Diocese offers seniors choices on apartments

As retirees age, "a lot of seniors [who are homeowners] get to the point where it's too much for them," said Byrl Moore, marketing director and HUD (Housing and Urban Development) compliance director for DePaul Housing Management Corporation.

DePaul, a non-profit corporation sponsored by the Diocese, runs a dozen subsidized housing facilities for seniors and persons with disabilities.

Secure and independent

With 12 independent and assisted-living facilities scattered around the Diocese (and a 13th set to open in 2003), Ms. Moore said DePaul also offers many seniors the opportunity to keep living in their own towns.

"People who are living in the general neighborhood are the people who move into our buildings," she remarked. When seniors call DePaul for information on housing, the first question employees usually ask is, "Where are you living now?"

For example, Ms. Moore said that St. Vincent's Apartments in Albany tends to attract "city people." Rensselaer residents are usually the ones drawn to the Branson Manor Senior Apartments there. "Nobody [in Albany] would cross the river," Ms. Moore joked.

The director said that seniors who opt to move into a DePaul housing facility usually take comfort in having secure buildings, buses to shopping and the like, and "friendly and helpful neighbors."

Best of all, she said, after decades of working to keep up a home, "you don't have to worry about shoveling snow any more, and if the sink is dripping, you just make a call" to have it fixed.

(06-27-02) [[In-content Ad]]