Council on Aging to Offer 20-Year Plan
The Simi Valley Council on Aging is scheduled to release a long-range plan today, outlining how the city should handle an anticipated 60% increase in its senior population over the next two decades.
About 8.3% of Simi Valley’s population is 65 or older. By 2020, senior citizens are expected to account for 13% of the city’s population.
Consequently, the council’s concerns include a lack of affordable housing for seniors as well as the need for residential-care facilities. Simi Valley currently has 23 board-and-care residential facilities with about 130 beds. There are also seven complexes devoted to senior housing in the city, with about 160 people on waiting lists.
“That tells you there is a great need for affordable housing for seniors,” said Kathryn Medley, coordinator of the Simi Valley Senior Center.
Two additional senior housing projects, one of which will break ground in three weeks, have been proposed.
The project, being developed by the Chase Group near Los Angeles Avenue and Stearns Street, will include 154 apartments, with 40 devoted to seniors with Alzheimer’s and related dementia. Rates for the facility will range from $1,500 to $2,400 a month.
A second project, being developed by the Selleck Development Group and Simi Valley Hospital, has been submitted to the city. It would include a 120-bed skilled nursing facility, a 100-bed assisted living center and a 70-bed Alzheimer’s treatment center, said Robert Erickson, administrative director of post-acute services at Simi Valley Hospital.
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