As the senior population continues to grow in Montgomery County, area hospitals, non-profit organizations and senior care facilities continue to grow to meet demand.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 47,404 seniors 65 and older residing in Montgomery County, or about 10.4 percent of the population, in 2010 compared to 25,548, or 7.6 percent of the population, in 2000. The bureau estimates the senior population has increased to about 11.7 percent of the Montgomery County population in 2013.

"If you look at the demographic data for Montgomery County and some of the surrounding areas, definitely the senior population is a growing segment," said Josh Urban, CEO of Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Hospital. "That is also true nationally as the baby boomer population gets older."

The Friendship Center, which services county seniors ages 60 and older who have physical disabilities, is not able to meet the demand for senior services because of fiscal limitations, executive director Allison Hulett said. The center serves about 500 transportation clients and about 800 Meals on Wheels clients per year.

"Clearly that is not the need in the county—we don't really know the need in the county," Hulett said. "The need is way greater than what we are able to serve."

Senior developments

To help meet the needs of the growing senior population, at least nine senior care providers ranging from assisted living facilities to senior day cares to hospices have opened in The Woodlands area since 2010.

SarahCare Adult Daycare, which opened its second Texas location in The Woodlands in March, came to the area largely due to a booming population and a lack of adult day care facilities in Montgomery County, executive director Lisa Suarez said. SarahCare provides medical care, nutritional needs and coordinates activities for seniors.

"There is no adult day care in this area, so we decided to open one," Suarez said. "There are a lot of people here who work and [are experiencing] what we call the 'sandwich' for care: they take care of their children and also their parents."

Autumn Leaves of The Woodlands, an assisted living medical care community, opened in August 2010 and serves Alzheimer's disease patients and other types of dementia. Marketing director Abby Hogan said their client population has grown younger, averaging about 85 years of age. Additionally, she said within about 90 days, the number of clients have grown from 25 residents to 34.

"One of the things we try to do is work with the families to provide the care they are getting in their home and try to mirror image their same routine," Hogan said. "Things like schedules help slow down the process of dementia."

Avanti at Vision Park is one of two senior care facilities seeking approval from the city of Shenandoah for development. The facility would be located within Vision Park, which was developed as a medical base district that includes two hospitals, medical offices and the new Kelsey Seybold Clinic that is now under construction, said Shenandoah City Manager Greg Smith.

The area immediately surrounding Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Hospital is another sector with a large concentration of medical facilities, Smith said.

"By Memorial Hermann, there are several medical office buildings in the city and out of the city [of Shenandoah] that are also in [The Woodlands] Township," Smith said. "I think the area by the hospital was somewhat a concerted effort, but any time that you put a hospital in the immediate area around the hospital tends to [be developed as] medical use."

Senior needs

Six year ago, Acive, 68, moved into TangleBrush Villa, an affordable housing apartment community for senior citizens in The Woodlands. She previously lived in Magnolia and moved to the complex so that she could live in a clean air environment while recovering from collapsed lungs. The facility is one of four Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant apartments that cater specifically to seniors who live on a fixed income in The Woodlands, according to The Friendship Center.

Tangle Brush Villa accommodates any disabilities a resident may have, costs about 30 percent of the resident's income, and often adjusts rent based on out-of-pocket medical expenses.

"A lot of our residents are elderly widows on fixed incomes, so they don't have the two incomes coming in to help their living expenses," said Mary Moore, service coordinator for the elderly at Tangle Brush Villa. "It is affordable and accessible."

Like many area senior citizens, Acive lives on limited social security income, manages medical expenses, and deals with physical limitations. To overcome her obstacles, she utilizes community services, including the help of nonprofit organizations, a live-in caregiver and continuous care from health care providers.

One of the biggest challenges facing seniors is adjusting to a limited income from Social Security payments, Hulett said. A portion of the Montgomery County African-American senior community in particular, who Hulett said often worked for cash payment in their middle ages, receive smaller Social Security reimbursements than average.

While many local seniors reside in their homes—many of which have already been paid for—they rely on outside help for maintenance and upkeep due to physical limitations, said Ann Snyder, Interfaith of The Woodlands president and CEO.

Nonprofits like The Friendship Center and Interfaith of The Woodlands offer transportation services for seniors to medical appointments, errands or social events such as bingo night or Nintendo Wii day at the South Montgomery County Community Center.

"Our whole focus with seniors is wellness and care," Snyder said. "People who are on a fixed income [may] no longer have the accessibility to a car, or are able to transport themselves. [Transportation services] help them remain socially active as well as having the opportunity to get to their medical appointments, personal appointments, as well as the grocery store, retail and social activities."

Because many seniors are not able to afford or prepare nutritionally balanced meals, The Friendship Center, along with 180 volunteers, also operates the county's Meals on Wheels program, Hulett said. To bridge the weekend gap for those who only qualify for weekday meal deliveries, the center partnered with the Montgomery County Food Bank to deliver a bag of groceries on Fridays to participating seniors. Interfaith of The Woodlands also provides food pantry services.

While The Friendship Center maintains a Meals on Wheels program waiting list that hovers between 60 to 100 people at any given time, and receives about 40 new client requests for transportation per month, the center is unable to expand services because of a need for volunteers and funding, Hulett said.

"We can always use more volunteers," Hulett said. "As a non-profit you are always looking for donations beyond the federal funding, which is pretty limited. We are doing our budget right now; my finance committee calls it cliff running. We are basically down to nothing near the end of the month."