"Daisy" #03

"I plan on living in that apartment until they carry me out. That's my plan. It may not work out that way." When asked if she has any interest in going into an assisted living facility, she says, "Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no. No, I can take care of myself. As long as I can take care of my own personal self, that's good enough."

"Evelyn" #22

The couple's hope and goal in aging is to age in place. They don't want to be in a long-term care facility. They cared for the wife's mother for ten years when she got sick and was on oxygen for years. "We want to age in place in this little hovel you got us in.... That would be a goal, a definite goal.... I don't want to be in a long-term care facility. I know what they're like.... His mother was in nursing care.... His mother... had three daughters.... She was very, very sad at the end of her life because none of them would take her in.... Her mother was on oxygen for the last X number of years."

"Genevieve" #46

"I jointly owned a home with someone.... I technically was kind of forced out of my house. You can't sell half a house. So I was forced to move. Okay, so you begin hunting for a home that you weren't expecting to hunt for. This is what happened. And when we landed, this was where we landed. My grandmother's side of the family all lived in this little town though. So it's not like I moved to a foreign town. It's just I never expected to live here. It's just where I ended up.... I don't want to have to relocate again. I'm hoping that I can stay here the rest of my life."

"Miguel" #06

He would like to grow old in his home and rest. He enjoys growing old. "Aging is, is the law of life. I like it.... I like it because it's the law. There's only one who knows when and how he will call us, but I like it. Just as we were born small, we also end up like children again."

"Yaqi" #03

"I hope [policymakers know] what we elderly need most. Also what our medical and daily needs are. For example, language needs.... There are some questions I want to ask [policymakers], like how will they handle things when we get old? For example, when we are really old, is it a condition that we can only go to nursing homes? Can we age at home? Like the government now sends caregivers.... to your home to help you with housework, cook meals, do things like that. But now, generally, if you are really incapable, they can only send you to a nursing home. But I know many elderly don't really want to go to nursing homes. They still want to stay at their own homes, apply for caregivers or something. But now they say it's hard to apply for caregivers. The government is quite strict."

"Daisy" #08

She and her sister talk about the difficulties of getting older, particularly regarding taking care of their homes. She says, "You think I could get up and clean this table up,... do my dishes, and throw in a load of clothes? Well, I can't. I can pick one.... I mean, I used to be able to clean my house in an hour. Now I can get started in an hour." Her sister agrees, "My house looks like an absolute bomb went off, and I can get about three things done and then I've got to go sit down because I'm too tired. Or my back hurts and I just hate it. I just feel useless."

"Eleanor" #11

"You know, physically, I just can't do a lot of things. I had to adjust like feeding the animals, they were all around the farm. I used to walk it. Well, I fell one time. And there was nothing around. I can't do my knees anymore. I physically cannot get on my knees. It hurts so bad. And then I can't push myself up. So, my son, like I said, we had cameras. For some weird reason... he picked that day to check his cameras and there I was trying to roll over to a ladder to pull myself up so I could get up off the ground. And so he came up the next day and bought me an Apple Watch that has the fall detection on it so if I fall I can call for help if I need to."

"Evelyn" #18

The couple has lived in their current house for 11 years. Her husband says, "We're here going on 11 years now.... We downsized in 2013.... We didn't need the big house anymore." She adds, "It was actually a good move because we had about half an acre. It was a lot of work and it was more house than we needed." Her husband adds, "We probably would have stayed if we didn't have an in-ground swimming pool.... Nobody used it anymore and I had to take care of it all the time."

"Jason" #19

"[It's] an old apartment. It's not ADA-compliant. I struggle daily to get to the things I need to get to, but I make it happen because that's who I am. I keep myself busy. I try to go out every day, help the homeless. I have a blower. I clean sidewalks, whatever I can do to help raise funds to help them."

