Cambridge committee hears plans to shore up elder services as funding lapses

Cambridge City’s Civic Unity Committee on elder care heard a cross-agency briefing Tuesday on how the city and its partners are preparing for an aging population amid shrinking prevention funding.

Councillor Kathy Zoussier opened the meeting, saying Somerville Cambridge Elder Services expects the older-adult population to grow about 13.1% in Cambridge and 17% in Somerville over the next five years, and called the session an opportunity to assess what seniors need now and will need in the future.

Susan Pacheco, executive director of the Council on Aging, described the COA’s mission to connect older residents with benefits, nutrition and case-management services. ‘‘We provide information or referral services on housing, health and mental-health care, transportation, legal and financial issues, insurance and benefits counseling,’’ Pacheco said, stressing the complexity of available programs.

Marta Corvello of Somerville Cambridge Elder Services (SCES) outlined SCES’s role as an Area Agency on Aging and ASAP stewarding federal and state funds for care coordination. She said SCES serves roughly 9,000 people with about 150 staff and multilingual capacity, and that much of the agency’s funding is state-designated.

Maria Mello, director of the MultiService Center, provided program-level data showing recent prevention funding that has ended: the Housing Stabilization Program (HSP) provided forward-stabilization funds for 108 elders totaling $535,959 from 2020 through 2024; ARPA prevention funds (which ended in 2024) assisted 76 elder-headed households with $377,538; and the city’s rental-assistance program has helped 189 elder heads of household at a cost of $265,067. Mello said those awards were paired with short-term case management and follow-up.

She broke down how the city’s rental-assistance dollars were spent: roughly $83,039 for relocation and deposits, $171,270 for rental arrears and $10,758 for utility arrears, and noted the service teams monitor eviction dockets to prioritize outreach to elders at risk.

Mello also reviewed homelessness data handled through the city’s coordinated access system (CCAN): 681 people interacted with CCAN in the prior year, 201 were age 55 or older; from July 2024 through June 2025 the city housed 141 people exiting homelessness, 59 of whom were over 55. Recent projects at 116 Norfolk Street and Wendell Street provided dozens of placements, several for people aged 55 and older.

Brenda Snowden Downing, deputy executive director of the Cambridge Housing Authority, described CHA’s expanded role beyond property management into service coordination inside elderly buildings, including in-place fitness and meal programs designed to reduce isolation and avoid evictions.

Panelists and councilors warned that some forms of assisted living and higher-level care remain scarce for low-income elders. ‘‘For low-income folks, that doesn’t really exist,’’ Maura Penczak, housing liaison, said of assisted-living options that provide regular overnight support. Speakers also highlighted mental-health concerns and hoarding interventions that disproportionately affect older adults; presenters noted an ARPA-funded hoarding program will scale back when that grant expires.

Council and city staff described budget moves to blunt funding losses: one member said the city increased tax-funded rental assistance by $300,000 in the current year’s budget to help offset the loss of ARPA and HSP prevention funds.

Public commenters underscored federal and local risks. Sandra Foster, a Cambridge senior, said she fears a pending congressional proposal to cut tenant rental assistance by about 43% and to consolidate public-housing funds at the state level. Sharon Antia, another senior, urged volunteer programs and intergenerational home sharing to reduce isolation and help seniors remain in place.

Speakers proposed concrete next steps: embedding services and care navigators inside housing-authority buildings, convening practitioner workgroups to identify the top three priorities (housing insecurity, food insecurity and social isolation), and identifying who must be at the table across health, housing and human-services agencies. Panelists argued that relatively modest up-front investment in embedded staffing can lower long-term costs by preventing hospital stays and repeated housing crises.

Mayor Denise Simmons praised the network of providers and emphasized accessibility, translation, scam-prevention education, sidewalk and pedestrian safety, and hearing-access improvements as priorities. The committee agreed to pursue follow-up workgroups and additional practitioner convenings to develop a 2–3 year plan.

The meeting ended after a motion to adjourn; the clerk completed a roll-call vote that recorded several members voting in the affirmative and others absent.

What's next: City staff and panel organizations said they will work with the committee to convene targeted workgroups and return with proposals and possible pilot investments—priority areas cited were embedded housing-based services, stabilized food delivery and volunteer coordination to address social isolation.