Author's Forum: Climate Resiliencefor an Aging Nation

To rod for, you know. That you do to support C and News communications and particularly to Mallory or facilitate this introduction. For both Mallories and Margaret's leadership. I want to do a quick editorial for the organization that I work for, National Housing Trust. We are national nonprofit. Affordable housing developer. We have about 35 properties here in the mid Atlantic and up and down the eastern seaboard, but we also do a lot of That I lead, so we're really trying, working very hard to bring. Climate investments into affordable housing, recognizing that. Those are the folks who are most in many cases must impact it by climate. And their housing needs to be able to be responsive to that. But the purpose of today's conversation really is to hone in on a different kind Try it. Concurrent but I think mutually impactful trends, both the aging of our population and of course our changing climate. Both of which have the potential to radically disrupt. How we plan and design our communities but differ really in the degree to which their changes are evident. I think for most people, but still. Okay. There's little doubt anymore that climate change is real. It's here impacting our daily lives. In the US and across the world people now endure summers characterized by code red air quality days and winters by either too much or too little snow pack. Extreme heat and cold are becoming more common. Hurricanes are increasingly frequent, intense and doubly. And many other parts of the country face periods of extreme redfall and wildfire smoke in ways that are truly unprecedented. We seek Evidence of the impacts of climate change in the destruction that at least behind. In the US, NOAA here in the US, no attracts the agency, NOAA, National Oceanic and atmosphere administration tracks disasters, nearly all of which are climate fueled. That result at least a billion dollars of damage. The number of 1 billion dollar disasters has increased each year. Since Noah started tracking this information, the overall average has been 8 per year. Last year there were 18 of these events and as of November of this year we were already at 25. These disasters include the full array of wildfires, storms, flooding, hurricanes, cold ways and droughts, and reach nearly all corners of our country. Time and time again we see that events of this scale lead to the loss of life. And the devastation of homes in communities that will in many cases take years to recover from. This climate trend. Intersects with and compounds another that is less talked about and maybe less apparent. But which will nevertheless have a tremendous impact on our communities. We are as a country and as a world become older. People over 65 are the fastest growing demographic in US. 100 years ago just one in 20 people was over 65 Today roughly 1 6 is. Moreover. 30. There will be more people. 5 under 18 in the US for the first time ever. And that group will be increasingly diverse with far higher growth rates among non white populations than white old adults. This change represents a significant tipping point. Outside. Will share. Okay. Yeah. Doesn't get the media coverage or discussion that it deserves. As a result, many community leaders, advocates, and planners are left with a poor understanding of what the shift means and what old adults needs Part of the problem is that we lack a standard definition who is an older doll. And your invitation comes to join ARP. Or when you qualify for the 55 plus retirement community. Or when you start collecting Social Security, 62 or Medicare at 65. Or something else. This poor understanding is exacerbated by the fact that we live in a youth-obsessed culture where any mention of Aging is usually accompanied by the word, in front of it. As well By the fact that Order. Continue to. Break the mold and shatter images of what it means to age. We see people running marathons in their late 80. We saw Martha Stewart. For. For Sports Illustrated this year. And of course we have the oldest sitting US president history. Older adults continue to defy. Expectations and stretch the boundaries of what it means to age. But there are some inherent truths to aging when looking across the cohort. One and 6 lips. Poverty. 96% live independently outside of congregate facilities. Nearly 30% live alone. 20% don't drive. One in 9 live with Alzheimer's disease. 20% need help with activities of daily living. Such as help, hearing, communicating, and self care. 40% have ambulatory limitations such as walking or climbing stairs. And 80% live with 2 or more chronic medical conditions. It's a short fall for all of us when we feel. Okay. These realities and use them to inform how we design communities. So we have these 2 massive trends underway, each of which has its own set of institutions that work. To address them. Engineers, data analysts, climatologists, emergency managers are indulgently. To plan for the impacts of climate change. Meanwhile, gerontologists, demographers, health care. Their professionals, aging. Like older, rare future. That division of labor is often mirrored in state and local agencies where the work is similarly siloed. Once that of professionals working to manage public works regularly utilities and manage emergency response. And an altogether. That charged with promoting health and safety is health and healthy aging. And therein lies the rub. We have these 2 or more silid approaches responsible for tackling complex. Problems without a full understanding of how they intersect. Result there's too little focus on how and where climate change exacerbates risk for older adults. And what that means for communities that are. Increasingly large share of them. Planters and urbanists have a unique role to play in in that gap. In many cases are already doing that. Already new urbanists have a hand in crafting more age friendly communities. A few years back. When I was directing the Liverpool Communities Program at ARP, we struck up a partnership with CMU that materialized not but also in this co brand did see a new AREP handbook for improved neighborhoods. That sought to weave together the tenets of n urbanism and coder form with the H for every principles pictured here. Okay. Of transportation, public space, and more. We didn't explicitly tackle climate in that effort, but the lessons are applicable and relevant, nevertheless. Design matters, building streets, homes, and public places that foster connection and hold promise to reduce emissions. Incremental change is possible. Starting with changes to lot coverage provisions or changes that allow for For our mixed uses, then move on to stormwater road diets, including the streets. And partnerships are key. Cove reform, as with any other community scale changes, requires public support. And so