Older Adults Are Fighting for Housing Justice—and They Refuse to Be Pushed Aside

The Forbes Building was built in 1976 with funding from the state’s former 13A mortgage program, which offered low-cost financing and debt subsidy to developers in exchange for keeping housing affordable long term. That affordability offered a lifeline to Nollman, a former software documentation manager who moved there after a divorce, two heart attacks, and two bouts with cancer left him in dire financial straits.

But when 13A affordability restrictions expire, typically after 40 years, owners can opt to convert their units to market-rate rents following a short waiting period. The Forbes Building’s affordability restrictions officially ended in 2022, according to the Mass Alliance of HUD Tenants, which has aided Forbes tenants in fighting for rent protections. As the mortgage’s expiration date neared, Forbes Building residents began to organize, Nollman says, though it was not a simple process.

“Our tenants were nervous. They thought they might be evicted,” he recalls. ​“They didn’t understand what rights they had. It took us about a year to get enough people organized to become an effective tenant organization. Most of the tenants were elderly, so we became an activist organization largely made up of older people.”

Once organized, the group held rallies, fighting year after year to raise awareness throughout the drawn-out process. The petition Nollman gathered signatures for called on the owner to ​“close the deal” on the state and city subsidy and rental vouchers offered in January 2025, which would preserve the building’s affordability and increase subsidies for tenants currently paying more than 30 percent of their incomes.

Although he was nominally an activist in his younger days, Nollman says he mostly stopped short of ​“anything that required getting arrested or really putting [myself] on the line.” But, he says, ​“Now I’m 78 years old. What motivates me now is wanting justice for the people in this building.”

In June, some agreements were secured between tenants’ association members, city officials, and the Forbes ownership and development team, according to Michael Kane, executive director of Mass Alliance of HUD Tenants.

A building renovation project is expected to be complete in early 2027, at which time a large percentage of units will be available to low-income tenants through the state’s rental voucher program or Section 8 vouchers, according to a meeting summary Kane shared. The owner and project developer also agreed to discuss with state officials the possibility of an earlier allocation of subsidies for Forbes tenants who currently pay more than 30 percent of their income on rent.

“The petition and direct advocacy by the tenants worked,” says Kane.

Shelterforce reached out to the Forbes Building owner for comment but did not receive a response by press time.

Across the United States, older adults like Nollman are rising up to fight rent increases and evictions, challenge abusive landlords, demand improvements to poor conditions in their buildings, and work for better housing policies.

“Over my 17 years in organizing, seniors have always played a crucial role,” says Nick MacLeod, executive director of the North Carolina Tenants Union, a statewide group that helps organize local unions. ​“Their involvement is growing because … the breadth and depth of the housing affordability crisis is getting so much worse. There are more seniors pushed up against a wall.”

Elder activism can also stem from desperation and a lack of alternatives, says Pablo Estupiñan, deputy director of organizing and advocacy at Strategic Actions for a Just Economy (SAJE), a Los Angeles – based organization that blends policy research and organizing for economic justice.

“Often, when you’re an elder, the apartment you are renting is the most affordable, right? If you get evicted or … displaced, you’re not going to find an affordable home anymore. That’s the reality,” says Estupiñan. ​“When people are facing eviction, it’s like, ​‘Where do I go? I can’t afford to live anywhere else.’ … Displacement is where the threat of eviction really worries people. There’s nowhere to go — or you go to the streets.”

And sometimes, as with Nollman, the decision to step up and act is fueled by accumulated wisdom and a strong sense of justice among older adults, for others as well as for themselves.

“We have a righteous purpose,” says Edgar ​“Skip” Mosshamer, an 82-year-old Wisconsin resident who’s become active in senior housing issues. ​“The basic word is ​‘right’ — some things are right and some things aren’t. The way this country treats elderly people is shameful, indefensible, and politically changeable.”

Today, tenants say, the building management is balking at signing a contract that would require them to negotiate with the tenant union in good faith and not retaliate against tenants for union participation. Shelterforce reached out to the developer, Downtown Home Improvement Corporation Inc., and its lawyers but did not receive a response back before press time.

“I mean, all it was asking was for them to say, ​‘We won’t retaliate.’ And just that simple, they refused,” Davies says.

The tenants have begun an email and phone campaign to flood management with messages urging them to come to the table and negotiate.

Davies had some experience with activism in previous work helping formerly incarcerated people understand their rights as they reentered their communities. But after retiring, she thought that sort of effort was behind her.

