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Federal Programs and Local Organizations:
Meeting the Housing Needs of Rural Seniors

© Housing Assistance Council, 2001

Permission is granted ONLY to nonprofit community-based organizations to reproduce and/or adapt this document, and only for their own use.

LOWNDES COUNTY, ALABAMA

Introduction

Lowndes County is situated next to Montgomery County, Alabama, where the state's capital of Montgomery is located. Lowndes County is best known for a landmark voter registration campaign during the civil rights movement in 1965. The county has a majority African-American population, and has experienced persistent poverty. The Lowndes County Freedom Organization, an alternative party founded by local residents with assistance from organizers from the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), provided a national model of grassroots community empowerment. The first African-American to hold office in the county was elected sheriff in 1970. Since the civil rights movement, the African-American community has developed a community-based healthcare system, a clinic building, and other necessary services for the county.

Hayneville is the county seat, with a population of 969. The largest town in the county, Fort Deposit, only has a population of 1,240. Agriculture was once the main economic activity, especially cotton farming. However, in the 1990s employment has become more diversified, with many people also commuting outside the county for jobs. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service classified Lowndes County as a commuting county, meaning at least 40 percent of residents go outside of the county for work. Many of Lowndes County residents drive to Montgomery and other nearby population centers for their jobs. As is the case in many areas, new job opportunities are more and more being generated by the service industry.58

In 1990, the county's population was 12,658, 75 percent of whom were African-American. Lowndes County had 1,605 elderly residents, or 13 percent of the population. Like many rural areas, Lowndes County lost a substantial number of residents between 1980 and 1990. Population loss slowed from 1990 through 1994. There were 4,075 households in the county in 1990, of which 1,167 were headed by a person over 65. Lowndes County had a poverty rate of 38.6 percent, and the poverty rate among elderly residents was 33.8 percent. Despite some growth in employment through the 1990s, Lowndes County is classified as a poverty county by the Economic Research Service, having a poverty rate greater than 20 percent for each decennial Census since 1960.59

There were 4,056 occupied housing units in Lowndes County in 1990. Almost 17 percent of these units were classified as substandard.60 Over 80 percent of occupied housing units were owner-occupied, and almost 20 percent were occupied by renters. Elderly residents headed 30 percent of owner households, and 22 percent of renter households. Housing cost burden is a significant problem among the county's elderly residents. Among elderly owners, 27 percent paid more than 30 percent of their income for housing, and 44 percent of elderly renters experienced housing cost burden.

A few public agencies and private nonprofit organizations have done substantial work improving the housing and targeting the service needs of Lowndes County seniors. There is a strong informal network among organizations serving elderly clients. Many of the staff working in Lowndes County public agencies and nonprofit organizations grew up in the area, and are familiar not only with the work of other groups, but also with the needs of county residents.

Housing and social service providers noted that elderly residents in Lowndes County strongly prefer to remain in their homes as long as possible, even when their homes are unsafe and need significant repairs. As is true of rural areas around the country, the homeownership rate is very high, and there is a limited rental stock of decent quality at affordable prices. Rehabilitation of existing homes in general, and those of low-income elderly homeowners in particular, has been a long-time priority of Lowndes County housing and social service providers.

Owner-Occupied Housing and Assistance for Elderly Homeowners

One byproduct of the civil rights voter registration struggle was the emphasis placed on property ownership by local residents involved in the movement. In 1965, many African-American residents still lived under sharecropping arrangements, and when people living on the old plantations tried to register to vote, their families were turned off the land. Stokely Carmichael bought some land near Route 80 with funds from speaking engagements, and with SNCC secured tents from contributors all over the country. Local people donated wood to construct platforms, and people displaced from the plantations moved to what was called Tent City. Families lived at Tent City until they could afford to buy land and build houses. Some people lived at the site more than a year until they could purchase their own homes.61 The evolution of the voting rights struggle in Lowndes County therefore encouraged participants to view property ownership as an important component of community empowerment.

