Ministry Partners in Senior Housing

Catholic Health Association
Catholic Charities USA

A Shared Vision for Service

Providing high-quality housing for aging persons is a ministry of the Church that embraces both health and social services. To carry out this mission for seniors, the Catholic Health Association of the United States and Catholic Charities USA have developed a shared ministry vision:

• A decent and safe home for all aging persons
• Aging persons remaining in the community and in their homes for as long as possible
• Aging persons living in the least restrictive setting practical in light of their needs and wishes
• The integration of needed health and social services in senior housing programs
• Special concern for low-income, frail, and other vulnerable aging persons

This vision for senior housing is rooted in shared ministry values and beliefs:

• Profound respect for the dignity of each person, with special concern for poor and vulnerable persons
• Belief that development of life requires proper food, shelter, a safe environment, meaningful work or activity, and health
• Understanding that wholeness in health requires not only physical health but also emotional, spiritual, and social well-being
• Concern for the common good and belief that persons, as social beings, are sustained and nourished through others in the community
• Commitment to stewardship of resources, recognizing that public and personal resources are limited and must be used wisely

Catholic Charities agencies and Catholic healthcare providers can continue this ministry by advocating for and creating high-quality housing programs for low- and moderate-income aging persons.

Catholic healthcare comprises the largest segment of not-for-profit healthcare providers under single sponsorship. Catholic healthcare organizations have knowledge and experience in delivering healthcare services to individuals and groups in the community. This expertise includes preventing and postponing illness and disability, as well as treating acute and chronic illness.

Catholic Charities agencies comprise the largest network of social service programs. These agencies have knowledge and experience in all aspects of social services, including counseling, mental health, and aging services. Catholic Charities agencies provide tens of thousands of units of emergency, transitional, supportive, and permanent housing for low-income persons.

The collective strengths of these two expressions of the Church today make for a strong ministry collaboration. Both have achieved excellence in their spheres, providing high-quality services, demonstrating creativity and innovation, and displaying management competencies. Both have formed effective partnerships with public and private organizations to augment their services and have marshalled significant philanthropic and volunteer efforts. Catholic Charities and Catholic health organizations include respected community leaders among their directors, executives, and trustees.

Catholic Charities and Catholic healthcare providers recognize that other ministry partners are often key to the development of high-quality housing programs. These include parishes, dioceses, schools, religious congregations, and Catholic organizations such as the McAuley Institute and Mercy Housing, as well as other faith-based groups.

Current events may be viewed as providing even greater incentives toward ministry collaboration between Catholic Charities and Catholic health organizations, particularly in the area of senior housing initiatives.

The focus of Catholic healthcare is changing because of a combination of factors, including the aging of the population, an increase in the incidence of chronic illness, and the growth of managed care. The Catholic health ministry is moving beyond acute care into the full continuum of care, serving persons throughout their lives and illnesses.

Similarly, the focus of Catholic Charities agencies' work is evolving. In addition to their work with families and children, many Catholic Charities agencies are responding to the needs of the aging population and pressures from managed care organizations by forming partnerships with private and public organizations to better serve individuals through a continuum of care.

The numbers of frail and chronically ill aging persons are creating a growing need for supportive housing programs. Sons and daughters of very old persons are aging themselves and are often unable to provide needed support and shelter. Public agencies are limiting their participation in housing programs. Although assisted living and other health-related housing is the most rapidly expanding segment of the for-profit long-term care field, private developers target most of their facilities to upper-income seniors.

Taken together, these forces impacting health, social, and housing services for aging persons encourage a renewed expression of this shared ministry of Jesus. Through housing services, Catholic health and charities organizations and other church providers can respond to emerging community needs, contributing to the development of a comprehensive, integrated continuum of care.

Some housing initiatives Catholic Charities and Catholic health organizations may be involved in include:

• Creating affordable housing services for low- and moderate-income aging persons with integrated health and social services to promote health, autonomy, and well-being of residents
• Developing innovative social and health services in housing programs, such as the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE), adult day care, mental health services, and nutrition programs
• Providing housing counseling to patients in Catholic health organizations and clients of Catholic Charities programs
• Leveraging fiscal and human resources from within their own and other Church ministries to bring new capital and other assets to senior housing programs
• Building on the strengths of the broader Church to help frail and chronically ill aging persons

In a recent letter to their respective members, the presidents of the Catholic Health Association and Catholic Charities USA wrote:

"When Catholic Charities and Catholic healthcare organizations come together, the whole is truly more than the sum of the parts. It is this potential for wholeness in our ministry and services that collaboration offers."

