Healthy Aging & Housing Stability

Many older adults in Franklin County are one unexpected bill, one missed benefit, or one moment of isolation away from losing their housing. PEARLS is MAD's response to that reality.

PEARLS (Program to Encourage Active, Rewarding Lives) is a one-on-one coaching program for older adults living in affordable housing communities. A trained PEARLS Coach meets with participants six to eight times, usually in a community room or at their door, to work through the everyday stressors that make stability hard to hold: paperwork confusion, transportation gaps, social isolation, anxiety, and the accumulated weight of managing a fixed income.

Sessions are conversational and practical. Participants set goals, build confidence, and work through problems that used to feel overwhelming. While residents move through the program, MAD staff can also connect them to benefits, housing supports, legal services, medical referrals, and community resources.

The result is not just a person who feels better. It is a person who is less likely to face eviction, more connected to the supports that keep them housed, and more able to navigate what comes next on their own.

PEARLS fits inside the Restore model because the work is the same regardless of age: remove what is fragile, build what is durable, and stay present until stability holds.