PHOENIX — It's a hard reality to fathom: People older than 55 becoming homeless for the first time, which according to the latest data, is a growing trend in Maricopa County.
"There's not enough resources for anybody experiencing homelessness," said Phillip Scharf, COO of Central Arizona Shelter Services, or CASS. "But especially in the senior space, because this is a newer phenomenon."
But there’s a phenomenon within the phenomenon.
"About 90% of people are screening positive for possible dementia or cognitive impairment," said ASU Professor Heather Ross.
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CASS is partnering with Ross’s team at ASU to screen all seniors coming to the shelter for cognitive decline.
Ross said it's a 10-minute pencil and paper assessment called the MoCA test. For the past six months, they found that the majority of seniors coming to the shelter provider were flagged to need further help.
"Sadly, it's both exciting and horrific all at once," Scharf said. "I think it's exciting because if we can determine that there is either a root cause for their dementia and cognitive decline being homelessness, then we can act on it. Or if it's in the inverse...I'm always excited if we can solve more people's homelessness. That's my everyday goal, right?"
"If we know that people are entering into homelessness because of the dementia-related concern or an issue, then we can start to think about how do we work upstream to prevent those things from happening," Scharf added.
With the findings, they’re also better equipped to connect people with specialized doctors, medications and memory care. Scharf said, to their knowledge, CASS is the only shelter in the country doing this screening as part of a normal onboarding protocol.
They’re also using students to help with the screening, which has been cost-effective. It also encourages students to get into this line of work at a time when many shelters and homeless service providers say they're understaffed despite a growing need.
The focus on seniors also includes placing people in special shelter spaces for those 55 and older.
"Getting folks out of the congregate setting, they can maybe relax a little bit," Ross said.
In fact, the change in setting might help improve cognition. Instead of staying in CASS's downtown shelter, where there are hundreds of people, some seniors are moved to a temporary seniors-only shelter space operated by CASS. After about a month in the new space, the seniors do the MoCA test again.
"We saw about a 10-point drop in those positive screens. Went from about 90% to about 80%," Ross said.
The temporary shelter is a leased hotel near 51st Avenue and McDowell Road. CASS hopes to open a permanent senior shelter with 170 beds later this year.
CASS and ASU hope the screenings and the senior-specific shelters become models nationwide.
The senior-specific setting can be beneficial even for those who don't need cognitive help.
"It's like a night and day difference," said Stephanie Holdorf. "I love it here."
The steps on her journey have been a struggle, but Holdorf couldn't be happier.
"Come on in!" she said cheerfully as she unlocked the door to her own room at the temporary hotel shelter.
She moved to the senior shelter after spending time at CASS's downtown shelter.
"I've been able to keep up on daily things that I couldn't do over there because of limitations," she said. "Or limitations just being on the street."
Holdorf is 57 years old and said she faced life on the streets after she lost her job due to medical issues.
"It is very scary," she said. "I was on the bus stop bench for a couple of days."
Now, she hopes to have knee surgery and go back to work. She said the setting is helping her achieve those goals.
"Confidence," she said. "It's given me confidence."
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