a diverse array of champions is needed to drive that change. This is what part of what makes the age friendly framework so powerful. It's a chance to bring together disparate city departments, nonprofit actors, hospitals and aging providers, all of whom share a goal for more livable place for people of all ages. And that collaboration is frankly. Critically important because of the ample evidence that the lack of understanding about older adults needs. And this conventional siloed approach to building communities isn't serving older jobs, needs well. It's evident in the lack of adequate benches. And parks and seating and shaving at bus stops. It's a parent in the fact that we don't provide enough safe, affordable housing that is also accessible. We don't offer enough reliable, accessible, affordable choice and how to get around. Safely once a person stops driving. This is where the work of ARPs, Livable Communities Program, and especially its partnership with CNU and its members is so important. Right now there are more than 800 H family states and communities that aim to create places that work better. For people of all ages and abilities. If you haven't tapped into your own local age friendly efforts, I highly recommend you do so. But there's so much more to do, especially when we consider the risks of that are growing associated with climate change. If we are to create safe, resilient communities where people can age in place. Because right now there's far too much evidence that we aren't creating places that serve old adults well in times of climate fuel disasters. Looking back the largest name disasters, the ones that occupy our collective memory. We see clear evidence the fact that old adults bear the brunt. Climate change and of our community wide failures to consider their needs. Consider the fatalities resulting from Hurricane Katrina, California campfire. The heat doves that covered the Pacific Northwest. Winterstorm Bury, Hurricane Ian. And more recently, the Laying of Wildfires. For nearly 2 decades. Hurricanes, winter storms, wildfires, and extreme temperatures. Claim a far greater share of older adults lives relative to the fact that they represent roughly 20% of the population. Old Dols I, die. At double triple or quadruple the rate as people who are younger. This trend line and the fact that it remains virtually unchanged over 20 years. Makes it painfully clear that we are feeling to create communities that safeguard older adults in their time of greatest need. It's not like we haven't been told this was happening. News stories almost consistently reporting on the tragedy. But at a national level, there's not been a similar attention and focus. We simply have not made a commitment to solve this problem. So cause me to wonder, what can we do about it? How can we begin to truly commit to creating communities that not only safeguard older adults needs as they seek to agent place? But also do so with an awareness of how climate change compounds their risk. For me, I felt I could make a contribution by diving deep into the topic. Ultimately sharing my perspective in the form of a book. Common res for an aging nation. Drawing on lessons learned throughout my career and even more learned during my year of research. I finally landed on 3 big takeaways that I think start to pave the way to solutions. First, we have to be clear-eyed in our understanding about how climate change is impacting older adults and accept that in many cases it impacts them more greatly. This has to start with more commitment to understanding who old results are and what their needs are. Old adults are a very group in ages and abilities and more racially, ethnically and linguistically diverse every year. Imagine for a moment the difference in climate related needs faced by a healthy, engaged, financially secure 62 year old. Compared to those of 89 year old living alone in substandard housing with chronic medical condition, challenges and no savings. Or a grandparent living comfortably in an intergenerational home with their child and her family. Compared to one whose caretaking for an adult child with a disability or a spouse with dementia. It's a essential to understand the financial health care giving housing and mobility conditions faced by older adults first. In order to better understand how they intercept with and amplify their climate risks. Second, we need to recognize individual and even institutional preparedness is not enough. One conclusion that I reached from my research is that these tragic lives lost aren't often the result of a failure of individuals to prepare. More often they're the result of unrealistic expectations about what it means to be prepared. For someone who lives on the fixed account. Who cares for a homebound family member or who can't drive? They are also the result of systems-wide failures that impact the whole community, but especially older adults. And there for must be done with the community scale. Third, these and other reasons are why it becomes essential to work towards community wide resilience. That means that all sectors and all disciplines have a role to play. Community planners, emergency managers, housing advocates and transportation planners, healthcare providers, utilities, and many more. This is no longer a job for any one sector or profession. It's a job for all of us. Furthermore, I believe it is the job for all of us. After all, we all have older adults in our lives who we love. And we all presumably hope to live in the community ourselves. Where we will be safe and secure in the face of changing climate. We are not on a path at the moment to create such communities. Therefore, we must redouble our efforts to build community scale resilience. If you do nothing more on this topic, then listen to this webinar. I want to be sure that I leave you with a clear sense of what it means to bring a clear-eyed view to the risks. Faced by older adults in our comment feature. And how those disparities ultimately impact whole communities. I've already shared the tragic the years of how older adults are died disproportionately in climate field disasters. And frankly, when I began writing the book, I thought that was the worst of it. But it turns out that the impacts of disasters are far more varied. Even more widespread, and frankly at the same time, harder to observe. And not therefore covered in the way in the news the way the fatality rates often are. For older adults who own their home. I do have most or all of their retirement savings tied up in their home equity. Disasters can be devastated. It's hard for anyone to rebound, but particularly difficult for older adults due to their limited access to capital, little time to rebuild savings, and long timelines for older adults due to their limited access to capital, little time to rebuild