Center at Belvedere working to grow with rising Charlottesville-area senior population

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - The Center at Belvedere says 1-in-5 Americans will be over 65 by 2030.

“In the Charlottesville-Albemarle area, what you’re seeing is that we are very popular place for older adults to retire to,” Philanthropy Director Melanie Benjamin said.

The Center at Belvedere is meant for supporting the needs of aging adults.

“The average life expectancy of someone is 78, whereas the healthy life expectancy - which is the average where you can expect to live your years in good health - is 68. So there’s 10 year variance there,” Benjamin said.

The Center has a goal of narrowing the 10-year gap to help people stay in good health longer.

Right now, 20% of households in Charlottesville have a person 65 or older living in it.

“By next year, we’re expecting that to move to 1-out-of-every-4. So you can see what the growth is doing: By 2030, we’ll be well beyond the average in Virginia and in the nation for several years, and that will continue to grow,” Benjamin said.

The Center expanded in 2020, and plans to continue to grow to accommodate the rise in seniors. It currently provides about 160 program a week.

“We expand our hours, we can expand programming. We can do satellite programming, but also it’s working in partnership with other community nonprofits, with our city and county governments,” Benjamin said.

Do you have a story idea? Send us your news tip here.

Copyright 2023 WVIR. All rights reserved.