Multicultural Retirement Communities On The Rise

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Canada is well known for its diversity and that’s why Toronto, as the country’s most multicultural city, leads the way in ethnic retirement homes. Chinese elderly homes are probably among the most high-profile pioneers – Yee Hong Centre for Geriatric Care and Mon Sheong Long-Term Care Centres have both been established for a long time and have been growing healthily due to successful fundraising campaigns. The Italians have Villa Colombo and the Greeks have Hellenic Home. Suomi-Koti in Leaside, Toronto, caters for the Finnish population and Baycrest Centre is renowned as a long-term care facility for the Jewish community.

In addition, there are at least 18 other ethnic communities that have their own respective retirement homes including Armenian, Lithuanian, Filipino, Polish, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Ukranian, Tamil, East Indian, Slovenian, Russian, Caribbean, Ismaili, Japanese and Korean.

About half of Toronto’s 2.6 million residents are born outside of Canada, speaking a first language other than English or French. With over 140 languages and dialects spoken in the GTA, our city is a language and cultural mosaic. In spite of the ample diverse homes for the aged, the waiting lists are still long. The Toronto Star reported that some of the most reputable retirement  homes such as Yee Hong and Hellenic have been growing but not fast enough.  Hellenic, like Yee Hong, has activities that are geared specifically to its community. Kalamatiano, a traditional Greek dance, is performed almost daily. Seniors, even those on wheelchairs, wave around scarves, clapping to the music. Men gather in the common space to socialize, drink Greek coffee and play backgammon while women make Koulourakia, traditional Greek cookies, honey balls and dolma with staff in a kitchen on the second floor.

Such activities are designed to engage seniors, some of them with Alzheimer’s and dementia, allowing them to smell, taste and touch materials while reminiscing about their past. The idea is to remind them of their youth, encouraging feelings of happiness and belonging to their community as well as spirituality. Homes such as Hellenic Home and Yee Hong keep ethnicity in mind when determining everything from menus to fundraising to daily activities and entertainment.

The growth of multicultural retirement communities is picking up even in the U.S.A. The ShantiNiketan, a planned 55-plus community in Tavares, Florida, is designed for Indian Americans. From the architecture to the vegetarian meals and Bollywood dance classes, retirees and seniors feel they are very much at home. According to The New York Times, developers call these kinds of housing options “affinity group communities.” In addition to those established by and for members of religious groups, they include retirement communities for military officers, for gays and lesbians, and for the alumni of particular colleges and universities.

Facilities for specific ethnic groups in the U.S. have appeared more recently, but the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing and Care, an industry research group, said that they are on the rise. Among those already in operation include Aegis Gardens, a 64-unit Chinese-American assisted living complex in Fremont, California, opened in 2001. With a staff that speaks Mandarin and Cantonese, daily tai chi sessions and a Chinese chef, it maintains nearly 100 percent occupancy, said the chief executive of Aegis Living. The company operates 30 assisted living facilities on the West Coast and is building a second Chinese-American facility, a $50 million independent living, assisted living and memory care campus in Newcastle, Washington, scheduled to open next year. Monthly rents are likely to start at $5,300, not including help with the activities of daily living.

In Queens, New York City, a small non-profit group called India Home runs “culturally appropriate” senior center programs for South Asian immigrants. The Desi Senior Center in Jamaica, Queens, attracts older Bangladeshis with hot halal lunches, English instruction and a screen separating men from women in exercise classes. For Latinos, the first Hispanic facilities will be seen in Southern California and the Southwest.

How long will the market for ethnically-specific senior housing and programs last in North America? Immigrants’ more assimilated offspring may care less about traditional cooking or a Gujarati-speaking staff. The demand right now is pressing. Ethnic long-term care is aimed at old people who are unable to speak English. When they need something, like medical care or the bathroom, they really need it and they can’t suddenly learn English. Even for elderly immigrants who speak English, they would prefer their own ethnic foods.

Some dislike the idea that anyone, even the elderly, can be made comfortable only with others of their own ethnicity, which is more than language. Realistically, one’s cultural upbringing is usually deeply rooted even in the aging process. I have Chinese boomer friends who speak fluent English and are fully integrated into the mainstream community but would go bonkers without Chinese food for more than two days! I cannot see them living in a non-Chinese retirement home unless mainstream retirement facilities start hiring Chinese or Asian chefs. For the next 50 years, ethnic retirement communities will continue to be in hot demand. The pressing need now is to gear up for pending demand from the aging population and shorten the waiting list for admission.