"Konnor" #19

The building type is an important aspect of aging well. "Where I live you think about steps. Living on one level.... [In] Pittsburgh, everything's three stories, steps. [My parents] had steps to go down to the house, and then they had three levels. At one point my mother was insistent on building an addition to the house and putting a bedroom and a bathroom on the first floor. She did that and immediately had a stroke.... That was an early lesson to me to be able to live on one level. And so, [in] my last relationship I talked a lot about not living in a house and so she bought an apartment and then a lake house and the lake house was great because it was all on one level.... [It's] also, you know, walkability for shopping and... food shopping and that kind of thing."

"Lydia" #01

"Hindsight is 20/20 in that we have two bathrooms, but they're both downstairs, and so our bedrooms are upstairs, and that is not a good thing for people. And I have had both my knees replaced. And so consequently, we've had beds in the living room a couple of different times because he's had two back surgeries. Well, I've had three back surgeries and my knees replaced and he's had two back surgeries. So different times we've had beds in the room because we had to have access to the bathroom.... That is a problem. When you're young, you don't think about those things. I think it's being thought about more now than it used to be, but we never even considered that when we're redoing the house."

"Sherrie" #02

"[I want the government to understand that] if you own a house, if you stay in a hurricane place... insurance is just out of the way for these people. If it weren't for me and him pulling money together, he couldn't do it on his own because they don't give him enough money to do it. If I didn't own this house, and the way rent is now, his money couldn't make it."

"Sophia" #12

"My daughter wants to get her own home. So, I don't want to be left there because there's no one. It's on 2.5 acres of land, so it's peaceful. I wouldn't want to be out there and someone come around trying to bother me because I'm an elderly person or something... They probably may not hear me scream unless they was out in the yard.... Yes, I'm concerned about [my safety]. I don't want to be left alone like that."

"Sophia" #17

She had a home built in 2002. "When we came back home in 2002, we had it built.... I can't keep it clean like I want to. My yard, I can't keep it up like I would love to. And so I have to hire someone to do it. My son does a little bit, but it's kind of shabby work. So, to get it done like I want it done, I have to get someone else to do it. But otherwise, my home is what I really need. And as I grow older, I want to have that peace of mind to get my home paid for. I'm not finished paying for it yet."

"April" #07

"I miss my friends, and I miss my family.... You know, I'm just kind of stuck for reasons I don't even know. It's like I can't move forward because I can't afford to move forward. And yet, there are days here that are incredibly frustrating.... I've been here five and a half years, and I don't know those people across the yard that I've lived across the yard from for five and a half years. I don't know them. I don't know the people in this building down here. I know the lady next door and the lady on the other side of her. That's it.... I don't know if they're afraid or they're just not friendly. I don't know what it is, but this isn't a friendly community, so it is not easy. But I can't afford to get out of here and move on with my life, which I'd like to do."

"Jaime" #14

He talks about areas he thinks the government should improve. "Well, I think they should open more... more homes for low-income seniors. Because there are many people who pay. They pay and have a very hard time. For example, here in Calexico, there is a retirement home that is only for elderly people, but there is just one. How many can fit there?"

"Maude" #07

"At one point, these apartments that are over on this side used to be for seniors, but because of the violence and shootings coming from the park... they all moved them out. That park is famous for drug addicts and shootings and stabbings. Daytime is not too bad, but close to nighttime, it gets really bad. So I avoid the park. [Seniors] don't wanna go out and get hurt. I mean, I don't blame them. So it causes them to stay inside more. They're more secluded because of it. And I think if they had more police presence, both day and night, it probably wouldn't be too bad. But with the things going on now, with cops even being shot at and everything. They had two police officers that were shot at the same time, [on] the same day, just about four blocks away from each other."

"Maxwell" #05

He has had many issues with his HUD-sponsored senior housing building. "When I first moved in they had to resurface the tub three times in one year because they didn't clean it before they resurfaced. There were holes in the sink, rusted through the sink there. My air conditioner went out for three months and I didn't have air conditioning for three months. Just lots of different issues and... they're not fixing stuff.... The light at the end of the [street] was out for 10 months and they broke into my car.... An acquaintance of mine... a city councilman for this district... sent code enforcement out here and... they got them to fix the lights and stuff the next day.... You can't get their attention unless you put the code enforcement behind it, which is sad."

