We are sought-after experts on the global stage in the field of aging in good health. We have leveraged our senior housing expertise into a highly skilled program overseeing legislation that may impact the unique situation of the elderly in the United States and around the world.

We also bring our expertise on aging matters directly to the managers and residents of our senior housing facilities, teaching classes on such topics as fraud prevention and hosting anti-bullying campaigns.

In 2018, we focused intently on Congressional and staff visits to B’nai B’rith housing locations across the country to highlight the vital need for law maker’s attention to Section 202 housing, the program that funds low-income housing for seniors.

B’nai B’rith participated in the Our Homes, Our Voices Housing Week of Action.

Our housing experts also held many meetings with lawmakers and their staffs in their Capitol Hill offices to advocate for the continuation of Section 202 housing subsidies in the federal budget as well as to highlight the federal programs that help our residents continue to live independently in their buildings. We met with majority and minority staff from the Transportation Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Committee and the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging. We also met with staff for 24 members of Congress who represent B’nai B’rith-sponsored buildings and serve on the Appropriations, Financial Services or Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committees.

Late in the year, we held our Managers and Service Coordinators Meeting in San Antonio, Texas. This annual training conference is for on-site building staff; a majority of the Center of Senior Services housing network attended.

Janel Doughten was invited to train management professionals in September 2018 for SPM, Inc., a large affordable housing management company based in the southeast United States.     

Bronx Project

In April, B’nai B’rith Senior Housing closed on a major recapitalization proposal to renovate and modernize the Adelstein Family B’nai B’rith Project H.O.P.E. property located in the Bronx, New York.  

Constructed in 1992, it was initially funded under the Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly Program. It consists of 75 one-bedroom apartments and 25 studio apartments. Residents will see what is effectively a new building by the end of 2018.  Individual apartments will include new bathrooms with new toilets and bathtubs: new kitchen cabinets, counters and appliances; and all-new lighting and painting throughout. Exterior and common area improvements include new masonry, exterior doors, elevator cabs, windows, plumbing stacks, boilers and pumps. Additionally, state-of-the-art smoke detectors and sprinklers will be added, along with upgrades to the building’s electrical system and security cameras. One of the first items to be added is an individual air conditioner for each resident’s apartment. Overall, the developer intends to complete approximately $8.7 million of building renovations.

Additionally, financial resources are now available to provide for a host of specific supportive and social services for the individual residents. Through partnerships with local service provider organizations, for the first time, residents will have access to referrals to community resources, supportive listening and casework services, as well as a host of new classes, workshops events and activities.

Funding for the project came from the sale of tax-exempt bonds issued by the New York State House Finance Agency through the sale of Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC).  This bipartisan program, initiated in 1986, is overseen by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and is one of the few programs currently available to provide funds for the construction and preservation of supportive housing for low-income people.