By Paul Bolster
Housing for persons who have been homeless for years is coming to our neighborhood. In February Stan Sugarman, experienced housing developer, will begin leasing studio units at the Ralph David House, located just north of the Moreland/ I-20 interchange (the Mark Inn for old timers). While the final touches were being completed, Mayor Dickens and his team came to the project for a ribbon cutting on December 18. Sugerman and his partners have another project under construction just a few blocks north at 111 Moreland. The Ralph David House will have 56 newly renovated studio type units and the 111 Project will have 42 units. Unit at both projects include a full bath, furniture and kitchen appliances. In the new construction 111 project four studio units share a full kitchen. Rent is set to meet the reality of persons with very very low or no income.
Sugarman is proud to be part of a project that “is housing my homeless neighbors.” These projects will have critical resources: support services from Fulton County Behavioral Health and rent subside from the Atlanta Housing Authority. Catheryn Vassell, Director of Partners for Home, said at the Ribbon Cutting, this kind of project needs support like a four legged stool: 1. Services; 2. Rent subsidy; 3. capital; and 4. A willing and able developer. She says the City “needs more developers like Sugerman.” He is the glue that brings together the many parts of this project which was two years in the making. The capital to buy and renovate or build comes from the Atlanta Affordable Housing Fund, its TAD funds, Invest Atlanta, Tandum Bank, the Community Foundation, and even the Beltlines affordable housing fund. The developers call this the funding “stack” and there are likely a few more brick in it. The 111 project has additional funding sources including Invest Atlanta’s Reinvestment Fund, ANDP, and the Federal Home Bank.
At the Ribbon cutting, Mayor Dickens said this was the kind of project he worked for when he was on the City Council. He is proud of the team that has put together these projects and feels they have now developed a “blue print” for how to do it. “There is a pipe line that will be producing more of this kind of project in the near future.” He believes that this type of unit is “the first step to being fully human.”
Space in the units are reserved for persons who are “chronically homeless”– years of living on the street with a disability. Agencies funded by Partners for Home evaluate a person’s need and keep a list that prioritizes those “most in need.” According to Micheal Nolan of Intown Cares, there are 14 people already on the list from the immediate area. Nolan’s work in East Atlanta comes from the joint efforts of EACA, the East Atlanta Business Association, Councilwoman Bakhtiari and Partners for Home. His focus is East Atlanta but that includes homeless people who frequent the neighborhood. He has an office on Moreland on the campus of the Neighborhood Church. Vassell said at the ribbon cutting that they will work hard to balance the needs of person’s in the neighborhood who are homeless with the person’s already on the list.
One way to help people get access to these opportunities is to connect a person to PAD through the City referral number 311. Another way is to call Michael Nolan at 843-213-7510.