"Sandra" #10

"So when I moved into the building.... It only took me six months to get in. Now it's five years. That's a huge shift. And there's not enough of [senior housing].... It's for the most part, they said to me, this is your last stop... and when you don't have to worry about how I'm going to pay my rent and buy food and get my medication and do the things that I want to do, it takes a lot off your shoulders and you're not stressed. So we've had residents who are 100 before they pass or in their late 90s. So if somebody moves in at 65, that's a pretty long span. So the vacancy rate is not that high. And how many [buildings] do you have around the city that are servicing older adults? And you can't say that you didn't have a forewarning.... So this whole thing of not preparing, yet we're told, as individuals, you need to prepare for this, you need to prepare for that. What happened with y'all?"

"April" #05

"I don't like the idea of living in subsidized housing.... But I did apply for a home loan, and they actually approved me. I have filled out four of those. You have a USDA to fill those out. You have to be approved every year. I've done that four times, and I've been approved all four times.... If I could find a little house somewhere, that'd be great, but there's never anything that they'll approve. The USDA is very picky. One house that I found they turned down because the front door needed to be painted.... I said, hell, I'll go over there and paint it myself. But they won't let you do that.... If there's anything at all wrong with the house, they won't approve it.... Again another reason that I'm stuck here and my inability to move forward, buying a home, getting a job, having a good neighborhood [with] friends and neighbors around me. Those are like out of my grasp because there's always something that's holding me back. Something or someone."

"Marcela" #04

"I applied for Section 8, but I don't know how long that's going to take. It says government assistance where they pay part of the rent. Some of the rent, not part, but some. [I applied] about three or four months ago . So I'm on the waiting list. I applied for Section 8 and I applied for senior [housing]. Where it depends on how much you get, that's how much they're going to charge. I applied for that kind of living too.... Everybody I know gets Section 8.... [Before] I was living in my mother's house. And then from there, there was problems in the family, so everybody deaf.... [I don't have a case manager yet]. My daughter did it for me through the internet. I just have to hear from them. She applied for me through the internet.... I've heard that it used to take 10 years, but now it takes like two years. So, I hope.... Here [at the motel], I pay $700 [a month] for this. [I've been living here for] about four months. It's not the best place but thank god I'm not homeless."

"Melanie" #18

After being accepted into the Star Plus program, she thinks, "You've got it for at least a year. So try to de-stress where you are. You have a roof over your head for a year. Imagine every year, not knowing you're going to be homeless or not."

"Sarah" #08

For the last six years, she has received help from HUD for rental payments. "Probably six years on housing [social services]. And then food, I've been getting like three years. The food stamps. But it's only $21, so it don't pay for nothing.... HUD pays for a portion of our rent." Additionally, she recalls the application process being long and getting help from either her friend or her niece because she has difficulty understanding a lot of the paperwork.

"April" #15

"Well, I have to say I've... the past couple of decades, I've dreaded the way that I am right now. But now, here I am. I'm in the worst possible situation, I think."

"Dennis" #08

"[When I lived in Atlanta, I was assigned a new social worker and] she was writing things... in the reports, like Depakote, she was referring to the medication that I never took.... So she was making mistakes like that all over the place. And the reason why she was making mistakes like that besides the fact that she was young and inexperienced [was] because after a day's work, she'd go home, she'd take care of her husband, she'd take care of her baby, and when the baby got to sleep, she'd be writing her reports.... So, then that becomes a permanent record in your medical file. That's important where there not be mistakes. And, she got upset that I had dared get a copy of her reports, which I was entitled to, and critique it, you know, and point out her errors.... I just decided to get out of the program. I bought a tent and I went homeless in the woods instead of subjecting myself to it."

"Yvonne" #11

"And I think just because you're aging, you shouldn't have to be forced to live with somebody else just to survive. You should be able to be independent still.... A lot of people out here, they don't have their own independence. Cause when I be hearin' the stories from different people about what they go through living with their kids and stuff, I be like, wow. Cause I know people that, it's like if they're trying to take something home that they getting from the center, you know, somebody might have been given away some clothes, they might have a little bag of stuff. They take it home. 'Well, I gotta sneak this in because my daughter ain't gonna want me bringing this in.' You know, like, why not? You know, be like, they'd be like, 'What you got there, Mama? You can't bring—you can't be bringing this stuff in the house.'... Only room they have in the house is the bedroom. But then why you can't bring this in the house?"

