CEO Kevin Hyde maps out plan to reduce homelessness among elderly and youth.
Every year, the Chattanooga Regional Homeless Coalition releases a snapshot of homelessness on a single night in January entitled Point-in-Time (PIT) Count. On January 22, 2025, the Coalition hosted the PIT and reported that homelessness in our community has gone up among adults by 20%. Among the demographics on the rise is our elderly.
This is especially troubling to me,” says Kevin Hyde, CEO, Partnership for Families, Children and Adults (Partnership), going on to explain, “having lived overseas for a number of years in cultures where the elderly are revered, it is hard to see our senior neighbors left to the streets.”
After retiring from over 32 years in the Air Force, Hyde accepted an assignment to lead the USO’s largest division and was based in Japan. “Japanese are known for their respect for seniors and have a strong sense of obligation to care for them,” Hyde explained, adding that in the super-ageing society, children have a strong sense of obligation to care for elderly parents.
“I left Japan and moved back to the U.S. to help care for my mother,” he says. “I was surprised to see our seniors outliving their savings and relegated to homelessness.”
“The truth is, our elderly are the fastest growing demographic of homelessness in our community which makes it understandable why ‘elderly homelessness women’ are among the fastest growing demographics for our Rape Crisis Center.”
It is for this reason that Hyde is passionate about Partnerships’ Homemaker program. The Homemaker program staff respond to calls from Adult Protective Services, developing personalized plans for vulnerable adults and providing services that will allow them to maintain their independence.
“Our Homemaker program is one of several programs at Partnership that is preventative,” Hyde explains. “Others include the work we do in our Domestic Violence Shelter to supply housing, educational opportunities, and career counseling, or our Youth Services which works with youth at risk of homelessness or aging out of foster care.”
“Even the work with do with our Deaf neighbors is often preventative since many in this marginalized community live in poverty due to a lack of access. We teach job readiness and offer interpreting services to open doors to deaf and hard of hearing neighbors.”
When asked what steps our community can take to help with the rising challenges of homeless elderly neighbors, Hyde offered three critical actions.
“First,” he began, “we have to fully fund programs like our Homemaker program to serve the at-risk elderly in our community.” He explained that Partnership often receives calls every week from individuals in the community about seniors on the verge of losing their housing due to disability or because they are behind in their bills. “Our elderly are living longer but they are often outliving their savings. In many cases, just the rising cost of living is putting pressure on an already tight budget, and they aren’t connected to the appropriate resources.”
“Second, we need to partner to house homeless elderly women. We cannot be a first-class community when we are returning these women back into the streets to be assaulted again,” Hyde said passionately.
“Finally, we need to fund additional supportive independent living group homes for youth aging out of the foster care system. These young people are at high risk of homelessness, addiction and trafficking.”
“These solutions cannot wait on funding from Washington D.C. or the state,” he added, concluding that we have the capacity within our community to begin solving these issues now.
Partnership for Families, Children and Adults is a nonprofit human services agency serving Southeast Tennessee and North Georgia since 1877. We deliver vital services that promote safety, stability, and self-sufficiency for individuals and families navigating crisis or transition. We support people across generations through victim support services, elder support programs, youth and family stability services, and Deaf and hard-of-hearing services. For more information on Partnership, find us at partnershipfca.com.