savings, and long timelines for federal relief. Moreover, those one in 9 people over 65 who are struggling with cognitive decline. Or those who are computer literate. May find the administrative burden of accessing disaster relief simply too hard or too complex. Disasters also impact the health of older adults, which matters a lot to those 80% of older adults who live with 2 or more chronic conditions. When roads are closed or the power goes down or transit services interrupted. People in need of regular medical care are unable to access it. When disasters damage a home in ways that create further health risks, like when flooding damage leads to black mold. The impacts on health have a far longer timeline. And when all of those effects are combined with the trauma of experience and climate field disasters. It's no surprise that research shows that they lead to worse health outcomes for older adults. Well, I was motivated to write the book by looking at the impacts on disasters. It became clear to me that the impacts on disasters. It became clear to me that the impacts on older adults were prevalent in all the days outside of disasters were prevalent in all the days outside of disasters as well. Which in some cases ended up being even more deadly. We are all having to learn to adapt to our new normal. As it unfolds every day. We just finished the hottest summer on record on Earth so far. Which of course impacts everyone but not everyone equally. I believe that climate change is wrecking havoc on older adults in a far more insidious and complex way. Periods of prolonged heat in particular are deadly for older adults. Extreme key is now the leading cause of weather-related deaths in the US, killing more than all other weather related causes combined. Heat related illnesses lead to 12,000 deaths each year and of those 80% of the people who die are over 60. We saw this in stark relief in the Pacific Northwest heat waves in 2021 where 1,000 people died. In the Molinova County, in Malmo County where the largest number of people died, the average age of 67. That's because older bodies don't process excess heat the same way as younger bodies. Fatigue and weakness from heat exhaustion can be missed because they mimic other conditions, thereby going untreated. Famously, Eric Kleinenberg documented the importance of social connectedness in his study at the fatality rates among older adults during the Chicago Keywaves of 1,995. These realities means that things like design elements and street trees that provide natural pooling are essential. And the housing that fosters connection, especially for that. 30% of older. To live up in their house alone can be life seeking. But it's not just heat that poses a risk. Wildfires and flooding also have an impact. Smoke from fires, blackball, found in homes that have been flooded, exacerbate respiratory challenges. Dust from drought and fires can increase the risk of heart attack. Especially for people who are overweight or diabetic. Not surprisingly, our new normal means financial impacts on older adults too. Already, many older adults are challenged to simply afford their rent for mortgage. In 2019 there were 14 million households headed by someone 75 or older. Of those, 45% were housing cost burning. Okay, paying more than 30% of their income for housing. Among renters, the figure was 76%. Considering housing prices in recent years, I fear with the next analysis reveals. Which makes it even more important to create communities that provide affordable, attainable homes that work for older adults. But we all know that the true cost of housing isn't just what one pays for rental mortgage. Already, Low-income households struggle to afford utilities. Hey, or P reports that nearly one in 5. Households. Low income households. Went without basic necessities for at least one month to pay an energy bill. That means that someone suffering in a home or apartment that is too cold or too warm is making real-time decisions about how much they can afford and how much discomfort they can withstand. In addition, flood and wildfire insurance premiums. Add to the cost of housing and are increasing as we develop more data-informed risk projections. FEMA is facing in those changes, but it still means that some homeowners will see their premiums increase 18% every year. For more than a decade. In real terms, that means that a homeowner in Louisiana would see flood insurance rates grow from $842 per year to over 5,000 in Florida from $1,053 to per year to over 4,000. And of course, more extreme temperatures leads to greater demands on that grid that lead to extended power outages. Blackouts are of course an inconvenience for everyone, but they represent a true hazard for older adults and when they last several days, weeks or even months, as has been the case in Texas, Louisiana, and Puerto Rico in recent years. Those risks multiply. Just today there was a great article in the Washington Post about the loss of life in Puerto Rico that is directly attributable to the prolonged power outage. It is definitely worth the read and I highly recommend it. Because without power people of all ages are left without access to clean water, fresh food and basic. Utilities. But the lack of power is felt more acutely. By people who rely on in home medical equipment such as oxygen machines or lifts. And by those who live on upper floor apartments and multi-family buildings without backup power. Who can't manage the stairs and who become effectively trapped until the power comes back on. All of this calls for a new commitment to creating more energy efficient homes in safer locations. And buildings that cultivate renewable sources of energy so that the power can stay on. It also underscores the value of close-knit walkable communities where older adults could more readily access centrally located resources like resilience. That are decided to provide basic services with onsite energy generation and storage. So what is it that we can't do? How can we begin to integrate older needs into a vision for climate resilience. And where do those intersect with new urbanist principles? It begins with rethinking what we mean by climate resilience. Naturally, it means more hard infrastructure. Like seawalls and levees to protect communities. More green infrastructure to better manage flooding. Particularly at small scales throughout a community. No ways to enrich the public sphere. It would also mean finding ways to construct a more resilient grid that can withstand extreme conditions and keep the power on. And or integrating decentralized energy sources like community solar throughout communities. But it also includes more resilient housing construction, especially H. Targeted housing. Through stronger building codes and sounding perform. Resilience would also encourage, include policies