"Darcy" #03

"I think nursing home facilities need to be managed.... They need to investigate their staff more. They need to know that when a family member goes to... [them] with an issue that they're not doing it just to be a bitch. You're not treating my mom right because you are not. My mother wasn't supposed to be walking. She had a hip replacement and she wasn't supposed to be walking on her own. I was behind the nurses. They looked in mom's room. They go, 'Oh, she's not supposed to be walking around' and kept right on walking. It's like, excuse me. They need to treat all the patients like they're their family.... I'm sure 90 percent of the people do. Because that's the way of the world. 90 percent are okay and the 10 percent get all the attention. And maybe that's it in nursing homes too. But I've seen that a lot. That it's not okay. And it's not just been with my family. I go into nursing homes to see people and I see some of the nurses and the way they act to the patients. It's like, that's not okay. Even though they may not have their mind capabilities with them anymore, treat them with respect. And there's a lack of that, I think. Very much so, in nursing homes. From my point of view, from my experience in it, anyway."

"Georgia" #16

She has had negative experiences with her brother being in a nursing home. "Nursing homes have got to be the worst places on the face of the earth for elderly people. My brother, before he passed, he was in a place which I will not name. It was awful. It was just awful.... Every time I went up there, I had to complain about something because they [didn't] do anything for them. There has to be some kind of law or something that protects those people, especially the ones that don't have families."

"Paige" #06

"I'm determined never to go in a nursing home. I've seen what it's like in a nursing home. You're a number unless you have a lot of money."

"Aimee" #05

"I started the program with City Square, the nonprofit organization that maintains helps me maintain my housing. I've been with them since February of 2014. So... going on eight years now. And... there is no way possible that I could afford housing if I didn't have this assistance and this type of management.... I knew that it was okay to ask for help. And at the time... I became homeless because of various other things that I had to deal with. I knew that being homeless was not the lifestyle that I could tolerate much any longer or any longer than I had to. So, I got into a city facility that had case management. I applied for other programs as well as through my case manager [who] started investigating other housing programs that are available, either through the city or the state or federally, or all three.... The main thing, you have to apply yourself and do a little work in order to find out what you need to know who to talk to, and what you need to be doing in order to qualify.... I think the... official name for the program is called Permanent Supportive Housing."

"Jacqueline" #15

She hopes to move into a home with easier accessibility. "My daughter's got a trailer, and we're trying to get it fixed. And, we paid a guy to fix it, but he didn't do what he said he was gonna do. So, we're waiting to get it fixed. My daughter don't want... me to... move back in there.... She says, if... I wouldn't live in it, you're not living in it.... It's only 4 four steps.... When you think about 4 and 32, I'd go for the 4."

"Kwan" #06

"We moved [to Staten Island] 19 years ago and moved back [to Brooklyn] three years ago, so it should be about 23 years ago... I actually like Staten Island, but my wife didn't. Because I have been working with Westerners for 20 years, I can handle basic English. Plus, I can drive. But my wife's English level is lower, and it's difficult for her to find the roads in Staten Island because they're all in English, not just a number like Brooklyn streets. So she's afraid of getting lost. Plus, the buses were very sparse, and some routes didn't run during the weekends. One time, she missed a station when it snowed, and it took her 3 hours to get back home from Brooklyn. So, she felt the need to move out for her retirement life. That's why we moved from Staten Island to Brooklyn. Staten Island is a very nice place. The doors are unlocked at night. When we moved there and bought those townhouses, there was no problem, even if you didn't lock the door. The difference between good and bad areas was straightforward once you saw them. There was no single house that installed iron windows. It was utterly nonexistent. But in Brooklyn, you will feel that living here is not as comfortable. But the only thing here is that it's convenient to eat food, buy things, see doctors, everything is convenient. I mean, once you reach your later years, what do you seek the most? We have now taken a step back in favor of convenience. So we moved out again."

