Community development leader with passion for helping seniors finds footing, support in Detroit

Just ten months into her role as executive director of Bridging Communities, KaTrice Perry is clearly settling into the driver’s seat.

She says she was able to “jump in like a chameleon,” adapting to the agency’s environment and immediately feeling passionate about its work in the older adult space. “You can really see the work being done in the community… those real-life stories of helping human beings with their everyday struggles,” Perry says.

Bridging Communities helps seniors age in place and also owns two senior-living complexes: Pablo Davis Senior Living Center and Springwells Village Townhomes. The agency also has a housing services division that supports home repairs, offers home buyer education and foreclosure prevention and assists with property tax relief.

Prior to coming to Detroit to fulfill her new role, Perry served in Toledo as the executive director of Gateway Youth Development, which is a residential treatment program for youth and young adults transitioning from foster care and juvenile justice custody. There, she grew the organization from the ground up, which included renovating a 24-unit apartment building so youth aging out of group home settings could have housing.

“I was able to get those young people into their own homes, into their own apartments, and now I’m happy to be able to help our senior population to age in place, to be able to stay in their homes …,” she says.

As a black woman leader, Perry says she feels supported in Detroit – by her staff, her predecessor, funders and the overall community. When she started her own organization in Ohio in 2018, she says that it was a struggle, and she felt like a one-woman army with many fighting against her.

“Coming here, it felt like there was an army and a team waiting to fight with me… having the support, it feels so much different. It’s much easier to fight the good fight when you have a team and the army that’s ready to go to war with you.”

And the population Perry is very willing to defend in that fight is the city’s older adult population, who she feels is both undervalued and underserved. To support seniors living independently and with dignity, Bridging Communities connects them to programs and resources for supplemental food, transportation, help with home repairs and accessibility renovations, social activities, assistance with federal health insurance programs, and other services.

Balancing assistance and independence for seniors

Affordable housing, through the senior complexes of Pablo Davis and Springwells Village, is crucial to seniors living on a fixed income. So is helping seniors who want to stay in their homes, but who need support to age in place. Perry says that most seniors don’t want to uproot from the homes they have lived in for decades.

“That’s an asset they have and they’re proud of,” she says. “They worked hard over the years to be able to afford to purchase a home, to get that American dream of homeownership.”

Replacing stairs with a wheel chair ramps, installing walk-in showers, and repairing leaky roofs, are just some examples of how Bridging Communities helps to keep older adults independent in their own homes.

Beyond help with housing, Bridging Communities also offers case management to seniors for assistance with home care, transportation to doctor’s appointments, help with understanding Social Security and Medicaid paperwork, and even technology (the agency offers an eight-week basic computer class to learn about online bill paying, ordering groceries over the Internet, and understanding AI).

Acknowledging fears and being patience

As life expectancy grows, so do the needs. But there aren’t enough resources specific to seniors, says Perry. “Things are moving so fast and so rapidly, and we’re tailoring everything to a younger, working population.” But seniors need time and explanation around technology to take advantage of services – or even understand what resources exist.

“I believe we have become a little inconsiderate as humanity over time, and we need to continue to think about all populations and all age groups and all demographics of people – not  just focus on those who we look at as productive members of society, such as the working class,” says Perry. “We need to be more inclusive of all members of our community.”

Changes in the federal administration have brought new worries to older adults, Perry says. Bridging Communities is a one-stop shop for all the concerns they have. Fielding questions and helping people make sense of everything from their mail, to the impact of federal safety net program cuts, to changes in Medicaid and Medicare are essential to keeping seniors safe, informed and prepared.

“Seniors are always stopping in our office. We’re always stopping by checking on them. We’re very hands-on with our seniors, especially during these changing times,” says Perry.

Assisting nine zip codes in Southwest Detroit, the agency serves the African-American, Hispanic and Arabic communities.

“Not only do we have our seniors and the risk of their affordable housing, Medicaid, and SNAP benefits, but we also have our Hispanic community who are at risk of deportation, who are at risk of losing their property,” she says.

Thirsting for knowledge

Still, with fears mounting and more and more changes coming down the pike, Perry says the older adults Bridging Communities works with are resilient, tenacious and positive, despite experiencing turmoil and changes they may not understand.

She is impressed by seniors’ ability and willingness to learn. “Even at their age, they are still thirsty and hungry to want to know more,” she says. “They want to be productive in this ever-changing and fast-paced growing society.

“They come to us with questions and concerns. That lets us know that they want to know, they want to be engaged.”

For Perry, being a champion for older adults comes from having people around her who trust in a vision and bring that vision to life as a collective. “To bring people together for a common cause and get people to rally behind that common cause and work together to bring that vision to life, that’s really what leadership means to me.”

Resilient Neighborhoods is a reporting and engagement series examining how Detroit residents and community development organizations work together to strengthen local neighborhoods. It’s made possible with funding from The Kresge Foundation.