that encourage smaller denser housing that reduces utility. And cultivates a social network that can help in times of disaster. Elements that are core to new urbanist principles. Community Resilience would deliver diverse transportation network that includes public transit and fosters biking and walking to to provide safe, affordable, and reliable options. For the one in 5 people over 65 who don't drive. Again, these are core tenants of new urbanism. But in addition, can we resilience but account for the shading and the saving needs for people relied upon those services to ensure that they remain viable. In extreme conditions. But many more sectors and diverse partnerships are also required to work towards that climate resilient future. You who plan and design communities know the importance of partnerships. And as I mentioned before, that is part of what makes the AARPH friendly framework such a powerful tool. Partnerships are key to creating more climate resilient communities. But may involve new sectors that new urbanists typically don't work with. You, for example. For example, can implement payment systems that lower the seasonal cost spikes that may cause older notes to go without cooling or heating. They can encourage greater energy efficiency in homes and the use of renewable energy and battery storage. To provide power with the grid goes down. They could do a better job of communicating planned power outages to reduce load on the grid in peak times and suspend service cutoffs for non-payment during times of extreme weather. Health care professionals can proactively address the issue of climate change in the course of medical care as well as in community planning efforts so that old adults, caregivers and local leaders better understand the risks of longer hotter seasons or poor air quality days as they relate to underlying medical conditions that are prevalent among older adults. Healthcare facilities can become more engaged in designing communities when they serve as an anchor. But also in assessing how more decentralized needs can be served. Bye, mobile clinics to ensure that patients. Can access the help they need. Even when transportation systems are disrupted. Emergency managers and climate resilience planners can more explicitly incorporate aging in their planning, not just for older adults who live in facilities. But also for the vast majority. 96%. Who live in the community often alone. Emergency managers can serve as both a resource and as leaders to help new urbanists advocate for better housing, transportation and infrastructure solutions that are grounded in the realities of climate related risks. And aging advocates can recognize that climate change is central to their work. They can be partners to you at integrating climate. That serve the needs, common solutions that serve the needs of older adults. They can support you as experts on older adults needs and help you establish relationships that cultivate a greater understanding of and consideration for older adults. When these and other disciplines center their work around how to reduce climate change risk for older adults, we create safer and more resigned places for all. With all that said, I hope that this has inspired you to want to learn more about this issue. The book goes into far greater detail, including 25 solutions across housing, transportation, utilities, and more. That can help us move towards greater resilience. For an aging nation. I thank you for your time and attention because when we work to solve for the needs of older adults, we also serve for the needs of people unlimited income. Limited incomes or who can't drive or who live with disabilities. We saw for those who are often overlooked and not heard. Because they are isolated either by choice or by circumstance. We also serve the needs of our future selves by creating systems community-wide that better account for changing abilities, needs and risks as we age. Thank you. Thank you so much, Danielle. That was really excellent as somebody who's actually had the pleasure of reading your book. I highly recommend so, and with that. Reading your book and your presentation has prompted a couple questions from me that I love to start off with. And for those in the audience, you're more than welcome to use our Q&A function to ask questions as they occur to you. You for design to help older adults in communities. I just want to know a little bit more about how do the inequitable urban design design decisions we're already making? Kind of impact these communities. And social interactions. Yeah, I think, yeah, that's the first thing that comes to mind is transportation that works. And when we're not, you know, the transportation networks and when we're not, you know, fully allowing for or concern the needs of people who cannot drive or considering the needs of people who cannot drive or considering the needs of people who cannot drive or considering the needs of people who cannot drive or frankly going into a conversation about mobility, assuming that everyone can drive. I think that immediately underscores the sort of or sort of reinforces some of the inequity in terms of access. An opportunity, frankly, that is already present in some of communities. We see that when you see poorly desired transit systems that don't provide shelter for people to be protected from the elements when they're taking the bus or frankly in transit systems that, you know, space that stops too far apart or don't serve the needs where whether the greatest concentration of people who live or frankly even access provide access to really important community resources like hospitals or senior centers. You know, those kinds of traditions of assuming a certain level of ability. Assuming a certain level of access in terms of being able to drive. Those are the assumptions and biases, frankly, that we bring to a lot of our work that reinforces some of the inequities that we see that not just impact older adults, but of course it impact people of lower income impact people with disabilities who don't drive. Impact people frankly who choose not to drive but But that that's a way of beginning to think I think about how to relieve some of those inequities is by examining it from the perspective and through the lens really of older adults. Very true. Yeah, no, great answer. And then kind of on that same vein, I was wondering if you can talk a little bit more about the age friendly framework that you mentioned. That's championed by, ARP and the World Health Organization. And how that could better inform community design. Yeah, I think, you know, I really am a huge proponent of and believer in the age friendly framework. I love that work for for several years. I no longer do, but it's in very good hands. With with air p crew and with lots of volunteers and and and