E-mail Story
Print Friendly
Send E-mail
Reprint story
Journal North: Home | Sports | Opinion | Obits | Entertainment
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Ground Broken for Complex
By Jessica Dyer
Journal Staff Writer
They might once have lived on the streets or slept in arroyos but soon they'll have an apartment to call home and a neighborhood to which they belong.
The Housing Trust held a groundbreaking ceremony on Friday for the new Village Sage Apartments in the Tierra Contenta neighborhood, and the first of the community's 60 apartments for homeless and low-income residents may be available as early as September.
Hank Hughes, executive director of the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness, said this will be Santa Fe's first community that integrates formerly homeless individuals and families with mixed-income residents while also offering an on-site social services coordinator.
Hughes said it's based on something called the "Renaissance" model first attempted in Denver.
"A bunch of us went to Denver and looked at some of their projects and got really excited about how nice they looked," he said.
Planners placed an emphasis on making Village Sage feel tight-knit with shared courtyards, open space and a centralized community building.
"If you look at the layout, we're very careful to make it a real neighborhood and a real community," said Sharron Welsh, executive director of the Housing Trust.
The design and the integration with mixed-income residents should help foster a greater sense of belonging among the village's formerly homeless population, said Nancy McDonald of Santa Fe Community Services.
"It makes them feel like part of the community," she said.
The Housing Trust, a non-profit community development organization, partnered with at least 20 different organizations to plan, design and implement the project, Welsh said.
The result will be a 60 apartment units — ranging from one to three bedrooms apiece — contained within 10 two-story buildings. The buildings, built by "green" guidelines, will form three mini-neighborhoods on a 5.75-acre lot across from Capital High School.
Fifteen Village Sage units are designated as permanent supportive housing for currently homeless individuals and families. The remaining 45 are "affordable to very low-income" residents, Welsh said.
Approximately 10 units will be used for residents affiliated with the New Mexico School for the Deaf. The school previously owned the land on which Village Sage will be built but sold it for the project.
"We look forward to using the apartments for some of our students, such as those who have graduated but aren't ready yet for college or working," NMSD Superintendent Ronald Stern said through an interpreter during Friday's ceremony.
McDonald will serve as Village Sage's on-site social services coordinator to help residents arrange job training, child care, health care, mental health care and case management.
"Those will be available through local providers, but the coordinator will help make sure people are hooked up to what they need so they don't get lost (in the system)," Hughes said.
He added that supportive housing has proven to be one of the best ways to end homelessness.
Hughes said there are approximately 1,000 homeless adults in Santa Fe — those who literally live on the streets and those who live in shelters or "double up." In addition, Santa Fe Public Schools is reporting approximately 1,000 homeless students this year.
Several of the Village Sage units will be designated for homeless families.
McDonald works with the homeless population now and said that for people who have spent years living on the streets, moving into a home is "a dream come true."
She said she's currently working with a single mom who lives in a shelter and Village Sage would be an ideal solution for the family's problems.
"She works, but she makes $7.50 an hour, so this is a perfect place for her to come live with her two children — if only she can wait until it's done," McDonald said.
Although Friday marked the ceremonial ground-breaking, Welsh said crews are already 50 percent finished with the infrastructure. While residents may start moving in as early as this fall, the whole village should be completed by March.
Welsh said the entire project will cost $11 million, the bulk of which, $8.8 million, came in the form of federal stimulus funds.
The rest of the project will pay for itself, Welsh said.
Village Sage residents with no income may pay for their housing through rental vouchers while others may pay 30 percent of their income. Welsh said rent will range from $300 to $900 per month.
The formerly homeless residents who get to move in will likely be referred by shelters. Other prospective residents will come from a waiting list.
Mark Simpson was among the speakers during Friday's groundbreaking. As someone who used to be homeless in Santa Fe and spent time at St. Elizabeth's Shelter and at Life Link, Simpson told the gathering that he was uplifted to be part of the festivities.
"What that looks like to me is a lot of dirt and equipment," he said, surveying the still vacant lot. "Then I look again and realize it's hope."
You also can send comments via our comment form
|
|