"Mark" #08

"Well, we moved here because of the one floor. And I was looking at the time when we downsized. I was looking for a fixer-upper and there wasn't that much on the market. So we saw this and... you know, this is pretty nice. Everything's on the same floor, even though we have a bedroom upstairs and a full bath. But,[the[ bedroom's right there and you don't have to worry. As we get older, we don't have to go up the steps anymore. I was restrictive. I had a five-mile radius. I had to be within five miles of the grandkids. I mean, because the city of Pittsburgh is not easy to get around.... You can be a mile away from someone, but it's hard to get to.... And being here, we're close. We can go up to their high school, you know, all their school activities."

"Maude" #15

"My daughter's already got a [long-term housing] plan. We're gonna move in together and... gonna try to find a house. And then my son, when he gets out, he'll be living with us."

"Renee" #10

"I live in an apartment, but it's senior living. And, even though it's senior living, it's under HUD.... Some places that are under HUD [have] things are falling down... got roaches, rats, whatever. But to be able to be here in this building and things be good, then that makes it feel good to be here. And not feel like every time you... come in you gotta be looking around to make sure nobody's in your apartment. And that makes me feel good to live here. And then... back over here is restaurants, stores, everything. So, we as seniors have a key and we can go out the back gate and walk over to Kroger's. They've got restaurants over there. They've got different stores that you can go to. And that makes it very convenient to live here, you know. And the movie theater is right across the way... so you don't really need a car, and then if you do want to rent a car, there's a rental place right up there. So it's very convenient to be here in this area."

"Renee" #21

"[At the senior complex apartment] we play bingo, we play ball, we exercise, we go out [for] field trips. They take us to eat at restaurants. They take us to Kroger's, Walmart. If you don't have a vehicle, you don't have to worry about somebody coming to pick you up. [You] sign up and say, I want to go to these different places and they take you. So it's really a good place to live, plus it's under HUD. So we don't have to pay a lot for rent, which is really convenient. And when you get people in here, I say the only way you can get them out of here is on a stretcher or in a body bag. Cause they don't want to leave because, you know, you can survive.... Your Social Security check can only go so far. And you're living in a place where you make, you're getting $1,300 and they want to charge you 7 or 8, you have nothing really left. So I'm really appreciative. I've been here since 2017 and I love it here. I really do."

"Sandra" #11

"So, when I was looking for senior housing I went online and found where they had them listed. And then for each one, I sat down and I went to the MTA map, and I said, okay, how do I get from here to church? How do I get from here to my book club group? How do I get from here to my doctor? And that's how I eliminated and came up with the locations that I went and I think I chose three. And then I got, I think, the best of the three. You know, but for me, transportation is critical."

"Sherrie" #06

"Cause I know he getting older. I'm getting older. So whatever I do for him gonna benefit me too. So, I wanna get a walk-in shower because I know it might come to a time [where] he ain't gonna be able to get up at that tub. So I got a plan, I just... Trying to get the assets, to get the money to do the work"

"Yvonne" #03

"I mean, I have a lot of support from my children. And, you know, they look out for me. I don't really have to have too much want for anything. But, if I didn't have their support, it would be really hard. Because I didn't know as many people needed help from their family members until I came out here to Texas. Because when I was in Chicago, it's like, even the older people, everybody stayed by themselves or with their family members if that's what they wanted to do... And everybody was more self-sufficient. But out here, it's a lot of people that need to stay with their children. Not the children staying with them, but the parents staying with their children. Because it's like, with the prices going so high and rent and stuff, they can't make it by themselves. So, they're pretty much forced to go stay with their children. Because a lot of them can't find housing.... I've met people where they will try and rent out rooms to other people, but you know, they'd be scared to because if they rent it to people, they didn't know, then that could be harmful or dangerous. So, they always tried to rent to people, like, from the centers that they would go to, if they did, or through somebody else that might know somebody.... [I] wouldn't be comfortable with doing something like that. So, I figured myself to be lucky."