Volunteers of America Opens New Senior Living Apartments in Webster

Volunteers of America Upstate New York (VOAUPNY), in partnership with Conifer Realty, LLC, has officially opened its new Senior Living apartment complex in Webster. The new affordable housing community, which is called Cobblestone Place, has 60 apartments for seniors, with 50% being set aside for frail elderly residents, and of those, 18 are reserved for frail elderly residents at risk of homelessness.

"Volunteers of America is proud to work with an incredible group of partners to provide a safe, affordable place that seniors can call home," said Kim Brumber, VOA's President and CEO. "Poverty impacts the lives of so many in our community including seniors. This new venture addresses a critical need by providing housing with support services for frail, vulnerable older adults so they can comfortably age in place."

The high quality, state-of-the-art apartment home was funded in part with funds generated through Governor Cuomo's Medicaid Redesign Team (MRT) which he created in 2011 to find better medical and therapeutic alternatives for high-need Medicaid clients in treatment for mental illness or substance abuse whose prognosis wasn't improving from repeated hospitalizations that were costly for the state. The MRT proposed $3 billion in taxpayer savings, with the state committing more than $300 million of those savings to supportive housing developments. The state budget provides for more than $1 billion in base funding to address homelessness statewide.

"Our seniors deserve the chance to live independently in the best housing and with the best care we can give them." HCR Commissioner James S. Rubin said. "This development accomplishes both of those missions. Our partners, Conifer and Volunteers of America have created a state-of-the-art development that not only provides housing that is affordable to seniors on a fixed budget, and who can and want to live independently, but also gives them access to in-house services and basic medical care."

The development cost nearly $12 million. HCR provided $5.8 million in bonds to finance the construction. Other sources of funds are the state MRT loan of $6 million, $120,000 from Monroe County Home Fund; an additional $120,000 from NYSEDRA; $300,000 from the Federal Home Loan Bank Loan; and tax credit proceeds in the expected amount of $2.92 million.

Volunteers of America will provide support services for the residents and will coordinate services with other community providers. The new complex is located at 1023 Ravenside Lane in Webster, so residents can conveniently enjoy neighborhood amenities and services, including banking, shopping, restaurants and medical offices.

For more information about available units or additional services provided by VOAUPNY, please call 647-1150.

Volunteers of America Upstate New York is a local human services agency that empowers people to rise out of poverty and move toward self-reliance. VOAUPNY has been serving the community since 1901, and each year the organization helps more than 6,000 people.