staff throughout the states the age friendly framework is really kind of nested on 8 livability domains if you will about 3 of which are the built environment, so housing, transportation, and public space, and then 5 of which are nested in kind of the social infrastructure, if you will, communication. Respect and social inclusion things like that. The most powerful part of that framework I think is the ability to bring something to it and elect an official because it does require the commitment by a local official to sort of commit to this process. That says we value making this place a place where people can age well. And I think just by making that statement that we value examining our built environment and our social environment. Through the lens of older adults needs and taking action to make those things better, I think is an incredibly powerful tool. It often, it delivers a mechanism to engage very diverse folks in that conversation. So it's a way to bring in aging advocates and hospitals and transportation planners and housing advocates and the like. And the interesting thing about it is that many times it results in the exact same kind of solutions that a new urbanist would otherwise seek to achieve or a smart birth advocate would otherwise seek to achieve. Which are we need more housing choices. We need better housing options for older adults when they want to downsize in the community that they love, but no longer need or want a large home. How therefore can we work together to bring about zoning reform that would allow for smaller, more compact development to occur? Similarly, some of the same, you know, solutions can come to bear when it comes to transportation. Age friendly network to acknowledge that rate family plans acknowledge often that older adults don't drive in the same way that younger adults do or choose not to or unable to. And therefore, how do we plan for their mobility needs so that they can remain? Active and involved in their community so that they can live independently. And access the services they need. That similarly brings a bond, brings about a great set of champions for investment in public transit. And exactly in those kinds of public transit amenities, you know, bus stops, seating shelter, cooling. Better service, better communication around service. Better serve in transit training. All of the things that go into making a transit system work. Which is so core to what, you know, new urban essence marker with communities are all about. There's a whole, there's a, there are champions yet to be tacked. Who come from the aging world for transit systems. If you approach them and approach some of these challenges through the new friendly framework. Absolutely, yeah, a theme that was very clear from your book and through this presentation is that if we cater to and work with older communities, it really does help everybody. It's really a rising tide that lifts all boats for sure. Yeah, yeah, and one thing that I failed to mention, but you know, bears calling out is Wonderful thing about each friendly frameworks often is that they put aging. Advocates they put older adults themselves at the planning table so they are literally involved in in assessing the challenges figuring out solutions working with departments and practitioners and community base organizations to get those solutions. Implemented and I think you know there's the maximum of nothing about us you know nothing for us without us you know age friendly frameworks are a way to bring older adults into that discussion and create more than one seat for them the planning table. Wonderful. And then because we are seeing you, I want to ask you a couple things about new organism too. And I was wondering what do you see as the role of new urbanism in emergency preparedness, preparedness and building community? Yeah, you know, I think it's fascinating because what I learned my observation is that emergency management is really a very, unique culture unto itself. It is a different discipline. I think it pulls a lot on sort of public safety and and many people in emergency management come from. Military or public sector public safety domains, meaning that they approach the work very differently. I think that many urbanists do certainly that many aging advocates do. I think that there's a real opportunity for inner relationships between those 2 industries for greater collaboration and work between them because I think some of the solutions that your organism advocates for smaller scale development more attention to design more careful you know curation of the public sphere so that it serves multiple purposes. Those are solutions that are going to be of interest to emergency managers as well, but they're not necessarily levers that emergency managers have any purview over. So I think the degree to which new urbanists can tap into what emergency managers. Concerns are and I know you know for many years ensuring access by fire trucks to nervous communities has been kind of a sticky wicket. It's been a challenging problem to solve because there's seemingly contradictory desires there to widen the streets for trucks but narrow them for new urbanist purposes. But when you sit down together, you can actually find solutions. And that has proven to be the case, right? Roundabouts that have rollover curves and things like that allow for the mobility. That are great concern to emergency responders but still allow for new urbanist principles to to be built. So I think that the main message would be collaboration and communication. And I think that thinking about what is it that what is it that emergency managers are seeking to do? They're seeking to deliver services. They're seeking to make sure people are informed. They're seeking to ensure that they have a way to support people in their time of need. All of those are things that you can help with and can be more thoughtful and intentional. And including in their designs. So I think there's a lot of promise there in future collaboration. Very exciting. Yeah, that is very interesting way of looking at it. And then one final question for me before I turn it over to our QA, which is filling up quite nicely. Thank you everyone. Which is when disasters do happen as you were saying as has been evidenced with climate change we're just increasing the number every year. How can age friendly approaches be integrated into recovery efforts? Yes, I think there's and I'll be honest, I don't think that this has been an area where a lot of communities has focused yet. The H. Family framework for all of its promise has not, it has kind of stayed in the emergency preparedness space. Which is a very important space to ensure that, you know, older adults are informed and prepared for disasters. It hasn't necessarily transitioned over into recovery. But I think that