High Cost of Living Unfairly Burdens Fixed Income Seniors Across Southwest Montana
HRDC is seeking to raise $50,000 to help offset its senior programs budget gap.
Several troubling economic pressures continue to hit the wallets of seniors living in Gallatin, Park and Meagher Counties. Sky high rents, a crisis-level lack of affordable housing, inflation, high medical costs, and the state’s recent Medicaid unwinding challenges are causing many more community members who are nearing retirement — or who have already retired — to seek help from HRDC.
“So many of our customers are at their financial breaking points where there is no possible way to stretch their fixed incomes to cover basic household expenses. We step up and help with monthly groceries, energy assistance, public transportation options, Medicare counseling, and more. Yet, with next to no reasonably priced places to live, our previously self-sufficient customers in their 60s, 70s, and 80s are finding themselves in very precarious circumstances,” said Margaret Mason, Associate Director and Senior Programs Manager at HRDC.
Mason continued to express the direness of the situation, “Over the course of the last year alone, we provided a full range of supportive services to 1,848 individuals while witnessing an all-time high number of seniors — 145 — who experienced homelessness. As a community, it’s imperative that we continue to work together to deploy long-term solutions to reduce these numbers. In the meantime, anyone who shares our concerns, can help change the trajectory of someone’s life by donating to our senior programs. Truly, any amount helps.”
HRDC is shining a light on the plight of seniors who are living in or near poverty in Bozeman and beyond. A focus on the agency’s senior programs kicked off in the middle of March and includes a variety of community education and outreach efforts. To help offset the $50,000 budget deficit facing HRDC’s senior programs, a bingo fundraising event is taking place at The Armory Hotel, on March 28th, at 6:00 pm. Tickets are available at thehrdc.org.
According to AARP, “Seniors over the age of 55 are likely the fastest-growing group of peopleexperiencing homelessness ... and for many of them, it is first-time homelessness.”
HRDC is a private, not-for-profit Community Action Organization focused on building a better community through its nearly 50 initiatives aimed at combatting poverty in Southwest Montana. Donors, volunteers, and community members can learn more at thehrdc.org.
