Assisted-living home for seniors proposed for valley

Mathis Winkler

Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2002 | 9:53 a.m.

Until recently 89-year-old Mary Golding didn't need help around the house.

But then her knees started causing her problems and she has been have trouble cleaning her apartment and doing laundry. A friend now goes shopping for her.

On the door to her North Las Vegas apartment, Golding has posted a note that reads: "Please be patient. It takes a while for me to answer the door."

She's hoping her health will improve, but if it doesn't, she might need more help than a friend can provide.

A joint proposal by the Clark County, North Las Vegas and Las Vegas housing authorities to bring an assisted living home for low-income seniors to the Las Vegas Valley may offer Golding the help she may need.

Assisted living facilities provide 24-hour nursing staffs, housekeeping, meals and medication assistance, but allow seniors to keep individual apartments.

Officials have commissioned a study to determine how many low-income people need help managing their daily lives and how much it would cost to build an assisted living home or convert existing apartments to assisted-living residences.

"We think it's going to be a good idea, but we want to know for sure," said Betty Turner, the county housing authority's executive director.

It's still unclear how much demand there is for low-income assisted living, said Don England, the North Las Vegas housing authority executive director.

But the case of a wheelchair-bound woman who died in an April 2000 fire in her North Las Vegas apartment shows that lack of assistance can be life-threatening for some, he said.

Seniors make up only about 11 percent of the county's total population, but their numbers have almost doubled over the past decade, according to 2000 Census figures.

Nevada also remains one of the states with the fastest growing senior population, and the care of frail, low-income seniors will only become a bigger issue in the future, according to a 1999 federal Housing and Urban Development report titled "Housing our Elders."

Those who can afford private assisted living homes have more than 70 places to choose from, but people like Golding have nowhere to go so far.

"I wish I had some place to refer them to," said Mary Wilcox, the marketing director for Chancellor Gardens of the Lakes, a private assisted living community on Lake Sahara Drive. She frequently gets calls from people who cannot afford the $1,595 monthly rent for a studio, she said.

That's almost three times the $578 Golding receives from Social Security.

"I couldn't even afford my puzzle magazines," she said, adding that she pays $155 for her North Las Vegas public housing apartment.

Besides, she likes having her own apartment. "When you lose your independence, you've lost your life," she said.

Public housing officials agree that seniors who keep their independence are healthier.

"It's prolonging their quality of life for a number of years," England said.

To fund a project, if they decide to build one, the valley's housing authorities should be able to tap into federal and state funds, said Conchy Bretos, the chief executive of MIA Consulting, which will do the study, and a former state official in charge of Florida's aging services.

If the authorities choose to convert an existing building into an assisted living home, such a facility could be up and running by the end of the year, she said.05

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