This opportunity of ministry wholeness through service to persons in need is found in supportive housing services for aging persons. Our organizations look forward to successful collaborative efforts in the years ahead.

Principles for Catholic-Sponsored Assisted Living and Senior Housing*

Catholic Charities USA and the Catholic Health Association of the United States are committed to the provision of high-quality housing for aging persons through assisted living and other supportive housing services. For Catholic-sponsored health and social service organizations, providing housing for aging persons is an expression of the healing ministry of Jesus. It is an opportunity to respond to the social, economic, and health needs of vulnerable persons by providing safe and secure environments that nurture the spirit and body and encourage dignity and personal growth.

These principles for Catholic-sponsored assisted living and senior housing services reflect Catholic Charities' and the Catholic Health Association's shared vision of senior housing services. They are based on these organizations' commonly held beliefs and values and are grounded in Catholic social teaching.

It is hoped that these principles will be useful to:

• Catholic-sponsored organizations as they embark on senior housing programs
• Persons in the general public as they seek housing programs for themselves and for members of their families
• Benefactors as they consider supporting Catholic-sponsored housing projects and want to know what distinguishes these programs from other, particularly commercial, housing programs

Holistic Care:
Catholic-sponsored senior housing programs are developed with the understanding that persons have physical, emotional, social, and spiritual needs.

Senior housing programs recognize the richness and fullness of each person by:

• Integrating healthcare and other support services to include transportation, nutrition programs, recreational activities, counseling, and to meet individuals' needs
• Providing high-quality pastoral care to minister to the religious and spiritual needs of persons of differing faiths and traditions
• Providing a full continuum of services by forming partnerships and collaborative relationships with other organizations sharing their mission and values
• Offering hospitality to residents, their visitors, and members of the community by creating a place where persons want to live, visit, and hold community activities

Respect for Life:
Catholic-sponsored senior housing services respect the inherent dignity of persons, recognizing that all are created in the image and likeness of God.

Senior housing programs honor the dignity of each person by:

• Encouraging personal choice in decisions about where to live, daily activities, participation in programs and services, and healthcare treatment
• Not discriminating against any person for whom the organizations can provide appropriate and needed services
• Recognizing that aging persons are entitled to continue to develop personally and can contribute to the community at all stages of their lives, even in their frailty and illness
• Delivering compassionate services, especially to persons who are seriously and terminally ill, making accommodation in whatever ways possible to help these persons remain comfortable and in their own residences
• Providing a work environment where all staff members are treated with justice and respect

Social Accountability/Community Responsiveness:
Catholic-sponsored senior housing programs are concerned about the needs of communities and individual persons within communities.

Senior housing programs demonstrate community responsiveness by:

• Developing and adapting residential and community outreach programs in response to current and evolving community needs
• Subsidizing services and reaching out to low-income and other vulnerable persons to the degree allowed by the sponsor's financial resources
• Welcoming and serving persons who reflect the cultural diversity of the community
• Including representatives of the community in governing and/or advisory bodies
• Collaborating with public and private organizations to address the needs of older persons in the community

Stewardship:
Catholic-sponsored organizations are good stewards of limited resources.

Senior housing programs demonstrate responsible stewardship by:

• Developing programs only after careful assessment demonstrates the service is needed
• Sharing facilities and resources with other community organizations when possible
• Engaging other Church ministries to identify volunteer, philanthropic, and other resources to enrich services with minimum program costs and costs to program users
• Developing approaches for cost-effective and efficient services that meet the evolving needs of the population served

Catholic Identity:
Catholic-sponsored organizations are ministries of the Church.

Senior housing programs are part of a broad healing ministry that includes Catholic health and social service organizations, parishes, schools, and other church-sponsored programs. Their identity as a Church ministry is evidenced by:

• Understanding and describing the organization as a ministry of the Catholic Church
• Ensuring that all employees deliver services in a way that reflects the organization's mission and values
• Developing policies to assure that the organization's decisions and programs are grounded in the organization's values and the Church's moral tradition
• Transforming economic and political conditions and social structures by advocating for just public policies, particularly for vulnerable persons

*Approved by the Boards of Trustees of the Catholic Health Association of the United States and of Catholic Charities USA