Eleanor Roosevelt Circle

The Eleanor Roosevelt Circle (ERC) provides homes for seniors who are age 62 and above. They are a cooperative partnership of Davis Senior Housing Cooperative, Neighborhood Partners and Yolo County Housing Authority with program support by Yolo Adult Day Health Care. You can take a virtual tour on their website, or you can do a real world tour at their location at the corner of Fifth and Cantrill, opposite the new police station. It has 59 one-bedroom apartments with a great array of services and programs in the community building. The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute holds some of their classes here.

Rents start at $225 per month and there are units for seniors from 25% - 120% of median income. In comparison, a one bedroom unit in Davis rented at an average of $867 in Davis for 2006-07. Rents for one bedroom apartments went up $27 dollars per month (3.21%) in 2006.

There are six key points to make with ERC.

1. ERC is the only housing in Davis which is mixed income. Many moderate income seniors do not earn enough to qualify for University Retirement Community or Atria Covell Gardens and earn too much to qualify for subsidy housing such as Shasta Point. Many people think of senior housing as being only for low income seniors. Seniors earning $60,000 or less qualify to live at ERC. (see income table on web site)

2. Many residents of Davis may have their parents living with them or living in town or outside of town. Take a look at ERC as a community that your parents could live in and be nearby. The age in place design of ERC will allow many seniors to live here in the same apartment safely for decades.

3. Every one of the 59 apartments is visitable, accessible and built adaptable for the disabled. The apartments have features that make them the most disability friendly apartments for seniors in Davis. Each apartment opens directly to the outside and not a dark corridor like other senior living in Davis.

4. 21 of the apartments are set aside for seniors with either physical or mental disabilities. There is a full time social services coordinator to assist residents with disabilities.

5. There is a plot of land with a garden grown and tended by residents, as well as several large planter boxes.

6. There is a Community Building with a large dining room used for events, commercial kitchen, a resident run Co-op shop, library/computer room, a fireplace and inglenook and foyer. There are wonderful outdoor spaces and community gardens. There is a laundry room and an elevator in each building. In addition to the Social Services Coordinator there is also a full time Site Manager who lives at ERC.

2011-08-11 14:34:32   Unfortunately the Community Building has essentially been locked up and use denied to ERC residents since November 1, 2010. Before that, since it opened, ERC Community Building was open 7 days a week, from 9am until 9pm. The residents were responsible for closing up the building every night and opening it up on holidays and weekends. That system worked very well and the place was a busy social hub. Since last November the place has become socially isolating and dismal. —AnnRichards

2012-10-21 08:40:05   There are many non truths here. ERC is not a cooperative at all. there is no shared ownership by tenants. It is low income housing. It is not mixed income housing. You have to be low income to live here...it is income based. —TaliaSher

2014-06-02 13:10:40   ERC is income based but you can make 120% of the median income ($43,050 in 2014 and everything lower is "low income"). Since you can make 120% of median income and still qualify to live here you can make up to $64,620 which is considered "moderate income". This sounds pretty "mixed income" to me. Unfortunately the community building which contains internet and mail box access is only open M-F from 9-5 and on Sat it is open 9-5 without computer access.

—SharonStringer