U.S. Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) and U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (VA-08) presented the staff of Culpepper Garden with a $2.03 million check at a community town hall on May 20 at the senior living facility in Arlington. In March, Sen. Warner’s office helped secure the $2.03 million grant for Culpepper Garden as part of a Senate appropriations bill that will fund a housing revitalization project to improve accessibility and safety at Culpepper Garden, which serves at-risk older adults living on very low and fixed incomes.

“We are immensely grateful to Senator Warner and Congressman Beyer for visiting us today and for their continued commitment to providing affordable housing for at-risk older adults. We know that stable and quality housing leads to better health outcomes for vulnerable older adults, and these earmarks will go directly towards improving our facilities and our residents’ quality of life,” said Culpepper Garden President Marta Hill Gray, “So many of our residents struggle to afford housing and the care they need amidst soaring costs of living. If not for Culpepper Garden, many of our residents would end up unhoused. This funding comes at a crucial time and will make an incredible difference for our residents.”

As the first assisted living facility in the country to receive federal rent subsidies from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Culpepper Garden is a model for enhancing access to specialized housing and care for older adults who need it the most. As it stands, low-cost assisted living facilities are few and far between. The current waitlist for an apartment in Culpepper Gardens’ Assisted Living wing is two years long.

While taking questions during the town hall, Sen. Warner reassured residents that he will continue to protect basic Medicare and SNAP benefits, which many Culpepper Garden residents rely on, because they are crucial to overall well being and result in favorable health outcomes.

“I believe that rent subsidies and other graduated programs make a huge amount of sense. Too often, in almost all of our government programs, we have a cliff — if you make a dollar less than the [threshold] number, you get … benefits …. But if you make a dollar more, you lose everything,” said Warner while speaking to Culpepper Garden residents, “For supplemental housing assistance, it’s going to take a partnership between the feds, the state, and local governments to institute more graduated subsidies across a series of programs.”

Located on 4+ acres in the heart of Arlington, Culpepper Gardens’ affordable, assisted living wing was the first in the U.S. and the only one that exists in Arlington. Founded 52 years ago, Arlington Retirement Housing Corporation (ARHC) is the nonprofit owner of Culpepper Garden. 

Culpepper Garden provides 350 affordable independent and assisted-living apartments for low-income older Arlingtonians and is home to a vast green space that is home to more than 30,000 daffodils and native Virginia plants.

For more information visit www.culpeppergarden.org