Given the high homeownership rate in Lowndes County, the most prevalent housing is single-family homes, which are 66 percent of the housing stock. Mobile homes are 31 percent of the county's housing stock, tripling in number from 1980 to 1990. Although rehabilitation work by nonprofit organizations and government agencies has improved many homes, much of the housing is aging and deteriorated. For example, in 1990 more than 7 percent of the county's housing stock lacked complete plumbing, as compared to less than 1 percent nationally and 1.9 percent in rural areas.62

The county is home to Wil-Low Nonprofit Housing, Inc., a nonprofit housing organization that serves both Lowndes and neighboring Wilcox counties. Wil-Low was founded in 1972. Wil-Low has helped build over 300 new homes using the mutual self-help method, and has rehabilitated a total of 255 homes for elderly residents, farmworker families, and other low-income households. Wil-Low has four full-time staff, with two each located in Wilcox and Lowndes counties.

Among the homes rehabilitated by Wil-Low, 217 were funded by a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Auburn University. This grant was given to Wil-Low to rehabilitate the homes of elderly owners in Lowndes and Wilcox counties. Wil-Low staff reviewed bids and inspections, monitored construction costs and construction standards, and provided counseling and additional service referrals to clients.

As part of its grant program, Wil-Low also administered an on-the-job training program whose participants provided the labor for the rehabilitation work. Many of the program's 50 participants were placed in the Department of Labor's JOBS program and have continued to work in the area. Matching funds for this training program were obtained from the Rural Alabama Development Corporation. This program ran from 1988 through 1992. In addition to the on-the-job training program, the Kellogg and Auburn grant was used by Wil-Low to help form a Volunteer Housing Coalition, which involved local residents in repairing homes for their elderly neighbors. Local people donated time and materials, and Wil-Low oversaw the rehabilitation process in the same manner as for other clients served by the grant program.

Rural Development staff work closely with the housing and social service providers in Lowndes County, particularly regarding referrals for Section 504 loans and grants. The Rural Development office with jurisdiction over Lowndes County is located in Camden, in neighboring Wilcox County. Lowndes County once had a Rural Development office, but it was closed and its functions moved to Camden.

Rural Development has made a substantial number of Section 504 grants and loans to rehabilitate dilapidated homes in Lowndes County. Lowndes County is designated by Rural Development as a "target" county. This means that housing needs are great enough that priority is given allocation of program funds to the county. Since 1980, 146 Section 504 grants have been awarded to elderly households in Lowndes County. In the same period, Rural Development approved 120 Section 504 loans, and at least 53 of these were made to elderly clients.

Wil-Low staff have assisted elderly residents applying to the Section 504 program. Rural Development staff estimated that about half of their Lowndes and Wilcox county applicants receive Wil-Low's help in making their applications. In Fort Deposit, Rural Development has combined Section 504 assistance with CDBG funds to finance rehabilitation work for low-income homeowners, particularly elderly owners.

The organization received a Section 533 Housing Preservation Grant (HPG) from Rural Development to assist Lowndes and Wilcox county homeowners with repairs. Wil-Low has used these funds to provide counseling and service referrals to low-income homeowners with rehabilitation needs. They also used HPG funds to assist clients with loans, grants, and interest reduction payments.

Rural Development and Wil-Low have encountered a number of challenges providing rehabilitation services to Lowndes County residents. One difficulty involves inheritance issues. Many elderly homeowners contacted through outreach workers are reluctant to take Section 504 loans and risk losing their property if they fall behind repaying them. It can also be difficult to award Section 504 loans if all the heirs with an interest in the property do not concur with the terms of the loan. Another major problem qualifying clients for Section 504 grants and loans is poor credit. Many elderly applicants have poor credit because they have co-signed loans children or other relatives who later default on their payments. Credit problems can also occur when seniors do not keep up with payments for medical services. A final problem is that local contractors are often reluctant to work on small, publicly financed rehabilitation projects. Wil-Low and Rural Development have occasionally had difficulty getting local contractors to submit rehabilitation bids to Section 504 clients, and if expressing interest in the work, not being timely in getting their bids to the clients.

Another challenge that local housing and service providers have addressed results from the closing of the Lowndes County Rural Development office. Housing and social service providers all noted that some of their elderly clients believed that Rural Development no longer existed, while many others had difficulty making the trip to the Rural Development office in neighboring Wilcox County. Submission of Lowndes County applications for Section 504 has slowed since the Rural Development office closed. In response to the difficulties faced by trying to access its programs, Rural Development now holds office hours in Lowndes County each week on Tuesday mornings.

