Community Approaches to Meet Residents' Needs in an Affordable Public Housing Community

The Atlanta Regional Commission and the Atlanta Housing Authority are working together to address the unique challenges and opportunities of naturally occurring retirement communities. Leveraging local partnerships and several converging initiatives, a multidisciplinary team is developing and coordinating resources and supports while re-imagining the physical structure of affordable public housing communities for the elderly and individuals with disabilities. This article will examine how the application of the Atlanta Regional Commission's Lifelong Community framework in one high-rise apartment building, Marian Road, has broadened supports for aging residents while changing the way the Atlanta Regional Commission and the Atlanta Housing Authority serve the needs of current and future older adults. However, it is clear that replication on any significant scale will require a shift in federal and state rules that regulate housing construction, housing subsidies, and community-based services that only marginally support and in some cases thwart this work.