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DONG-PHUONG NGUYENSome consider the well-equipped Palm Terrace Assisted Living Facility public housing at its finest.
TAMPA - In her youth, 82-year-old Josie Posada worked in a dime store. Her husband, Reinaldo, has made his living working as a grocer, setting tile and selling X-ray solution.
They raised a child in a time when people didn't think about retirement. There were no 401(k) savings plans. There was little money to bequeath to offspring.
Now old and ailing, the Posadas own little.
Still, they are spending their golden years in an assisted living facility that boasts a beauty salon, a billiards room, a hot tub and two libraries.
Their laundry is washed for them weekly, a hairstylist visits often, and they can take classes on how to use e-mail.
The Posadas live at Palm Terrace Assisted Living Facility in Temple Terrace, a 73-bed residence for low-income senior citizens run by the Tampa Housing Authority.
Officials call it public housing at its finest - a model to be emulated.
"This is truly a jewel," U.S. Rep. Jim Davis said.
Nestled in a residential neighborhood on Serena Avenue near 56th Street, the facility has one- and two-bedroom suites inside a peach-colored building that wraps around a courtyard and a gazebo.
The front door leads to a tiled lobby and carpeted common area, where residents nap, socialize and talk with the staff.
The doors to the residential suites, decorated with wreaths, needlepoint and country crafts, have residents' names embossed on gold-colored plates.
Inside each suite are bedrooms, bathrooms, small living rooms and kitchenettes equipped with microwaves and sinks.
Residents, many who lived at other places before transferring to Palm Terrace, cite the staff's friendliness and the facility's clean and odorless interior as its best assets.
"It is clean, that's for sure," said Mrs. Posada, who gets help from staffers each night moving her husband from his wheelchair to his bed. "I'd rather live in a place like this than out there in boxes in the cold and the rain."
She said she talks to her grown daughter often about saving for retirement.
"It's so important," she said. "We never thought about it."
Palm Terrace is an unusual venture for the Tampa Housing Authority, which runs no other retirement facility.
A company once owned Palm Terrace, and the Housing and Urban Development Department had underwritten its mortgage.
The company defaulted on its loan, so HUD sold it to the Tampa Housing Authority.
The housing authority took over last year.
Operating expenses ran about $1.3-million last year, housing officials said.
Residents must apply for Section 8 housing through the Tampa Housing Authority.
They can't make more than $17,700 a year and can't have more than $2,000 in assets, said Kara Hill, resident care director for Palm Terrace.
There is a waiting list of about 25 people, Hill said.
Residents pay varying amounts to live at the facility. Almost all the money residents receive from sources such as Social Security and pensions goes toward rent. Of that amount, $54 is returned to the resident for monthly spending money.
A packed calendar keeps them active. An activities director runs weekly bingo games, takes residents for strolls around the neighborhood, plans crafts and shows them how to navigate computers.
Laundry and weekly hair wash and sets are included in the rent. Residents get three meals and two snacks a day.
Once a week, a shuttle takes them to a nearby Dollar General store and then to the grocery store.
Over crafts - needlepoint in the shape of hearts for Valentine's Day or cutting shamrocks from green construction paper for St. Patrick's Day - they trade stories about their children, their younger years and the homes they once owned.
In the mornings, some take part in low-key workouts.
"At your house, you do nothing but watch TV," said Hyacinth Tavares, 91. "You couldn't think of a better place (than Palm Terrace)."
- Dong-Phuong Nguyen can be reached at nguyen@sptimes.com or 226-3403.