In addition to its rehabilitation work, Wil-Low has also helped clients build 305 new homes using the mutual self-help method. Wil-Low has built 138 of these self-help homes in Lowndes County since 1972. In this program, clients receive new homebuyer and credit counseling, and assistance improving their credit records if necessary. Clients also receive construction training. Once training is complete, groups of eight to 12 families are assigned a construction supervisor. Wil-Low purchases subdivision sites and completes the infrastructure development on the property. Under supervision, clients work on each others' houses, with no family moving in until all of the homes are completed.

Self-help participants finance their mortgages with Section 502 direct loans, subsidized mortgages with interest rates subsidized on a sliding scale based on income. Depending on income level, a Section 502 borrower may pay as little as 1 percent interest. Between the subsidized interest of Section 502 loans and the sweat equity households derive from their labor building the houses, these homes are affordable even to households with very low incomes. Wil-Low staff estimate that 40 to 45 percent of their self-help households are headed by an elderly person. The organization's expenses administering the self-help program have been covered by five Section 523 self-help technical assistance grants from Rural Development since 1972, and Section 402 Jobs Training Partnership Act farmworker housing grants from the U.S. Department of Labor.

With assistance from Rural Development, Wil-Low Nonprofit Housing, and other local service agencies, elderly homeowners in Lowndes County have accessed many resources to maintain their homes and live independently for as long as possible. Lowndes County also has a number of affordable rental projects that were developed to meet the needs of elderly residents who could no longer physically or financially maintain their homes.

Rental Housing Options for Seniors

Rural Development is the principal funder of the county's affordable rental projects. As of March 1999, five Section 515 rental projects had been developed in Lowndes County. Three projects are located in Fort Deposit, and two are in Hayneville. These projects have a total of 123 units, most of which are reserved for occupancy by elderly tenants. Among the units, 120 have RHS Section 521 rental assistance, which means tenants pay 30 percent of their income for rent, with the remaining rent for the units paid for by the federal government. All of the Section 515 projects were built by for-profit developers.

Pecan Lane and The Meadows are the two projects in Hayneville. Pecan Lane has units for both elderly and family tenants, while The Meadows has units for both elderly and disabled tenants. Edgewood Manor, Fort Deposit Villas, and Pecan Grove are the projects located in Fort Deposit. Fort Deposit Villas is targeted to families, but the other two projects are reserved for elderly tenants.

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nitially, four of the five Section 515 projects were designed to assist elderly Lowndes County residents. However, while the projects have remained mostly full, it has been difficult to convince elderly residents to apply to live in the projects. One of the factors cited by prospective elderly tenants is that they do not want to live away from their families. This desire of many potential Section 515 tenants in the county contributed to redesignating some of the Section 515 units for family occupancy.

Another difficulty in persuading elderly residents to apply for subsidized rental housing is that the Section 515 projects are only located in Hayneville and Fort Deposit, the two largest towns in Lowndes County. These two towns are the only ones in the county with public water and sewer systems, and developing a rental project outside of these towns would require extensive water and septic work, driving up project costs. Prospective elderly residents in remote areas of the county often tell housing providers that they would prefer the housing projects be located closer to their own small communities. For these elderly residents, a move to Fort Deposit or.Hayneville would make it more difficult to maintain daily contact with children, other family members, and friends.

Wil-Low, in conjunction with Southeast Alabama Self-Help Association, Inc. (SEASHA), is in the process of developing a new subsidized rental project in Hayneville. SEASHA is based in Tuskegee, and has a 12-county service area. SEASHA has developed over 200 single-family homes since 1967, and has completed and manages 250 units of rental housing in four properties. Wil-Low's housing experience has focused on assisting homeowners, and SEASHA's multifamily housing development experience has helped bring the project forward. The Hayneville project will be financed primarily with HOME funds and Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC). The project will have 20 units. There will be two one-bedroom flats, five two-bedroom townhouses, and 13 three-bedroom townhouses. While none of the units are expressly reserved for elderly tenants, the demand noted in the project's market study anticipates that the one-bedroom units, and some of the two-bedroom units, will serve elderly residents. The three-bedroom units meet a need for apartments that can accommodate larger families. Construction was begun at the end of April 1999.

Lowndes County has no Section 202 housing, no nursing homes, no assisted living projects, and no housing authority of its own. The Troy Housing Authority, a regional housing authority located in nearby Pike County and including Lowndes County in its service area, does administer Section 8 tenant-based rental assistance, and at least a few of its Section 8 clients rent units in Lowndes County. Housing and social service providers also noted that Lowndes County is the only county in Alabama without a nursing home. Elderly residents of Lowndes County who require long-term care most often move to Montgomery when extensive nursing services are required. Housing and social service providers also noted that a private developer has recently been making inquiries about building a new nursing home in or near Hayneville.

