Rivertown Neighborhood Creates Jobs and New Housing and Health Care Options for Detroit Seniors, Including City’s First Affordable Assisted Living

DETROIT (April 12, 2013) - Three nonprofit organizations with a history of innovation and service in Michigan today announce they have officially opened the Rivertown Neighborhood, a first-of-its-kind collaboration to redevelop a neighborhood, create jobs and fill important health care and living needs for seniors in the City of Detroit.

Henry Ford Health System, Presbyterian Villages of Michigan (PVM) and United Methodist Retirement Communities (UMRC) hosted a Grand Opening today of the first phase of the Rivertown Neighborhood. By the end of 2013, the partners expect 80 residents to live in Detroit’s first Affordable Assisted Living apartments. Additionally, Henry Ford/PVM’s Center for Senior Independence (CSI) is operating its second location inside the building, which once housed Parke-Davis pharmaceutical laboratories, on McDougall Avenue near the Detroit River in a neighborhood in which there is compelling need for affordable senior housing and senior health services.

Philanthropy has helped build a strong base of support for the Rivertown Neighborhood, including support from foundations committed to creating vibrant neighborhoods and economic development in Detroit. The Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan made a leadership grant commitment to the project in 2010 through the Detroit Neighborhood Fund. More recently, the development has received grants from The Kresge Foundation and The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, which is based in Maryland and helps older adults live meaningful and engaged lives in their community. The project was further supported by HUD, MSHDA, Wayne County, and the City of Detroit HOME funds, brownfield tax credits, low-income housing tax credits, and the partners’ own equity. Huntington National Bank provided the construction financing for Phase One.

The investment creates approximately 183 ongoing, new economy health care jobs and more than 350 construction jobs. The ripple effect across the economy of the Phase One investment will be approximately $250 million over 10 years.

The partners have also begun to break ground on Phase Two of the Rivertown Neighborhood. Presbyterian Villages of Michigan (PVM) and United Methodist Retirement Communities, Inc. (UMRC) are partners in the second phase, developed in collaboration with Henry Ford, with PVM operating new apartments and leading construction and planning.

The nearly $7 million, 43,000 square-foot Phase Two, which will be built just east of the $27.5 million Phase One development, will include 50 independent living affordable senior apartments, funded in part through a $6.9 million capital advance grant of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The partners are forming a non-profit community board. The second phase should open in the spring of 2014. Eligible residents will be 62 years old or older who meet HUD’s very low-income requirements.

“This partnership allows the Center for Senior Independence to expand its commitment to promoting quality of life for seniors living in their own homes, by offering a team approach to superior care management,” said Michael Karson, executive director, CSI. “Once you are part of the CSI family, you needn’t look any further to have your medical, social and physical needs met. Our new center will provide all the services our participants expect, while opening our doors to help more of the medically underserved in the area.”

Henry Ford/PVM's Center for Senior Independence is part of the national PACE program. PACE, the Program for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, provides comprehensive medical and social services to frail, low-income seniors with serious health problems. More than 25,000 people are enrolled in 91programs in 30 states.

CSI provides an alternative to nursing home care for frail, elderly people. By bringing together all the care needed, participants are able to remain independent in their own homes and communities. Patients and their caregivers also are provided respite care. The comprehensive care, both medical and social, are provided at CSI and the senior's home, as well as in the hospital or nursing home, when necessary.

For more than 65 years, PVM has served seniors of all faiths and now operates 24 senior living communities in Michigan, including six in the City of Detroit. PVM serves as the developer of the overall project.

"This exciting development is an important step toward effectively addressing the increasing needs of the City of Detroit's rapidly aging population," said Roger Myers, President and CEO of PVM. "This senior population will expand by nearly 20 percent by 2035 and will be the only demographic group experiencing such growth over the next twenty-five years."

Founded in 1906 in Michigan, UMRC has more than 40 years of experience owning and operating senior citizen housing in the City of Detroit. It was just one of just five organizations in Michigan approved by the State to pioneer Affordable Assisted Living and the only one approved for a program in the City of Detroit. In this new collaboration, UMRC is an investor in the project and will also manage the Affordable Assisted Living component.

Affordable Assisted Living provides below market-rate apartments with home care services, paid for by Medicaid. For people of limited means who have exhausted their financial resources, Affordable Assisted Living allows them to receive services in their home as a much less expensive alternative to a nursing facility. Currently, no Affordable Assisted Living option exists in the City of Detroit.

“As mission-driven organizations, we are able to collaborate to fulfill our missions and meet needs in the community,” said John Thorhauer, President and CEO of UMRC. “We see Rivertown Neighborhood as a model in the City of Detroit, the State of Michigan and the nation on how organizations should work together to develop communities.”

Once all phases are complete, the partners expect the Rivertown Neighborhood to serve more than 750 seniors each year.

Henry Ford Health System
Henry Ford Health System, one of the country's largest and most comprehensive integrated health care systems, is a national leader in clinical care, research and education. The system includes the 1,200-member Henry Ford Medical Group, five hospitals, Health Alliance Plan (a health insurance and wellness company), Henry Ford Physician Network, a 150-site ambulatory network and many other health-related entities throughout southeast Michigan, providing a full continuum of care. In 2010, Henry Ford provided nearly $200 million in uncompensated care. The health system also is a major economic driver in Michigan and employs more than 24,000 people. Henry Ford is a 2011 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient. The health system is led by CEO Nancy Schlichting. To learn more, visit HenryFord.com.

Presbyterian Villages of Michigan (PVM), headquartered in Southfield, MI, is a faith-based, non-profit, multi-site system that has served seniors of all faiths since 1945. PVM currently serves more than 4,300 seniors and has 24 senior living communities including continuing care retirement communities (apartments, assisted living, and skilled nursing all on one campus), subsidized senior housing, and market rate senior housing. The PVM Foundation advances the PVM mission by providing philanthropic support for benevolent care, innovative services such as Green Houses for the frail elderly and wellness programs for residents and seniors throughout the state. For more information on Presbyterian Villages of Michigan or Presbyterian Villages of Michigan Foundation log on at www.pvm.org.

Building on a foundation of more than 100 years of service, United Methodist Retirement Communities is a faith-based, non-profit organization that promotes the wellness, dignity and independence of older adults, by providing high quality, innovative and compassionate senior residential care services across Southeast Michigan. The organization is headquartered in Chelsea, Michigan and is online at www.umrc.com.