Paying rent today can be a challenge, especially for older adults, who may struggle with limited employment opportunities and increasing housing prices.
In Fairfax County, there is an opportunity for residents over the age of 62 to benefit from low-cost housing.
Though DMV resident Paulina Máximo Pérez, 74, pushes forward through challenges with grace and ambition, she cannot deny that finding decent housing in her budget often feels impossible.
"It's not enough. Recently, I had gotten very, very sick and I couldn't work," Máximo Pérez said.
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Pérez arrived in the U.S. from Mexico 17 years ago, and she's currently looking for employment. She explained that she currently lives in a room that costs her $800 per month, a price she considers high in comparison to her income.
"I would like to live better… better than the life I have right now, because right now it's not a complete life. It's just survival," she said.
It's a sentiment shared by Uvaldo Cisneros, who since the 90s has lived in Culmore. Cisneros works at a local food bank where he says more than 20% of beneficiaries are senior families.
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"Social Security is very little, and with that they have to pay for medicine, food, rent, and that for them is particularly difficult," Cisneros said.
But from Monday through Sunday, July 16, Fairfax County seniors will be able to sign up for a waiting list to rent low-cost apartments subsidized in part by the Fairfax County Housing and Community Development Department.
Shanise Allen, the department's coordinator, said that if selected, the beneficiary would only pay 30-35% of their annual gross income and the county would pay the remainder to property management.
The waiting list doesn't usually open up, which means that this is one of the few opportunities residents have to include their names in the pool of applicants. Selected residents will be chosen at random.
To enroll, residents must be 62 years old, meet income criteria and provide a social security number. If residents don’t have a social security number, they can use a dummy number (999-99-9999) but must be able to estimate their income. The same requirement applies for all the persons in the household. The process can be started on fairfaxcounty.gov/housing/rentalhousing or by calling (703) 246-5100 for free assistance.
Allen added that although the list is for units located in four different properties (Chesterbrook Senior Falls Church, Lake Anne House Reston, Oakwood Meadow Alexandria, and Residences at North Hill Alexandria), it is estimated that between 10 and 15 new properties will be added to programs in the coming years.
