Affordable Housing for Elders
Martha’s Vineyard’s year-round community’s demographics and housing needs are far different from the Island’s image of wealth and plenty. The population is getting older as young families leave, and it includes a large number of low-income households. With elderly residents on fixed incomes and younger wage-earners working in lower-paying, service-sector jobs, more than a quarter of all Vineyard households were earning less than $35,000 in 2010. The numbers and percentages of people living in poverty on the Island have also been rising.
The challenges to establishing a secure residence on Martha’s Vineyard have become insurmountable for a growing segment of the population, including a majority of those who grew up here, many skilled and well-paid workers, and older households of moderate income.
Healthy Aging Martha's Vineyard aims:
• To work with the Joint Affordable Housing Group to expand affordable workforce and elder housing
• To work with Island Elderly Housing (IEH) to find funding to construct/develop more affordable elder housing
• To work to change zoning regulations for “grandparent” and multi-family units, and explore co-housing and other intergenerational models