there's a huge amount of promise. One of the things that we see. From past disasters is that, and I was just thinking, I just want your presentation. In Oregon and it talked about it. It was from the parent, it was from Paradise actually. So there was a presentation by the community of Paradise, California, they've impacted decimated. By a wildfire several years ago. They were presenting at APA conference I was at and they talked about rebuilding. And I think, you know, There's a lot of opportunity to bring an age friendly lens to the to the challenge of rebuilding and rethinking. Some of the basic form of communities that may have been the byproduct of poor decision making the past. Here's a chance to do it better and to do it differently. I'll be honest, I don't think that there has been a lot of work that at least that I'm aware of that, at least that I'm aware of yet that has intentionally done that. I think there certainly have been efforts to bring nervous principles intentionally done that. I think there certainly have been efforts to bring nervous principles to recovery efforts and to bring nervous principles to recovery efforts and rebuilding efforts. But I don't think that that necessarily has included in aging plans and I think that's some of the opportunity and the promise that I see here. Which is to say, as we're rethinking about a community, rebuilding from disaster, what are the things that we want to fortify and strengthen? And that might mean certainly better building standards, you know, more fortified building design. Better performing buildings, but it might also mean, you know, more dense construction, hopefully. That puts older adults in closer proximity to one another. We know that from the Eric Kleinenberg research I referenced the 1,995 Chicago. A heat wave proximity and connectedness were determinants of whether someone survived or not. And you know much of our utter dependent suburban sprawling communities. They do not very well foster that kind of connectedness. In fact, they work against it. So I think there's again a huge amount of promise for integrating both new urbanist principles and H. Family principles into recovery efforts. Wonderful. And with that, I'm going to turn it over to some great questions from our QA. And this one is from an attendee who's just asking, Danielle, what brought you to this work? Do you have any special connection to the aging community? Yeah, I mean, I guess a few different things. I've said this before and I'll say it again. I'll, I've said this before and I'll say it again. I, believed to get, I, I believed myself, I'll say it again, I believed myself, I'm a planner, I come out of playing school and practice and I'm a planner. I come out of playing, you know, school and practice and I believe myself to be sort of an aware, inclusive planner. I didn't. And I believe myself to be sort of an aware, inclusive planner. I didn't realize frankly that my blind spots when I came to older adults needs until I joined ARP. And I really credit you with a lot of education. And, frankly, learned a lot from volunteers and stop there about, older adults needs. And I think For me, once my eyes were opened to that dynamic and the degrees to which older adults are unseen, are not heard, are not proactively considered in in planning efforts. It's hard to go back. To being anything other than championing for older adults. I don't think I could ever leave that mantle behind. I will always in forever now be a champion for older adults needs because I think that when you center challenges in the needs of old votes, like I said in the presentation, you really do solve for a lot of other needs. You're solving for the needs of people who are low in chemical who live with disabilities or who are isolated who don't speak English. By bringing a more intentional lens to a lot of our work so I credit certainly aRP with with lighting a fire under me for on the issue of old adults and then when it comes to you know climate resilience I credit my work at HUD and some of our work there where we. Sat to fund resilient disaster recovery in 13 communities across the US with a really innovative, competitive process called the National Disaster. Resilience competition and what you saw on that was communities who had experienced national disasters, huge disasters. Really committed to building back better, building back in a more resilient fashion. That did not at the time necessarily focus on the needs of older adults. And again, I think that's where. Centering work in these older will deliver a better outcome for the long haul. So, yeah, would say that's kind of what got me here. So the book is kind of a weird amalgamation of a lot of different jobs. I've had over the years, but it all comes together, I think. For the to meet these challenges I think that we face today. Wonderful. Yes. And kind of building off of that. I have 2 questions. One from Tom, Kerry and Elliott Klemowski that I'm going to combine. Which is how would you recommend approaching dialogue with people over the age of 65, particularly those in leadership roles who may discard the notion. Of the challenges of aging that may be confronting them soon and then in that same vein, how can you get them involved in advocating for policies to mitigate? The climate emergency. I think it starts with education and information. I really do. That that's part of what kind of compelled me to write this book is, I think I became a little haunted by the fact that when you see disaster after disaster, how many? People who are older adults are dying. Predictably it's hard to not be bothered by that. I think it's really hard to not be troubled and upset by the fact that we have somehow allowed this trend to continue over 2 decades. So I think, you know, that's a great way to open the conversation with older adults to say. If we were to have a disaster in our community tomorrow, the trend line shows that our older adults are going to die at much higher rates. Are, are we okay with that? And if not, what are the things that we can do to plan for that and to plan for a better outcome? And then I think, you know, much in the same way I came to this realization myself, when you start to peel back the, pull back the layers. It's not just some disasters that older adults are dying or more impacted. When you think about when I think about the housing cost bird and the old adults face and when I think about the number of older adults that live at all the poverty line. Which are you know One, it's about 15% of old adults who live out or below the poverty line. And you map that against, you know, what would it mean for someone? Be able to keep their home cool or warm in extreme conditions. What would it mean for someone who can't drive to be able to access groceries if they don't drive. On a day