Coming Home®: Affordable Assisted Living (Coming Home) was a 13-year, $13-million national program created in 1992 by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and NCB Capital Impact (formerly NCB Development Corporation) to develop affordable assisted living models, with a focus on smaller and rural communities and low-income seniors.

Affordable assisted living typically refers to licensed residential projects that provide apartment-style housing together with supportive services (e.g., help with personal care, meals, housekeeping and medication management) to older residents, at least 25 percent of whom are financially eligible for state Medicaid programs.

Key Results
Coming Home demonstrated that assisted living can be created as a viable alternative to institutional long-term care for people with incomes as low as the federal SSI payment. Although there are regulatory and financial obstacles, these can be overcome through partnerships and joint programs among relevant state agencies and project sponsors.

As of September 2008, Coming Home, managed by NCB Capital Impact's NCB Development Services (NCBDS), had resulted in a total of 50 completed projects comprised of 1909 units of affordable assisted living located in 13 states:

• The 50 completed affordable assisted-living facilities have ranged from 5 to 110 units and are located in:
  • Alaska (five facilities; 46 units)
  • Arkansas (four facilities; 176 units)
  • California (two facilities; 84 units)
  • Colorado (one facility; 40 units)
  • Florida (five facilities; 329 units)
  • Illinois (five facilities; 210 units)
  • Iowa (five facilities; 132 units)
  • Maine (three facilities; 108 units)
  • Massachusetts (two facilities; 137 units)
  • Oregon (one facility; 50 units)
  • Vermont (five facilities; 209 units)
  • Washington (six facilities; 216 units)
  • Wisconsin (six facilities; 172 units).
• In October 2008, staff at NCB Capital Impact indicated that five of 40 additional demonstration projects underway were likely to be built, adding 235 additional units of affordable assisted living.

The National Program Office
NCB Capital Impact, the national program office for Coming Home is a national nonprofit organization that fosters community development by providing technical assistance, pre-development financing and permanent debt to nonprofit community-based organizations nationwide.

NCB Capital Impact changed its name from NCB Development Corporation in 2006. This report covers a period from 1992 through the program's end in 2007. For simplicity, this report refers to the organization by its new name, NCB Capital Impact, throughout.

Funding
In October 1992, the RWJF Board of Trustees granted $6,531,516 to NCB Development Corporation for a six-year period. In July 1999, the Board granted $6,499,913 for a five-year period to advance the development of rural affordable assisted living by helping states create a supportive policy environment, demonstrate the viability of financing for the facilities, and build partnerships between state agencies and nonprofit service providers.