SAN ANTONIO \u2013 The number of elderly people experiencing homelessness is rising, which is why Haven for Hope created an entire program for that age group.<\/p>\n
The Young at Heart program was officially launched in late August 2025, and since then, it has provided housing for 16 individuals.<\/p>\n
Prior to this, a pilot program was initiated in 2024. Between October 2024 and September 2025, Haven for Hope housed 69 people through the Young at Heart Program.<\/p>\n
KSAT was invited to see one of those clients\u2019 new apartments. <\/p>\n
Jim Fouts has a space all to himself, the first real home he\u2019s had in a long time. He just moved into his new place this month. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou gotta believe me, being on the street sucks. Cause I\u2019ve been there,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
When Fouts arrived at Haven for Hope last year, it was good timing because the shelter was just creating its Young at Heart program specifically for people ages 65 and up.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are our parents, our grandparents. They\u2019re the caregiver generation, the baby boomers, and now, unfortunately, we\u2019re seeing they\u2019re the largest population that\u2019s growing and experiencing homelessness. That means there\u2019s not many people caring for them,\u201d said Jessie Burdon, Haven for Hope\u2019s senior director of case management.<\/p>\n
Burdon said that individuals in this age group who arrive at the shelter are assigned case managers who prioritize their housing needs and assist in organizing their documents and income.<\/p>\n
Fouts was shocked to see how fast his case worker was able to get him situated in a new place. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels good to have a place to say, \u2018That\u2019s my address.\u2019 It brings me a sense of accomplishment,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
His care is long-term, even after he left Haven. Fouts now has a permanent housing caseworker.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe asks if I\u2019m getting my medicine OK, and if I\u2019ve been to see the doctor, and he checks to make sure that if I need any help to get food and things like that,\u201d Fouts said. <\/p>\n
\u201cConnecting to Center for Healthcare Services for that mental health support, connecting to primary care for the physical health,\u201d Burdon said. <\/p>\n
Haven for Hope partners with other community organizations to make this all a reality. That includes Adult Protective Services, AACOG, Successfully Aging and Living in San Antonio, and more. <\/p>\n
To other people his age who are struggling, Fouts said, \u201cYou just have to say, \u2018I need help.\u2019 It\u2019s not so difficult. And they\u2019d say, \u2018Well, we\u2019re not judging you on that.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n
Read also:<\/p>\n
Copyright 2025 by KSAT – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN ANTONIO \u2013 The number of elderly people experiencing homelessness is rising, which is why Haven for Hope…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50211,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[918,15342,696,3222,82,84,83],"class_list":["post-50210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-economy","tag-haven-for-hope","tag-homelessness","tag-housing","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50210"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50210\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}