The most vulnerable retirees struggle to survive

By PATRICK SEMANSKY and PAUL WISEMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS

11 years ago

In this Dec. 21, 2013 picture, Helen Hatchell stands in an elevator at Village Crossroads senior community in Nottingham, Md. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

In this Dec. 21, 2013 photo, Helen Hatchell wears a Christmas-themed pin that belonged to her mother at Village Crossroads, an affordable senior community in Nottingham, Md. Hatchell was forced to retire earlier than she had planned in order to care for her husband after he fell sick. She has also undergone a series of operations, but after moving into Village Crossroads unable to walk, she is perfectly mobile. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

This Dec. 21, 2013, photo shows Christmas cards from residents at Village Crossroads, an affordable senior community in Nottingham, Md., on a table in resident Helen Hatchell’s apartment. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

In this Dec. 21, 2013 photo, George Warren sits in his living room at Village Crossroads senior community in Nottingham, Md. Warren said he saw his modest earnings dry up so quickly that for a time he thought he might become homeless. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

In this Dec. 21, 2013 photo, George Warren, a resident at Village Crossroads, an affordable senior community in Nottingham, Md., tidies up his kitchen. Warren, 63, reuses paper towels to stretch his fixed-income budget. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

In this Dec. 21, 2013, photo, George Warren guides his wheelchair to his handicap-accessible kitchen sink at Village Crossroads, an affordable senior community in Nottingham, Md. Warren went on disability six months before turning 62. "I had plans, but life had other plans for me," said Warren. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

In this Dec. 21, 2013 photo, George Warren sits in his wheelchair in his living room at Village Crossroads, an affordable senior community in Nottingham, Md. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Metro is looking for a man in connection with an armed robbery of a convenience store on Nov. 21, 2015. (Courtesy LVMPD)

In this Dec. 21, 2013 picture, sunlight shines into George Warren’s bedroom at Village Crossroads, an affordable senior community in Nottingham, Md. Warren, who lives on a fixed income, says he would be homeless if not for the senior community operated by Catholic Charities of Maryland. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

In this Dec. 21, 2013 photo, George Warren sits in his living room at Village Crossroads, an affordable senior community in Nottingham, Md. Warren made his first Social Security payment at age nine after opening a "sophisticated lemonade stand" at a neighborhood baseball field with the help of his parents. He paid into Social Security from that point on, eventually meandering through a half-dozen jobs in the telecommunications and networking fields before going on disability. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

It isn’t the retirement George Warren dreamed of.

Confined to a wheelchair and living on disability payments after losing his job, Warren, 63, figures he would be homeless in old age if not for a senior housing program offered by Catholic Charities of Maryland.

“I had plans, but life had other plans for me,” he says.

Warren worked for decades, starting with a “sophisticated lemonade stand” he opened with friends at age 9. He paid into Social Security as he meandered through a half-dozen jobs in telecommunications and networking. But he lost his last job in what he calls an age-related layoff. And his income on disability isn’t enough to cover his expenses.

So Catholic Charities gave him a place to live at Village Crossroads near Baltimore, which receives funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

In the aftermath of the Great Recession, millions of Americans are in a similar situation — or at risk of it. Many never saved enough to begin with, then lost their jobs or saw their wages stagnate when the economy collapsed.

The result is that Americans are at least $6.8 trillion short of what they need to have saved for a comfortable retirement, according to the National Institute on Retirement Security. For those on the eve of retirement — ages 55 to 64 — the shortfall comes to $113,000 per household.

Retirement experts worry that many will require extra government help in old age — the kind of services Village Crossroads provides.

Helen Hatchell couldn’t walk when she moved into Village Crossroads in July. Hatchell, a widow who cleaned office buildings before retiring and is now entirely dependent on Social Security, underwent a series of operations. Now, she can get around on her own and keeps herself busy by sewing.

“You gotta live or you gotta die,” she says, “and I wanna live.”

Attached is a photo gallery from Village Crossroads by photographer Patrick Semansky.