadows.GIF (11561 bytes)

a a a a a The Meadows gray_end.GIF (846 bytes)
meadows.JPG (20920 bytes)
Date Opened:

                     Summer 1992

 Location: Battle Dance Drive, San Jose
Financing:  Construction financing by           Affordable Housing Program     
Grant, First Nationwide Bank,
San Jose Housing Department   
Permanent financing by         
California Department of
Housing and Community
Development (Proposition 84),
Federal Home Loan Bank
Affordable Housing Program
 Grant, and San Jose
Housing Department		 Cost: $2,750,000
  Size: 41-unit apartment development
  Qualified Tennants Senior citizens (62+)
     

Independence For Senior Citizens

When Community Housing Developers (CHD) told Eva that she would be the first tenant to move into the new senior development, she wept tears of joy. At 74, she knew she couldn’t afford the high rents that most places wanted. Still fairly active and independent, she didn’t want to go to a retirement home; she longed for an affordable home within a warm community.

In 1991, CHD planned a special residence to meet the needs of these senior citizens. Not just satisfied with developing the buildings, CHD set out to create a warm, caring community for people just like Eva.

The Meadows, a 41-unit development, exceeded CHD’s expectations. After the development of the buildings, CHD’s office received numerous calls to volunteer for support services (basic medical, shopping, transportation, beauty salon, etc.). With such an infrastructure, tenants of The Meadows can live a fairly independent lifestyle and still be part of a community.

Eva was just one of the many senior citizens who reached their retirement years without adequate resources to meet their needs. From 1980 to 1990, the number of people in Santa Clara County age 65-74 increased by 19.7%; age 75-84 years, by 13.6%; and 85 years and older, by 48.4%. Housing options are limited and, at the current market rate, inaccessible to many seniors on fixed incomes.

Certainly, as the American population grows older, housing for senior citizens will continue to be a public concern. The problem of living on fixed income in a housing market whose costs increase above the annual rate of inflation can be very difficult. Even those senior citizens who are well-prepared for their retirement can still have their savings seriously depleted as the result of one lengthy illness. In addition to housing needs, seniors lack supportive services that enable them to be independent.

Putting it together:
The Meadows and The Grove

Many seniors prefer to live in an age-integrated community with family, friends and neighbors. However, major increases in the costs of housing threaten their ability to continue to live in neighborhoods where they may have spent substantial parts of their lives and within which they feel comfortable and secure.

CHD wanted to create a complete inter-generational community by joining together children, parents and the elderly. The opportunity to build The Grove right across the street from the existing Meadows was ideal. The integration of families and seniors provide just the type of community that both groups want.

Senior citizens at The Meadows were excited to hear that a childcare facility was being planned for The Grove, CHD’s development for large and single-parent families. Having the facility on site meant that the children would be well cared for . . . by the tenants of The Meadows themselves! On their own initiative, many senior citizens volunteered to provide childcare, filling the traditional role of grandparents. The Grove-Meadows development truly offers their tenants an integrated, cooperative community.

At The Meadows, Eva truly found the home that she envisioned. Active in the development’s activities (planned by the resident manager who is a senior citizen herself), she lives an active and full life enriched by the Meadows-Grove community.