LOCAL NEWS CHASING PROGRESS: POVERTY GAP FOR BLACK AND LATINO SENIOR CITIZENS GREW OVER LAST DECADE BY ROBERT DAVIS ALTHOUGH MELVIN PAGE HAD A LONG CAREER IN PUBLIC SERVICE, retiring proved to be much more difficult than he thought. Three years into his retirement, Page suffered a brain aneurysm that left him with crippling medical debt and no chance of keeping his apartment. The then 70-year-old ended up experiencing homelessness in Denver for more than a year beginning in 2019. He told Denver VOICE that he was lucky to escape within a year, but getting back on his feet has been a struggle. Nearly four years later, Page, 73, works part-time as for Enterprise Rent-A-Car a lot attendant at Denver International Airport. But his hourly income is not enough to pay for food, rent, and transportation each month. Page said he‘s grown increasingly reliant on his Social Security income to pay for necessities and is worried that another economic shock could send him back to the streets. “I’m still willing to go to work and I take full responsibility for my future,” Page said. “But I still can’t help wondering if I’ll be able to afford any more help than what I receive now.” CHASING PROGRESS Denver VOICE examined Denver’s poverty rate for Black and Latino seniors as part of Chasing Progress, a Colorado News Collaborative project on social, economic, and health equity among Black and Latino Coloradans. The project analyzed the Census Bureau’s 5-year American Community Survey data from 2010, 2015, and 2020, a period of historically long economic expansion bookended by the Great Recession and the onset of the pandemic. Overall, Denver’s poverty rate for seniors–defined as people aged 65 and over–decreased from 15.4% to 10.5%. But the data also showed continued disparities among Black and Latino seniors when compared to white seniors. The poverty rate for Black seniors dropped from 21.4% to 16.3% over the last decade, while the poverty rate for Latino seniors dropped slightly from 20.9% to 19.9%, according to the Census Bureau’s 2010 and 2020 five-year American Community Survey. For comparison, the poverty rate for MELVIN PAGE, 73, SITS IN THE CAFETERIA OF THE BROOKDALE SENIOR LIVING CENTER IN SOUTHEAST DENVER. 8 DENVER VOICE August 2022
9 Publizr Home