BOSTON SENIORS ADVOCATE TALKS SENIOR HOUSING AND HEALTH CARE
WITH SENATOR REED

Boston, MA (December 3, 2001) - Ellen Feingold, Co-Chair of the Commission on Affordable Housing and Health Facility Needs for Seniors in the 21st Century ("the Seniors Commission"), met with Senator Jack Reed, (D-RI), the Chairman of the Banking Subcommittee on Housing and Transportation, to discuss senior health and housing issues and provide an update on the work of the Seniors Commission. Feingold, of Boston, MA was appointed by Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) and Senator John Kerry (D-MA) to lead the Seniors Commission as it conducts a nationwide series of field hearings and public forums focusing on the needs of older Americans today and into the future.

"Senior citizens in the Boston area and across the country are facing very difficult choices when it comes to meeting their housing and health care costs," said Ms. Feingold. "I know that Senator Reed shares my concerns, and I am pleased that he wants to work with the Seniors Commission on identifying ways to make government work better for our senior citizens."

Ms. Feingold added, "America is facing an enormous challenge as we enter the 21st Century and brace for the first waves of Baby Boomer retirees. It is more important than ever before to design and implement a more effective, coordinated and efficient housing and health strategy focusing on the needs of seniors. To do so, the Seniors Commission is taking a hard look at the effectiveness of existing public and private sector programs, and the needs of seniors today in the Boston area and other communities across America."

"Our parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, friends and neighbors are having their incomes and life savings stretched to the limit by rising housing, health care and child-rearing costs," said Gerard Holder, the Seniors Commission's Executive Director. "We need to look closely at programs and initiatives that are working and not working, and make absolutely certain that policies and funding priorities reflect the realities facing seniors now and in the years ahead."

The "Seniors Commission" is a bi-partisan 14-member panel created by an act of Congress to study and report back to the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate on the housing and health needs for the next generation of older Americans. The Commission is empowered to offer specific policy and legislative recommendations for enhancing services and increasing the available housing for this important and growing segment of our society.