At some point as they age, the majority of older adults will need assistance with daily activities as a result of a disability. Sally Abrahms reports for Next Avenue on a new housing option that offers long-term supports and services. Opus Newton, a non-profit facility, is a lower cost alternative to luxury assisted living facilities. To keep costs down, it requires its residents to volunteer some of their time.
Right now, older adults who live in an assisted living facility can easily spend $4,000 a month or more. The founders of Opus Newton, a new housing option, intends to keep costs below that level right in the Boston area. How?
A three-pronged strategy:
- Requiring residents to volunteer at the living facility for at least 10 hours a week, reducing staffing costs.
- Locating the facility by a park, reducing their costs for outdoor activities.
- Collaborating with service providers to offer a range of additional services at lower cost.
Someone on staff will help residents identify health care providers to meet their daily needs. And, residents will have help navigating the insurance maze and their medical bills. Home care agencies will come to the facility to see residents on an as-needed basis rather than in four-hour periods, reducing costs to people who have minimal needs.
The Opus Newton facility will have 174 units when it is completed in 2025. Residents will pay an upfront fee of between $302,000 and $732,000 that is 80 percent reimbursable when the resident dies or leaves the unit. Of course, that is still a huge price tag for many.
However, residents save on monthly fees relative to most assisted living facilities. Instead of a fee of $4,000 or more a month, the fee is likely to be $2,500 or less a month. The fee will cover food, electric, maintenance, activities and help with medical issues, but not parking or housekeeping or any types of physical care.
The facility will abut a community center. So, residents who join that center will have the benefit of its gym, classes, services, and events. They will also be part of a multigenerational community.
What types of volunteering? Gardening, organizing activities, sitting at the welcome desk.
Next door to Opus Newton are 146 subsidized apartments for older adults. And, Opus Newton will share some services and programming with that facility.
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