You asked for information on the need for senior housing in Bozrah.

SUMMARY

As of 2001, nearly a third of Bozrah's total population of 2,193 were over the age of 50 and 13% over age 65, according to Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) statistics. Neither the town, DECD, or the Department of Social Services' Elderly Services Division have documented a specific need for senior housing in Bozrah. But a regional housing shortage (including senior housing) is documented in a recent Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments report.

Both the town's agent for the elderly, Jane Seder, and its first selectman, Keith Robbins, conveyed anecdotal information about senior citizens who want to remain in Bozrah but have no alternative in town to their single family homes. Based on this, Bozrah applied for a Small Town Economic Assistance Program (STEAP) grant for affordable senior housing on October 2, 2001. The state Bond Commission approved the project on May 31, 2002.

Bozrah currently has only one residential care home, Fitchville Home, Inc. It has 25 beds on one floor and rarely has vacancies, according the manager, Marilou Zimbouski.

REGIONAL HOUSING NEEDS

Although Bozrah was not cited specifically, the Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments found a shortage of housing in southeastern Connecticut overall, as reported in its April 2002 report entitled, Housing, A Region In Transition: An Analysis of Housing Needs in Southeastern Connecticut, 2000-2005. The report notes among other things that (1) the housing crisis is such that a regional response is necessary; (2) a quarter of the region's households were occupied by a single person, one-third of which were age 65 or older; and (3) the average age of the region's population will continue to increase in the near future.

BOZRAH NEEDS

According to Robbins and Seder, Bozrah needs additional senior housing - a conclusion they based on anecdotal evidence gathered from speaking with Bozrah's seniors and the fact that the town's one residential care facility, Fitchville Home, Inc. , is inadequate for Bozrah's needs.

Both Robbins and Seder said that many older Bozrah residents have said that they would like to remain in town but cannot find an alternative to their single-family homes. (Robbins noted that creating senior housing would also make available single-family homes in a region in need of such housing. ) To meet these needs, Bozrah applied for, and the state awarded, a STEAP grant to purchase land to build affordable senior housing that would include an assisted living option.

The land Bozrah intends to use is referred to as the Rogan Property, 4. 5 acres selling for approximately $ 150,000. It is located on Fitchville Road across from Fitchville Pond. Robbins said that the town is currently working with the DECD to meet all requirements (such as multiple land appraisals and development proposals) for funds to be released.

STEAP targets relatively small, undeveloped, prosperous towns. A town qualifies for STEAP grants if it has:

1. fewer than 30,000 people,

2. no land classified as an "urban center" on the State Plan of Conservation and Development's (Plan of C&D) locational guide, and

3. not been designated a "distressed municipality" or "public investment community. "

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