Affordable housing for elderly has 35th birthday party

KENT — The Templeton Farms apartment complex celebrated a significant milestone this year as it turned 35.More than 70 residents, current and former town officials, administrative staff and community members gathered at the Kent Senior Center on Sunday, Sept. 18, to have a party in honor of the complex’s anniversary.Kent Village Housing for the Elderly (KVHE), the nonprofit owner of Templeton Farms, was formed in 1974. Construction of the 24-unit complex was completed in 1976. The complex offers senior housing for low- to moderate-income residents age 62 and older.The federal government helped out by financing the initial construction.In addition to 24 rental housing units, KVHE also has a large red barn, clearly visible from Maple Street next to the firehouse, that is part of the Templeton Farms complex. The front half of the barn’s first floor serves as the town’s senior center. The back half serves as a common room for residents and is also home to the Templeton offices. The second floor of the barn is leased to St. Luke’s Masonic Lodge. The barn has a generator and is one of Kent’s designated emergency shelters.Volunteers serve lunch in the senior center on Mondays and Wednesdays. A town-sponsored lunch for seniors, in partnership with Kent School and the South Kent School, is offered on Fridays.Rusty O’Meara, who was first selectman when Templeton Farms was conceived, moved to the Midwest for 25 years but recently relocated to Kent. At the party, he recalled the efforts many Kent residents made more than 35 years ago to create affordable senior housing here.Phyllis Foster, a 24-year Templeton Farms resident, served as the first program director for the complex, before she lived there. She said that moving to the complex was the best decision she’d made in her life.She reminisced about early efforts to transform the barn into a gathering space. “It was all gray concrete. You could see where the cows were milked. Our first project was putting carpet on the floor. Ruth and Ed Epstein were remodeling their home and donated the old kitchen to us for the barn.”Several speakers said that living at Templeton Farms seems to increase longevity. And many residents are there at the end of their lives.“Some of the people who leave us don’t have any immediate relatives,” Foster said. “So I instituted having little ceremonies for our residents when someone leaves us. There is a lot of sharing and we have refreshments. Often friends and family from the greater community join the gatherings.”While most of Templeton’s operating costs and ongoing upkeep are covered by rent payments and federal subsidies, community contributions have helped maintain and improve the 35-year-old facility.In the past five years, community contributions have helped cover the cost of planting trees and shrubs; gutting and renovating an apartment to create a fully handicap-accessible unit; exterior improvements to the barn; window replacement and other projects.For information on Templeton Farms Apartments or the senior center, contact KVHE at 860-927-4000 or email templetonfarms@ehmchm.org.