Nonprofit housing providers and government agencies have done much to address the housing needs of elderly homeowners and renters in Lowndes County. In addition to housing rehabilitation and development, services are also available to Lowndes County seniors that help them maintain their independence, either in their own homes or through programs linking tenants in subsidized housing with community services. The Agency on Aging and West Alabama Health Services are the two primary providers of services to elderly residents in Lowndes County.

Services for Elderly Residents

The Area Agency on Aging serving Lowndes County is a division of the South Central Alabama Development Commission, based in Montgomery. The Agency on Aging administers two important programs for elderly residents in Lowndes County. The agency has a Medicaid waiver program, which funds outreach workers who help seniors maintain independence in their homes. The Agency on Aging also administers a nutrition program, with staff placed in the county's two senior centers. Congregate meals are delivered to the senior centers, and three vans are used to home-deliver meals.

The Agency on Aging has three staff working in Montgomery, and seven more staff working at the local and county levels. The Medicaid waiver program funds outreach workers who assist elderly clients to maintain independence in their homes. Typical duties include oversight of medical needs, arranging visits by nurses, and referrals to local service providers. These outreach workers also provide or arrange for in-home services. These include personal assistance, which involves help with bathing and hygiene, and homemaker services, which includes assistance with housecleaning and food preparation. Service referrals are made for such things as house cleaning, companionship visits, the Agency on Aging's nutrition and home meal delivery programs, and the medical services available through West Alabama Health Services' clinic. The Medicaid waiver program is the one of the main links between local seniors and service providers in the county.

The nutrition program is administered locally from the Hayneville Senior Center. It supplies congregate meals to the two senior centers in Hayneville and Fort Deposit. The program also delivers meals to home-bound elderly clients. The nutrition program operates three vans for meal delivery, two in the Hayneville area, and one in the area around Fort Deposit. Meals are also delivered to the adult daycare program administered by West Alabama Health Services. Approximately 20 are served through congregate meals, and 24 clients receive home delivery. Eight meals are delivered to the adult daycare program run by West Alabama Health Services.

The program also provides nutrition education for clients, and arranges for speakers on different healthcare topics at the senior centers. The nutrition program also arranges trips for seniors, such as shopping in nearby Montgomery. The Lowndes County rural public transportation vans are used to bring elderly residents to the senior center who do not have cars, and to take people into Montgomery for doctor's visits or other similar needs.

The nutrition and Medicaid waiver programs served 63 clients in the Hayneville area from October 1998 through February 1999, 54 of whom are low-income elderly persons. Among the Hayneville clients, 68 percent are older than 75. Clients over 85 are 25 percent of those served through the programs. Single widows are the most prevalent group among clients served through the Hayneville Senior Center, almost 51 percent of those served, with married individuals constituting almost 29 percent of Hayneville clients. Almost 97 percent of the senior clients in Hayneville are African-American, with only two white clients served. Most are homeowners, which make up 65 percent of senior clients assisted by the programs. Almost 85 percent of clients have incomes below poverty. Almost 20 percent of clients served through Hayneville Senior Center lack enough money the buy the food they need. Only 29 percent of Hayneville clients have their own car, 46 percent rely on friends or relatives for transportation, and 18 percent rely on public transportation.

The Fort Deposit Senior Center served 55 clients from October 1998 through February 1999. Of these clients, 75 percent were older than 75 years. Among seniors assisted through the Fort Deposit Senior Center, 46 are white, or 76 percent of those served. The remaining clients are African-American. Almost 62 percent of Fort Deposit clients are widowed women, and 71 percent are homeowners. Fifty-five percent live alone, almost 30 percent live with a spouse, and 16 percent live in households with children, other relatives, or unrelated individuals. Among Fort Deposit clients, 24 percent live below poverty. In Fort Deposit, 78 percent of clients have their own cars, while 16 percent rely on friends or relatives for their primary transportation. Fewer Fort Deposit clients use public or senior transportation than is the case in Hayneville, with only 6 percent relying on public transportation.