when it's 110 degrees out and they literally can't walk out their front door. What are the services and programs and solutions that we need to just? Build those immediate and urgent needs. I have a hard time believing that people are compelled or people wouldn't be compelled when you lay out a very real condition. Of need, faced by older adults. Because, you know, all of us can imagine. Someone in our family, someone we know, someone we have known who's passed on who might have lived with similar challenges, but maybe didn't speak up about them, maybe didn't articulate them. It's really on us, I think, to, be able to. Bring forward some of the needs of people who are otherwise isolated who are otherwise overlooked who are otherwise not being heard and used as a starting point for fraction. Very true. Yeah, I, I can think of, you know, family members of my own too that these are definitely conversations we need to have and things of that nature. Yeah. Yeah, and I would say just on that one of the things I've kind of realized is that aging in our country is a very Private affair. We don't talk about it public. We don't talk about. What are the sort of unique challenges of aging? In America, it's it's very much left to each family to each individual to figure out for their own and therefore I think there's not enough opportunity or we have not made the space for. At intersection of what does that mean for our new climate future if there are days of more wildfire smoke if there are days of recurring flooding in our community where you can't take the bus or drive or walk. You know, if their days would. You know, extreme temperatures keep you in your home for 2 or 3 weeks if the power goes out for 3 months as it didn't put What does that mean for you and your ability to safely age in place? We're not having those conversations in the country. Hopefully we're having those families, but not enough of them, not often enough, I think. Absolutely. And kind of in that same vein talking about, you know, power outages, what are some ways aging can be considered in utilities planning and that comes from Dana Lazarus? Yeah, so the good news is that there is some federal support already that kind of seeks to fill this need. So there's something called the LIE Heat program, which is the low income. Home energy assistance program. It's specifically targeting low income older adults, longcom seniors. And it provides some offset for you utility costs. The reality is it doesn't go far enough. So if you were to approach a utility to talk about how we can support older adults, I can think of a few things. One, how can you add on to or expand the availability of lie heap funds so that low-income older adults don't have to worry about utility costs that they don't have to weigh that decision of whether I can set my thermostat down to 72 or do I need to keep it at 80 when it's 100 degrees outside because I can't afford the utility bill. Like, let's just make that a non-issue for old adults to grow and to older adults so that they can live literally, physically be in an environment that does not add risk to their lives. Utilities can help in that. They can also, utilities also have a really unique mechanism and they communicate with every single one of the repairs. So they have a direct line of communication to repayers through that monthly bill. That's a really important tool to use to get information out to older adults. It might be around the value weatherization. It might be the value of replacing windows and or taking other you know smaller cost efforts and get those done in order to break down utility costs. So much of utility bills are spent on buildings or are the result of buildings that are not energy efficient that are not weatherized and utilities can incentivize that work for older adults. You know, I imagine, when the, the notion of a climate core was announced a couple months to go. You know, there's an opportunity there, whether it's sponsored by the utility or a locality to bring together a group of people who could go into older little tubes and do, you know, small fixes like that that might help them reduce energy costs. It's hard to imagine you utilities couldn't play a role in offering a program like that to some of their older, rate payers. Very true. Yes, I think I've heard about the LIKE program. And it's interesting to see kind of other opportunities that could be out there. And that same vein of talking about kind of federal assistance. Francis Cole asked, is there an opportunity for FEMA to learn from new urbanism principles to better prepare for climate disasters. And the example Francis gives is an example of Katrina cottages that FEMA helped design and issued to flood victims in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. I think there definitely is and I would you know I'd say in recent years there's a new program out of, you know, I'd say, in recent years, there's a new program out of FEMA called Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities brick, building, infrastructure. I think that's right. I think that's what I stands for. Which awards grants for mitigation. So as much as FEMA is involved in recovery, which I do think is really important, I think that was part of the question. There's also an incredibly important role that both FEMA and head play in climate mitigation efforts and and preparing for disaster so that when they strike it's not going to be as dramatic. And I do think that There is the great history of the Katrina cottages. I think there's a lot of openness and appetite within FEMA to think differently about older adults. I'll point to the fact that ARP and FEMA together to think differently about older adults. I'll point to the fact that ARP and FEMA together collaborated on a disaster resilience toolkit focused on old adults and that FEMA released a document entitled Expanding Megation. Expanded mitigation. 