U.S.
HEMET, Calif. — Domingo Cruzada, 68, walks a block on North Palm Avenue from the Sahara Villas senior apartments to the bus stop. When the bus pulls up, his wife, Emerenciana, climbs down, both hands full of shopping bags from the 99-cent store. He grabs the load, and the two trudge back to their apartment.
They don’t have a car because they can’t afford one. Their kids don’t live nearby. They depend completely on public transportation. Sometimes they have to take a taxi.
“During the weekend, there’s no bus,” said Domingo, a Filipino immigrant who moved three years ago from nearby Riverside to this San Jacinto Valley city of about 80,000.
He bemoans the limited service that makes it tough for the retired couple to attend church or visit friends and family. “And on holidays, there’s no transportation,” he said.
In a city where more than a quarter of the population is 65 or older, meeting the special needs of the elderly is a challenge. But providing for those who are old and poor is even more taxing.
It’s a worldwide problem, according to a Global AgeWatch Index released Tuesday. It showed that many countries, including the United States, are not prepared for a coming surge in the older population.
From 2000 to 2010, the 65-plus population in the U.S. grew more quickly (15 percent) than the population overall (9.7 percent), according to the Census Bureau. There are more coming. The oldest of 78 million baby boomers turned 67 this year. And people are living longer.
“There’s a realization among city and county officials that they need to do something,” said Sandy Markwood, chief executive of the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging. “But at this point, because of the economy and impact on budgets … there is not as much action to be able to move the ball forward.”
The association encourages communities to work on helping the elderly live in their homes as long as possible by providing home-based services, transportation and health care.
Hemet has always been a haven for working-class retirees. Just two hours from Los Angeles and near many of the big aerospace industries that once thrived in Southern California, the city provided a retirement escape for those on a budget. The median home value was $98,600 in 2011, compared with $355,600 statewide.
Mobile-home parks with incongruous names like Hemet West Mobile Estates dot the city. Senior complexes — Oasis, Camelot — are part of the landscape. But a subtle transformation has occurred in recent years that is making it even more challenging for the county and city to serve residents.
For one, wealthier retirees have moved in now that big builders, such as K. Hovnanian and Pulte’s Del Webb have developed more upscale active-adult communities in the area. At the same time, low housing costs have attracted young families. The median age dropped from above 44 in 2000 to 39 today, and the population grew by more than 20,000.
“There’s a clash,” said Gina Gonzalez, a legislative assistant for Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone. “The city is working hard to make peace with both sides.”
Hemet is a microcosm of America's future, said William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, a liberal think tank in Washington, D.C. “As more boomers become seniors, it won't be just the rich versus the poor but increasingly the old versus the young — in local politics and the competition for community resources.”
The Riverside County Office on Aging focuses on a healthier tomorrow. “That means independence,” said Michele Wilham, director of the agency.
One program focuses on helping older patients care for themselves at home after they’ve been in the hospital — a way to reduce return visits. The TRIP program reimburses people who volunteer to drive seniors to grocery stores or doctors’ offices.
Wilham was at a Mature Workers Connection job fair at the James Simpson Senior Center in Hemet last week where dozens of seniors filled out job applications and collected brochures from groups that help the elderly.
Maria Alvarez, 62, works part time at the Office on Aging, and she picked up a job application for seasonal help at the Jones New York store at the Desert Hills Premium Outlets mall in Cabazon. George Echevarria, 73, applied for at job at the Ralph Lauren store because, he said, “I like fashion.”
“Seniors still play a vital role in the community,” said John Jansons, director of community investment for the city. “They volunteer to work with children in the literacy program … There’s an active senior volunteer program through the police department.”
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