Competing needs: Copley Hospital seeks to convert senior apartments to worker housing
VTDigger
Sandy Harris felt lucky when she landed a room at Copley Terrace nearly six years ago. Long before, her aunt had lived at the subsidized senior apartment complex in Morrisville, and Harris had a good impression of the place: the people were friendly, the apartments small, but nice. And if she developed medical issues as she aged, Copley Hospital, which happened to own the apartments, was located just down the road.
The 77-year-old retired nurse had decided to return to Vermont after leaving a bad relationship in Florida. While other residents reported waiting a year and a half or longer, she managed to secure a place at the Terrace in a matter of months. She quickly became a part of the community, decorating her door with signs that said things like “Enter With a Happy Heart,” and signing up to be a resident superintendent, helping if a neighbor got locked out. The best part was her rent, which at $352 a month was a third of her monthly Social Security income.