“I’ve always been kind of a fighter for the underdog. That’s just who I am,” she says. ​“I just look forward to when things finally get all in place, where we can kind of relax a little bit and enjoy being seniors and not have to fight for the basics.”

Despite the current contract stalemate, the tenants have racked up some victories, Davies says. A trash issue was resolved, though there’s been some backsliding. They succeeded in obtaining fencing and lockable doors around their patios and in getting security cameras to be properly functioning and not ​“duds” just there for show. And in-unit ceiling fans, previously locked on high speed, have been fixed so residents can control them. But there are still many other maintenance and security issues on the table.

Beyond the email and phone barrage, actions may escalate to rallies and even rent withholding. Davies says three-quarters of the building’s tenants are involved in the new union, and they’re ready to give the landlords a run for their money. 

“They assume we’re the seniors of old — that we’ll sit back and take it and not be fighters. But we’re baby boomers. We’re not like that,” she says. ​“They think we’re going to roll over and accept poor treatment. We are not those kinds of seniors.”

In Winston-Salem, North Carolina, older adult tenants in several public housing complexes are demanding respect, as well as maintenance and repairs they say are long overdue. The union is organizing for improvements to cleanliness and plumbing, as well as for the freedom to participate in the union without intimidation. The union’s tactics so far have included petitions, speak-outs, rallies, and press coverage. 

“There was a lot of control, manipulation, and mistreatment of the residents,” says Edith Chisholm, a 78-year-old who leads her tenant union, Healy Towers United. The resistance, she says, ​“started with me personally. And then it began to spread to all the residents as time went on. They’ve gotten a little stronger since they realized that I have not quit. I let [the housing authority] know that I was not afraid. I was not going to be disrespected.”

Healy Towers United has succeeded in removing a maintenance supervisor they say was abusive and threatening. Ted Ortiviz, executive director of ASPIRE, the Winston-Salem housing authority, confirmed that the maintenance supervisor who was the subject of resident complaints was removed while an investigation took place, and has since retired. He rebuts the residents’ accusations, however. 

“I can state emphatically that we found no pattern of intimidation or retaliation by this employee,” Ortiviz says.

Tenants and organizers say other positive changes have come about recently. New maintenance staff is friendly and cooperative, and the cleanliness and maintenance issues are ​“beginning to improve,” says tenant leader Dennis Threatt. 

Tenants and organizers express hope that the housing authority will sign a ​“neutrality” agreement soon that guarantees there will be no retribution against tenants for engaging in union activities. But Ortiviz says he doesn’t believe one is necessary.

“There’s no reason for an agreement,” he says. ​“We abide by HUD regulations and North Carolina law. Any type of retaliatory eviction is illegal and morally wrong. If I find out it’s taking place, we’ll take action.”

Meanwhile, organizers say tenant union membership continues to grow.

“We saw the biggest uptick in union membership in recent months, in large part due to the resident organizing led by Edith and Dennis,” says Matt Shields, an organizer with the North Carolina Tenants Union.

He met Tom Gaulke, a Lutheran pastor and organizer who, in 2024, was gathering people to push for better transportation options for seniors in the rural area. Grassroots pressure from the group, which grew into the Groundswell Collective, led the county board of supervisors to fund the expansion of a low-cost weekday van service to Sundays, helping older adults get to church, run weekend errands, and visit with loved ones.

Mosshamer is now active in both the local Groundswell Collective and the statewide Senior Empowerment Project. Groundswell has been working for the past year on a campaign to convert a vacant wing of a nearby nursing home into a combined childcare center and older-adult living space, an intergenerational housing arrangement to address much-needed care on both ends of the age spectrum. Through petitions, research, one-to-one meetings with officials, and testimony at county board hearings, the group’s efforts have led to one victory so far: The county board has approved funding for a feasibility study of the project.

Organizing efforts are spreading across Wisconsin. Mosshamer helped facilitate senior summits in different parts of the state last year. Housing affordability and challenges of aging in place emerged as top concerns.

He sees Wisconsin seniors’ power growing.

“Having had the summits, now we have information. We have some authority because people who showed up represent a power base that can’t be ignored. It will only grow in size and shape,” he says.

“There are some people who dismiss me or people like me. They may find us feeble. But people who are my age are standing up for what they believe. At the summits, some started out not saying much but slowly grew into their voices. That was energizing. Now we have to keep that momentum.”