Housing needs are especially critical to low-income senior citizens. They represent 90 percent of those served by the Greenheart Humanitas program in 2020. From 1980 into the next decade, according to the U. S. Census Bureau figures, the number of senior citizens ages 65 and older living in Georgia grew 4 times faster than the state’s population-at-large.

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Contributing to this growth are advances in medicine that have been made during the last several decades, extending life expectancy. The growth during the same time span for those 85 and older was approximately 31 percent, starting with explosive growth as early as a decade prior.

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In 2022, Georgia’s largest municipalities—Atlanta, Columbus, Augusta, Macon and Savannah —were home to the largest numbers of senior citizens.

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According to 2022 Census data estimates, approximately 10 percent of all person’s living in Georgia ages 65 and over live in poverty.

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Approximately 78% of all person’s 65 and over living below the poverty line live in major metropolitan areas. This number is expected to double as baby boomers enter retirement age.

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Estimates indicate that Atlanta, South Fulton, College Park, East Point, Fairburn, Fayetteville, Douglasville and Hapeville contain the largest number of seniors living below poverty. Four of these communities currently represent target areas for Greenheart Humanitas.

Aging in place provides senior citizens with the stability and comfort that is so important when everything else around them is changing faster than they can adapt. A 2024 Forbes survey found that the vast majority of older adults—92 percent—prefer to live out their lives in their homes.

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According to AARP, the vast majority of senior citizens—78 percent—prefer to live out their lives in their current homes and communities.

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 Home ownership is high among 50-plus adults, with 74% living in single family homes, and 79% owning their home.

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A third (33%) of 50-plus adults believe they will have to modify their current home to make it safe and accessible so that they can continue to live there as they get older. The most cited modifications are in bathrooms (77%), improving access to and around the home (72%), and installing a medical emergency response system (60%).

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Safety becomes an issue when they have to choose between making essential home repairs and buying medicine, putting food on the table or paying utility bills.

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More than three in five 50-plus adults believe that having trustworthy and affordable home repair contractors (76%) and home repair services specifically for older adults and those with disabilities (61%) are very important to have in their community to ensure that people can continue to live independently as they age.

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Greenheart Humanitas performs essential repairs, providing seniors with the ability to remain in their homes safely.

This group of individuals is in the midst of an increasingly acute affordable housing crisis. There is not one Georgia city or town where a person receiving federal SSI and State Supplemental Program (SNAP) benefits has sufficient income from the program to pay 30 percent in monthly income for rent, let alone to maintain a house.

While Georgia’s median income is approximately $35,800, this category of individuals receives an annual income slightly higher than $27,600. That’s less than 23% of the average per capita state median income!

The dynamics of household composition in Georgia continues to play a significant role in shaping housing needs. Currently, Georgia single parent homes stand at approximately 24%. From the mid ‘2000s until now, the increase has averaged approximately less than 1 percent. Of these households, approximately 85 percent are female-headed.

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The state's urban centers have higher rates of single parent homes and female-headed households than the state's rural areas. Atlanta, College Park, South Fulton, East Point and Hapeville contains the significant number of Atlanta metro area single parent homes. Included in this area is Atlanta Federally designated Promise Zones areas of the city characterized by high rate of poverty and unemployment. All 5 cities in Georgia represent target areas for the Greenheart Humanitas Program.

In a state with approximately 4.43 million households, close to one and a half million people are earning $15,000 or less annually:

• 105,000 in Fayette County

• 116,000 in Oconee County

• 131,000 in Forsyth County

The national poverty threshold for a family of four, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, is $31,200. Yet, Georgia ranks 25th—Florida 21st, Alabama 48th, North Carolina 34th, South Carolina 44th and Tennessee 45th —in terms of highest cost of living in the United States.

Families with children, often single parent families, represent the fastest growing segment of the state's homeless. Others populating their ranks in recent years include groups that traditionally were not part of this category: single females, senior citizens, and people with physical and mental challenges.