Senior citizens at the Rev. Callahan House want to see their community remain as affordable housing meant for the elderly.
However, more young people with disabilities are moving into the 80-unit federally subsidized apartment building on Smith Street.
In 2005, the younger population at Callahan House — younger than 62 — made up five percent of the residents, according to the Seymour Housing Authority.
Today, the younger population has increased to 40 percent, officials said. Many of these people are in their 30s and 40s, the senior citizens claim.
On Monday night, state Rep. Len Greene Jr., R‑Seymour, listened to their concerns during a meeting at the Callahan House attended by about 50 residents.
Dominick Bellucci, president of the Callahan House Tenants Association, invited Greene to the meeting.
“The issue is some of the seniors are set in their ways and they don’t like change. It’s a hard adjustment for them, the lifestyle differences between the young and the seniors,” Bellucci told the Valley Indy.
The seniors believe the younger people at the Callahan House are riding the system — that is, collecting benefits the seniors cannot access.
“They see young people come in that get benefits they can’t get,” Bellucci said. “They don’t understand why people in their 30s and 40s can’t work for what they get.”
However, the younger people at the Callahan House must be on federal disability benefits to live there.
They are protected from discrimination by a variety of federal laws, including the American with Disabilities Act and the Federal Fair Housing Act.
But why are the two age groups mixed together?
The non-seniors — that is, people with disabilities — have been allowed to live in federally subsidized senior housing since 1961.
However, younger people did not start moving into senior housing developments in Connecticut until the 1980s, according to a study commissioned by state lawmakers in 2004.
Openings at senior housing complexes became more plentiful thanks to the rise of assisted-living facilities and in-home care.
Meanwhile, as mental institutions closed, the people who had previously been institutionalized needed places to live, according to the study.
The report pointed out the problems associated with mixing the two age groups, ranging from fear of the mentally ill by senior citizens to actual instances of crimes against seniors.
Nothing like that was mentioned at the Callahan House.
The study also mentions more run of the mill problems, such as the fact that younger residents tend to have more visitors and keep different hours than the senior citizens they live in close proximity to.
The General Assembly report concluded that more affordable housing opportunities needed to be created each year for both the elderly and the disabled.
Greene said the state has limited authority to address the Callahan House issues because the property is federally regulated and funded.
However, Greene said he will look into whether the state can place a cap on how many young people live in the building and whether case workers can be placed on-site to work with the younger population.
“We have to at least try to help these people. They have no other options. It’s a big issue that has not been addressed properly in my opinion,” Greene said.
