Over a hundred people gathered yesterday in Manchester to celebrate the opening of the newly-constructed 20 unit supportive housing project, Center Street Apartments. Governor Dannel Malloy was on hand along with Commissioner Pat Rehmer of the Dept of Mental Health and Addiction Services(DMHAS), members of Connecticut’s Interagency Committee on Supportive Housing as well as Manchester Mayor Leo Diana.
“I’m a big, big fan of supportive housing”, said Malloy, who reported his support of several supportive housing projects in Stamford when he was mayor of that city. “ That’s one of the reasons I included $30 million for supportive housing and $100 million for supportive housing in my very first budget as governor.”
Heather Gates, CEO of Community Health Resources, owner and developer greeted the group and expressed her thanks for assistance with the project to many organizations and individuals, including CSH. “ CSH has shown us that supportive housing works, in maintaining people in housing and reducing the recurrence of homelessness,” Gates said.
Center Street Apartments was one of three projects funded through Next Steps III, a state- sponsored structured initiative for supportive housing ,which includes Capital, rental subsidies and services funding. Approximately 800 units of supportive housing were produced through the Next Steps Initiative, a collaboration of many state agencies and CSH.
For the Manchester project, the Connecticut Housing Finance Agency (CHFA) and the Department of Community and Economic Development (DECD) combined to provide approximately $6.5 million in permanent capital for the project. The Department of Social Services (DSS) will provide project-based rental assistance to 10 of the units. Services funding of $95,000 per year will come through DMHAS and the Department of Children and Families.
CSH made an $800,000 loan to CHR to help acquire the site and pay pre-development costs. Ten of the units at Center Street Apartments will be set aside for homeless and/or disabled individuals, including four units for young adults aged 18-25. In addition, 10 units will be rented to individuals in the community who need affordable housing.
CSH’s Director in Connecticut, Sarah Gallagher, congratulates Heather and CHR in this new venture. This project would not have been possible without the experience, dedication and passion of both Heather and her team, MISH and the entire Manchester community.
“CHR is just the right organization to be leading this new endeavour. With their extensive experience in providing services and high-quality staff; leadership in building community relationships and now track record in supportive housing development, we look forward to partnering with CHR to develop more supportive housing in the future.”
