Hard times\u2013whether from health problems, job loss, addiction or family strife\u2013can happen to anyone, but for hundreds of older adults in Long Beach, falling on hard times has meant having no place to live, maybe even being on the streets.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is supposed to be the golden years, you know, retirement,\u201d said Theresa Dunbar, 70, who moved into Gold Star Manor in West Long Beach in March, after years of bouncing between staying with relatives and in motels. \u201cThey weren\u2019t very golden.\u201d<\/p>\n
As of the city\u2019s last homeless count<\/a> in January, more than 500 people like Dunbar\u2014seniors age 65 and older\u2014had no permanent home, nearly double the number of unhoused residents in that age group in 2022. This year\u2019s count also tallied 800-some homeless seniors in the 55-to-64 bracket, up about 23% from the previous year.<\/p>\n Statistics for most of the rest of Los Angeles County and all of California show similar growth trends, according to the state\u2019s homeless data website<\/a>. And the same is true nationally; adults 50 and older made up 11% of the single homeless population in 1990, and by 2020 they were about half, as noted in an article<\/a> from that year in the American Society on Aging\u2019s journal.<\/p>\n