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It’s no secret that the credit and housing markets have beenin a funk lately. Just this week, massive investment bank Lehman Brothers filedfor bankruptcy. That was right before Bank of America picked Merrill Lynch fromthe bargain bin. On the housing side, the news is almost as ominous.Foreclosures hit a record high in August, and there appears to be little reliefin sight. Within this context, a conference focused largely on driving capitalto companies that mostly own property would appear to be risky at best. Butthe National Investment Center forthe Seniors Housing & Care Industry actually had to turn away hundreds ofpotential attendees from last week’s show in Chicago. So what gives? The answerseems to be that while housing and capital are parts of the senior livingbusiness, they don’t fully define it. The sector exists largely to deliverquality housing and care to our nation’s seniors. Real estate issues andacquiring capital, it turns out, are merely pieces of the puzzle.