Loans, Tax Credits, Grants, Finance Coming Home Assisted-Living Project in Arkansas
Coming Home: Affordable Assisted Living
Starting in early 2001, Arkansas developed a model of affordable assisted living—The Gardens at Osage Terrace (the Gardens)—a 45-unit facility in Bentonville, Ark. The service and rent charges are affordable to people with incomes as low as $564 per month (the 2004 Federal SSI payment amount).
The project was part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) national program Coming Home: Affordable Assisted Living.
The Arkansas Department of Human Services Division of Aging and Adult Services, Office of Long-Term Care and Arkansas Development Finance Authority partnered on the project.
The Community Development Corp. of Bentonville/Bella Vista developed and owns the Gardens, and Mercy Health Systems of Northwest Arkansas provides the services (e.g., staffing assessments, care and meal delivery, services billing).
Key Results
The Community Development Corp. participated in the state's development process for the new assisted-living regulations.
The corporation designed the facility to comply with or exceed the anticipated physical requirements for the regulations.
It established a viable alternative, or "Plan B," to operate the gardens as an independent-living residence with in-home care if an assisted-living development became impossible for regulatory or financial reasons.