4 older dots, it leaves the title something along those lines that really focused in on why is it the old results are at greater risk in in disasters and how can we as FEMA begin to counteract that. So I think there's an appetite in FEMA. And when it comes to design elements and testing on new solutions, I do feel like. FEMA is very open to this. I've said work for you. I can't, I can't commit them to this, but it seems to me that they're very open to that. And again, you know, female works through a set of regional offices. So. I would suggest figuring out who the regional staff. And if you're in the area where you work and live and inviting them to design your ex and you know posing some of these questions to them in very practical ways to see what thoughts they might have to offer. Very true. And speaking of more of a regional or local approach as far as government support, Clint Grant asks, Busting silos will be key in tackling pressing issues surrounding climate change and our aging nation based on your experience, Danielle, what are key steps for busting these self made silos to form partnerships? Well, not being seen as overstepping or competing. I mean, that is the greatest challenge, right, is to get people marching in the same direction and not feeling. First of all, not doubling up on efforts and not feeling that you're overstepping. I do think that you know, putting forward sort of a vision for the KIND of community that we want to be that you want to be. And inviting people to contribute to how they can. I get there is a way to do that. And again, I don't mean to sound like a cheerleader specifically for planning but I do think that that's a really powerful tool to do that if a community is to sort of set a goal for themselves that we want to be a place where people get age safely. And securely in this community, the place where they maybe lived their whole lives or we want old adults to move here because we recognize that they're, you know, a pretty powerful economic force in many cases. By setting that goal and that intention of how is it that we can create a place where people can age safely in this committee acknowledging the climate that we face? There are going to be more people that see themselves. As having handed that, then you might think. And I, you know, my mind goes to things like meals on wheels, delivery, you know, this is where an aging services organization certainly has a stake in that outcome, but so to do developers who might want to be able to be responsive or anticipate. The kind of new building forms that the city council or the county, might, begin to prioritize. So there are a lot of, I think, agents that can be an entities that can be supportive of that goal, but I think it really begins with setting that. S that vision, particularly in the vision of who you want to be as a community and inviting people to figure out and to collaborate on how to get there. And speaking of kind of community vision, a lot of Bruce asked, are there different challenges in more rural towns than in big cities or are there different challenges and solutions? And I love it. Yeah, I would say world, you know, real communities are uniquely challenged. I would say in many ways, not just because of the, I would say, in many ways, not just because of the, I think the traditional challenges that we face as smart growth advocates, and you are been creating density in rural communities. And also rural communities is a place already where old adults are disproportionately. Representative on the population. There's a more than one community across this country that have suffered from sort of. You know, an outmigration of youth and and therefore many of the people who who are remain are older adults. And of course there's also the challenge of housing conditions and housing quality and I think in rural places often times. The quality of housing is as much the challenge as it the supply because there may be adequate supply but it may be in special quality. So what does that mean for, for sort of this issue? I think, you know, I think about the example of upstate New York, Tomkins County where I was a few weeks ago. It's a fairly rural place and even there they see a real future for thinking about their even very small sort of, you know, market centers, if you will, the small hamlets that serve as touch points throughout a rural community that can accommodate growth, that can be the place where you're implementing those resilient hubs where you're thinking about how to get services to people who live in a rural community. And also there's an amazing sense of community spirit often in rural places that that is a wonderful forum to bring me some of these topics together. And I think. Oftentimes rural places are where you already see volunteer driving programs emerge and sort of, you know, natural organic. Support systems unfold to help people. And I think those kinds of solutions actually are going to be the recipe forward all across the country. We need more of those kinds of organic. Community driven voluntary. Mechanisms to support old adults wherever they live with its rural communities or places. Yes. Yeah, the organic community and kind of communication that's already there is very important. It really is. Yeah. And that way we really have a lot to learn. I think rural communities and how they sort of care for one another and look out for one another. Absolutely. I think we have time for one more question here. So from Kenneth Santos, Kenneth asks, what in your experience are the biggest obstacles to achieving equity for seniors in an aging nation. And if you have any examples. I mean, I can't think of a better example than the disaster fatality rates. Honestly, that that is an example of just. Sheer inequity and and somehow a level of comfort as a country that we appear to have with this hugely disproportionate effect on old adults. What is the cause for that? I think it goes back to a lack of understanding of older adults who they are, what their needs are. It goes back to the fact that we don't even have a standard definition of what is an older adult. You know, variously it's someone over 50 or over 55 or 62 or over 65 or over 67. So we can't even kind of neatly define who this cohort is. Which complicates planning efforts. It complicates, the process of understanding their needs. And then, you know, I'd be remiss if I didn't say that we have a very obsessed country like right we don't talk about aging in a healthy way in this country we don't. As I mentioned when you hear the word aging it's often the word anti in front of it aging is something to be fought against and to prevent it to be prevented it's not something that we necessarily plan for in a healthy and forward-looking way. And for all those reasons, I think we end up with these. Levels of inequity among older adults, poverty rates, housing cost burden, utility cost burden, which I didn't talk about. You know health outcomes. That that frankly we haven't prioritized because we don't acknowledge or talk about them. I do think that that you know beginning with the notion of applying an aging lens to some of these challenges the way you start to unravel that inequity. Wonderful. Yeah, I think right at that we're just right at one o'clock. So I will wrap it up there for all of our attendees recording of this webinar will be available tomorrow. You should get that by email. And I will also use this lovely plug from Janet Island Press to remind everyone to use code webinar for 30% off this book. And thank you so much, Danielle. This was a really, it's really excellent book. This was really excellent conversation and thank you for everybody who joined us today. Thank you. Alright, have a great day everyone.