It may come as a surprise, but the provisions of the president's Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan really are important for older people. While it is true that older adults don't make up the majority of the homeless, those in foreclosure, or those in need of affordable housing, they are a forgotten minority. In late 2007, before the mortgage crisis was in full swing, 684,000 people age 50 and up were in foreclosure or delinquent on their mortgages, according to a recent AARP study. It isn't just the foreclosed that are being hurt now. As the largest Jewish sponsor of subsidized housing for older adults in the United States and an advocate on aging issues, we have spent 40 years becoming exceptionally, and sometimes painfully, aware of the ways in which the housing market affects older folks.

Millions of older people have literally bet their retirements on the American dream – that houses are consistently profitable as long-term investments. While private pensions and individual investments – two legs of the fabled “three legged stool of retirement security” – have gotten increasingly rickety, older people have relied on the third leg, social security, and an invisible fourth, their homes. Social security is a fixed income – it can’t make up for lost pensions or 401k’s, or for collapsing investment portfolios. But until recently, seniors who had bought into the American dream of home ownership still had the most stable of assets to rely on. Seniors often rely on the value of their homes for retirement income, or to buy in-home services. Others plan to sell their biggest investment in order to buy into a retirement community. For many, this is the only way to fund services that Medicare just doesn’t cover. As home values drop, seniors can't sell their homes for what they were supposed to be worth. While some of us can wait to sell until the market rebounds, the need for nursing care at home or in a facility can’t just be put on hold.

Of course, plenty of seniors still have mortgages to pay, some with bad terms and high or adjustable rates. Seniors are often among the victims of predatory lending, and often borrow against the value of their homes. Many older people just can’t refinance –falling prices have put them “upside down,” owing more than the home is worth. It is critical that we get the word out about this program so older mortgage holders take advantage of it.

Seniors are also prominent members of the most invisible part of the foreclosure mess – renters. Generations of middle income families have always rented – and that means there are plenty of older tenants. Foreclosed rental properties are adding to this country’s shameful, critical shortage of affordable housing for moderate income families. When a landlord is foreclosed, tenants who have always paid their rents can be the biggest losers.

The president’s plan isn't perfect – it won’t solve all of our housing or economic problems, or stem the tide of foreclosures in the rental market. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't support the plan. It’s time to stop letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. So let's go forward and keep literally millions of Americans from losing their homes. By doing that, we will prevent millions more – some of them old enough to remember the Great Depression – from seeing their major asset dramatically devalued as they join the ranks of the aging poor.

By Mark D. Olshan, Ph.D., associate executive vice president, B’nai B’rith International, and Rachel Goldberg, Ph.D., director of aging policy and advocacy, B’nai B’rith International