There are 17 other Agency on Aging clients served in the balance of the county through the Medicaid waiver program. Eighty-two percent of these clients are older than 75, and almost 77 percent are African-American residents. Many of these clients live alone, 59 percent, but a large number live with their children, almost 30 percent of these clients. Of these clients, almost 71 percent are widowed women. Public transportation is the most common primary source of transportation, with 60 percent relying on public transportation vans or vans for senior citizens. A little more than 35 percent of these clients have their own cars. Among these Lowndes County seniors, over 82 percent live below poverty, and 41 percent cannot afford the food they need.

Lowndes County has no hospital, and the only source of healthcare services is West Alabama Health Services. In 1970, funding from the federal Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO), the lead agency in the Johnson administration's "war on poverty," enabled construction of a new health center in Hayneville. The clinic was constructed on the site of the old county jail, near where a civil rights worker was killed during the voter registration movement, an event that galvanized support for community empowerment efforts in Lowndes County. OEO funds also helped establish a healthcare program. However, the healthcare program was shut down in 1972 following administrative conflicts with the county board of health, and temporary health services were established in community centers in many of the county's small towns. Financial and material donations were provided by the National Health Services Corps, SEASHA, and local people.63 Eventually, the healthcare program was reestablished in the Hayneville clinic building. West Alabama Health Services began working out of the Hayneville center in 1988.

West Alabama Health Services operates a clinic in Hayneville. The clinic's service charges are based on a sliding scale, and the services are free if a family's income is low enough to fall below an established guideline. The clinic offers a range of medical care. West Alabama Health Services also administers a Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program. The organization provides the local administration for the Agency on Aging's Medicaid Waiver program, and conducts home visits with home-bound elderly residents. Another service provided through the clinic is public transportation, with some vans reserved for senior transportation.

West Alabama Health Services administers the county's public transportation, and special transportation for elderly residents. One van is assigned to the Medicaid waiver program, which is used to bring senior residents to the clinic. The Rural Transportation Service, the Lowndes County public transportation network, assists elderly residents not covered under the Medicaid waiver program with local trips and out-of-town appointments in Montgomery and neighboring counties. The transportation routes include stops at the county's Section 515 projects and senior centers. Public transportation does not run on weekends.

The clinic provides ambulatory care with full medical services, including gynecological, dental, and foot care services. Healthcare staff estimate that approximately 40 percent of patients are elderly persons, with diabetes and hypertension treatment the most common medical services used by elderly clients. West Alabama Health Services administers the county's WIC program, and oversees the outreach workers for the Agency on Aging's Medicaid waiver program. In addition to the Medicaid waiver program, West Alabama Health Services has two more outreach workers, who are Americorps program volunteers. Once a week, a doctor on staff at the clinic performs home visits throughout the county.

West Alabama Health Services runs a senior daycare program, setting aside space in the clinic for elderly clients to participate in group activities and share congregate meals. The adult daycare program also arranges field trips for participating seniors.

The Organized Community Action Program (OCAP) is also housed in the Hayneville clinic building. OCAP provides assistance with utility bills, in addition to running a food bank and providing other services for low-income county residents. The funding for OCAP is provided by the Troy Housing Authority in nearby Pike County.

Most of the challenges encountered when extending services to elderly residents arise from the sparsely settled nature of the county and limited funding for transportation and outreach workers. For example, the Agency on Aging is limited in the number of meals it can deliver to homes because of food preparation regulations. Meals must reach clients warm, and many areas of the county are too far from distribution points to deliver meals before they get cold. Elderly residents without a car or family assistance are handicapped by a lack of transportation service on weekends. Housing and social service providers also observed that more funding for outreach workers and home health aides is needed. Since so many elderly residents live in their own homes throughout the county's remote areas, and since so many are very old and frail, extending services to people in their homes is a critical approach to meeting their housing and service needs. This is especially important in a county with no nursing home care or hospital.

Lowndes County housing and social service providers have been able to address a wide range of needs among elderly residents, mostly through informal networks. However, some formal collaborations have also been developed which should continue to improve elderly residents' knowledge of and access to housing and social services.

Collaborative Efforts

Most collaborations between housing and social service providers in Lowndes County occur on an informal basis. The nutrition program, Medicaid waiver program, West Alabama Health Services, and Wil-Low all have outreach workers who visit elderly residents in their homes. All of the outreach workers are familiar with the staff of other organizations serving Lowndes County seniors, and with the programs these organizations administer. For example, when a Medicaid waiver outreach worker visits a home in need of substantial repairs, the outreach worker provides a referral to Wil-Low, and lets Wil-Low staff know they may have a new applicant for rehabilitation work. Wil-Low's outreach workers also provide referrals to the Medicaid waiver program if one of their clients needs in-home personal assistance, or to West Alabama Health Services if a rehabilitation client requires medical attention. Informally, local housing and social service providers have been able to coordinate service provision because of their familiarity with each other's resources and with the needs of local clients.

