Support Aging in Community
Every person is aging. As Trustee, I will ensure that the Village evaluates all our systems – from accessible housing to transportation, from social services to parks – to ensure that people of all ages can have a high quality of life in Skokie.
For example, an age-friendly Skokie would make it possible for residents to live in housing appropriate to their stage in life, from studios to family-sized apartments or houses to safe places for people with disabilities. As Trustee, I would make intergenerational housing and communal living easier to create or preserve. This is a model that I have stewarded in Chicago as the executive director of Housing Opportunities and Maintenance for the Elderly (H.O.M.E.), which provides an age-integrated housing for low-income seniors who might otherwise feel socially isolated or, for those in an LGBTQ+ community, unsafe. We should also accommodate changes in income or lower incomes, such as the minimum wage, a seasonal or artist’s income, or a fixed Social Security, SSI or child-support income.
In an age-friendly Skokie, the Village’s streets would be as easy for people in wheelchairs or walkers, or people with baby strollers, to navigate as those who can walk unassisted.