{"id":10596,"date":"2026-01-07T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/?p=10596"},"modified":"2026-01-07T10:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-07T10:00:00","slug":"homeless-shelters-for-seniors-pop-up-catering-to-older-adults-medical-needs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/?p=10596","title":{"rendered":"Homeless Shelters for Seniors Pop Up, Catering to Older Adults\u2019 Medical Needs"},"content":{"rendered":"

SANDY, Utah \u2014 Just outside Salt Lake City sits an old, two-story, brick hotel. It\u2019s been given new life as a homeless shelter for seniors. The Medically Vulnerable People shelter \u2014 or MVP shelter<\/a>, as it\u2019s known \u2014 is for people 62 and older or for younger adults with chronic health issues.<\/p>\n

Residents share rooms designed to be accessible to those with mobility issues. There are also private bathrooms, which are a big deal for seniors struggling with incontinence.<\/p>\n

Unlike the MVP, most homeless shelters aren\u2019t equipped to help seniors, especially those 65 and older. They are the fastest-growing homeless population nationwide, according to Dennis Culhane<\/a>, a researcher at the University of Pennsylvania. Not only are people who struggle with chronic homelessness aging, but many seniors are becoming homeless for the first time in their lives.<\/p>\n

Getting in and out of bunks, managing medications, and making it to a shared bathroom in time are among the major challenges of shelter life for older adults. Staff at traditional shelters sometimes ask seniors to leave if they\u2019re unable to care for themselves.<\/p>\n

The MVP is unusual among shelters because it provides on-site medical care to better serve its residents as they age.<\/p>\n

Last spring, Jamie Mangum, who is in her 50s and has lung cancer, tripped and fell in her room. To visit with an emergency medical technician, she needed only to make it downstairs. Her swollen wrist was quickly wrapped, and she returned to her room. She said that wouldn\u2019t have been possible at other shelters she\u2019s stayed in.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere, I\u2019d have to wait hours as opposed to come in here, be seen<\/em>,\u201d Mangum said.<\/p>\n

Mangum said that in other shelters she\u2019d likely have had to find her own way to an urgent care office or get an ambulance ride. Specialized case managers at the MVP have helped her get treatment for lung cancer as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have clients that need memory care. Maybe they were living independently before, but they were unable to maintain that and got evicted due to dementia or different things like that,\u201d said Baleigh Dellos, who manages the MVP shelter for The Road Home<\/a>, a local nonprofit.<\/p>\n

Specialized medical case managers work at the shelter. Primary care doctors and therapists visit weekly. Residents can even receive physical therapy in private spaces on-site.<\/p>\n

A Path to Stability<\/strong><\/p>\n

The MVP partnered with the Fourth Street Clinic<\/a> to offer medical care.<\/p>\n

The first thing most new residents need help with is medication, said Matt Haroldsen with the Fourth Street Clinic, which provides health services at the shelter.<\/p>\n

For people living on the streets, just keeping hold of regular medications is a challenge. \u201cTheir medications get jacked when they\u2019re in their camps,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Diabetes patients without homes often bury their insulin to keep it cold. Haroldsen said they might forget where they buried it, or the vials might get too warm and spoil.<\/p>\n

Helping residents at the shelter get those medications can stabilize their conditions, allowing them to focus on other priorities, such as getting an ID and other documents they need to apply for disability, Social Security, and various programs that can help them secure housing.<\/p>\n

Nonprofits and local governments have opened similar shelters in Florida, California, and Arizona to meet the needs of older unhoused adults.<\/p>\n

Having access to specialized shelters can be the difference between life and death, said Caitlin Synovec<\/a>, assistant director of the National Health Care for the Homeless Council.<\/p>\n

In cold-weather states, denying seniors a bed because of mobility and other health issues can be especially risky. In 2022, a Bozeman, Montana, senior froze to death<\/a> after he was asked to leave a shelter because of incontinence.<\/p>\n

Complex medical needs can pose a danger to other residents that most shelters aren\u2019t prepared to manage.<\/p>\n

\u201cA typical shelter doesn\u2019t allow somebody on oxygen to come in because that\u2019s such a fire hazard and risk,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Synovec said giving seniors better access to health care inside shelters is the best way to help them succeed once they get housing. Health issues are a common reason seniors can\u2019t afford or maintain housing, she said.<\/p>\n

A Growing Model<\/strong><\/p>\n

The MVP model is showing promise, both in Utah and elsewhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver 80% of the people who\u2019ve stayed in our program this past year have moved into stable or permanent housing,\u201d said Jacob Torner<\/a>, vice president of programs for the TaskForce for Ending Homelessness in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The nonprofit runs a shelter called Elder Haven<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The MVP shelter near Salt Lake City is also marking success. It was able to permanently house 36 seniors as of late last year.<\/p>\n

Still, there are more seniors in need of shelter than it can accommodate. Dellos, the shelter\u2019s manager, said the MVP\u2019s waitlist hovers around 200 people. She said the shelter prioritizes people based on medical need, not time spent on the waitlist.<\/p>\n

For residents who do get a room, it\u2019s life-changing.<\/p>\n

Last spring, 62-year-old Jeff Gregg was playing fetch with his dog, Ruffy, just beyond the lawn in front of the MVP.<\/p>\n

An old back injury forced Gregg to hunch over as he threw the ball. It also fueled a decades-long addiction to opioids. That cycle was hard to escape, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFighting that, having a job, insurance, then losing the job, not having insurance, going out to the streets and being back in that crap, and I\u2019d be back in the same position,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Gregg said sobriety took a back seat to more immediate needs like finding food and a bed in a shelter. He said the MVP was the first place where he could relax and focus on recovery.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was able to get clean. It took me a couple months, but I just kept plucking away,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He said the experience paved the way for him to get back surgery. He hopes that with less back pain, he can eventually get a job to help him afford an apartment.<\/p>\n

This article is part of a partnership with <\/em>NPR<\/em><\/a> and <\/em>Montana Public Radio<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n

KFF Health News<\/a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF\u2014an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF<\/a>.<\/p>\n

USE OUR CONTENT<\/h3>\n

This story can be republished for free (details<\/a>).<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SANDY, Utah \u2014 Just outside Salt Lake City sits an old, two-story, brick hotel. It\u2019s been given new life as a homeless shelter for seniors. The Medically Vulnerable People shelter \u2014 or MVP shelter, as it\u2019s known \u2014 is for people 62 and older or for younger adults with chronic health issues. Residents share rooms…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":10597,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10596","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10596"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10596"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10596\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10596"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10596"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medical-article.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10596"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}