Lowndes County also has a community-based coalition. Between seven and eight local groups meet at least twice a month in an effort to better serve the county's low-income residents. Greater assistance for county seniors is often a focus of the group's discussions. Participants work to find new sources of funding for their programs, and provide technical assistance to groups interested in writing grant applications. West Alabama Health Services, for example, is working with other coalition members to obtain the funding they need to hire more home health aides.

West Alabama Health Services also works with OCAP, which administers a food bank, helps low-income residents pay utility bills, and provides referrals for rehabilitation work and social services. West Alabama Health Services refers clinic patients to OCAP who may need that agency's services. West Alabama Health Services also collaborated with Wil-Low in its Kellogg Foundation and Auburn University grant program. West Alabama Health Services provided transportation to senior rehabilitation clients, and performed health needs assessments for these program participants.

Although Lowndes County housing and social service providers have had much success improving housing and extending services for elderly residents, they also observed a number of unmet housing and service needs. Many of the formal and informal collaborations between local organizations are focused on how to develop new services, programs, and projects to fill the gaps in the county's housing and service continuum.

Overview and Local Recommendations

When asked about their success accessing federal funding for elderly housing and services, Lowndes County housing and social service providers all pointed to the overwhelming need among low-income people in the county, and elderly residents in particular. The county has a very high poverty rate, a high percentage of low-income elderly residents, and a tremendous amount of substandard, owner-occupied housing units. Contributing to success in accessing programs, however, is the strength of informal networks developed since the civil rights era. In fact, prior to the 1960s, no major public services were available to African-American residents of Lowndes County. Wil-Low's housing activity, the clinic that houses West Alabama Health Services, the senior centers in Hayneville and Fort Deposit, and the transportation network linking elderly residents to Agency on Aging services are all direct outgrowths of local, community-based activism arising from the civil rights struggle.

Housing and social service providers all strongly agreed that greater funding for rehabilitation programs is the most important housing need. Because of the extensive rehabilitation work already funded through Section 504 and Wil-Low's programs, this is not technically an "unmet housing need." However, substandard housing is so prevalent, and adequate water and septic systems lacking for so many homes, that local housing and social service providers feel more.rehabilitation funding is essential. They also note that rehabilitation work is an important component when helping elderly residents maintain independent living in their own homes.

A related recommendation among housing and service providers concerns a need for more outreach capacity. Lowndes County is comprised of very small towns, with a very dispersed population. Although centralizing services in the larger towns would appear to be more cost-effective than providing extensive outreach services, many elderly residents have difficulty reaching population centers. This is particularly true on weekends, when the senior centers are closed, the nutrition program does not deliver meals, and the public transportation system is not running. More funding for outreach workers is also important in order to adequately meet the healthcare needs of county elders. Because Lowndes County has no hospital, bringing healthcare to seniors in their homes becomes even more important. Housing and social service providers also noted that extension of the public transportation system would improve the ability of county seniors to access needed services and amenities. Obtaining the funding to extend van routes, as well as provide van service on weekends, would reduce the isolation many frail elders experience living in remote areas of Lowndes County.

Housing and social service providers also noted the need for a nursing home in the county. Lowndes County is the only Alabama county without a nursing home. Local service providers discussed with great anticipation the prospect that a for-profit developer was considering a nursing home development in the county, most likely in or near Hayneville. Housing and social service providers also agreed that there is a need for an assisted living project that is affordable to seniors with low incomes. There are no assisted living developments in Lowndes County, so affordable housing options are limited to homeowner rehabilitation and subsidized rental housing for seniors who are still able to live independently.

Given the very rural character and racial history of Lowndes County, housing and social service providers have done a tremendous job extending services to elderly homeowners and meeting the service needs of elderly renters. Informal and formal networks have helped organizations serving elderly clients extend services more than any one group could in its own right. Access to federal resources has supported community-based efforts that could not have relied on local resources alone. Lowndes County seniors have benefitted greatly from the activism of their neighbors and the support afforded by federal housing and social service programs.

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