News and Events

Ribbon Cutting Event Scheduled to Celebrate New Supportive Housing for Homeless Families
By Lyndsey Ellis, Marketing and Communications Assistant

Fairfield, CT---The Board of Directors of Operation Hope, the local non-profit organization providing innovative solutions to homelessness in Fairfield and the surrounding area, will hold a ribbon cutting ceremony on Wednesday, May 23, 2007 at 5:00 pm at Jarvis Court Homes in Fairfield, followed by a private reception. The ribbon cutting will be attended by local and state officials, housing development and financing partners and those who made leadership gifts to the organization’s “A Place to Call Home” capital campaign. Operation Hope’s Board Chairman, Joel Z. Green of Fairfield will be master of ceremonies.

Jarvis Court Homes is the newest program of Operation Hope and will open to families beginning in June. The 8 new affordable rental town homes were designed by architect Philip H. Cerrone, and constructed by R.D. Scinto, LLC at the former Navy Housing Site adjacent to Veteran’s Park.

These new homes are the organization’s response to a rising demand for affordable housing and supportive services. According to statewide estimates, 33,000 people are homeless each year, including 13,000 children. At Operation Hope there is a waiting list of more than 300 people every month who require affordable rentals and would benefit from the wrap-around supportive services that are a part of the organization’s housing program. Services are personalized and geared to helping families achieve increased stability and self-reliance, and ultimately to leave homelessness behind forever. Supportive housing is a proven model. The organization has operated supportive housing since 1995 and nationally, through the Corporation for Supportive Housing the model has gained momentum.

The Jarvis Court duplexes will be home to a total of 8 formerly homeless families, including 16 children in the first year. Each family will rent their own apartment at a cost of 30% of their income per month. Families who reside at Jarvis Homes will have low incomes, less than $40,000 per year for a family of four. “This is an opportunity for me and my family to get back on our feet again,” said one prospective tenant who requested anonymity. She is a mother of three young children and works as an assistant in a local office. Her income is not enough to rent an apartment in the Greater Bridgeport area without repeatedly missing payments. The homes increase Operation Hope’s Affordable Housing Program bringing the total to 9 sites in Fairfield and Bridgeport, serving a total of 30 formerly homeless households.

Martey Rhine, the organization’s Interim Executive Director stated “We are so grateful to all our partners who make our mission come alive everyday, and who helped us open the doors at Jarvis. The ribbon cutting ceremony is a wonderful opportunity to thank everyone who has been involved in funding and building the Jarvis Court Homes.” The homes were financed by hundreds of private contributions and grant partners including the Melville Charitable Trust, the Near and Far Aid Association, GE, the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, and the Town of Fairfield’s Community and Economic Development Office. “We just can’t wait to open the doors to families. What a day that will be,” said Rhine.

Operation Hope, Inc. is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization formed in 1986 by local citizens concerned about individuals in the community unable to meet their own basic needs of food and shelter. The organization works to end homelessness, one person at a time. Its stated mission is: “The mission of Operation Hope is to provide innovative solutions to homelessness in Fairfield and the surrounding community through housing development, advocacy, education and personalized support services for individuals and families. We help people to reach their potential in an environment where compassion inspires dignity and hope."

Those interested in making a donation to support the organization’s housing programs or volunteering time to help are invited to contact Development staff at 203-254-2935 or visit the website www.operationhopect.org.

 

Plan to offer housing for the homeless

By JEREMY SOULLIERE Hour Staff Writer

WESTPORT June 11, 2007 - Before the frost begins to harden the ground this fall, the foundation for new supportive housing for the homeless is expected to be poured at 10 West End Ave. in Westport.

The new six- unit apartment building, a project planned by the Westport-based Interfaith Housing Association roughly three years ago, will house area homeless with treatable mental disabilities, said Pete Powell, president of IHA.

IHA, a nonprofit established in 1984 to provide programs and shelter for the homeless, can help those homeless without mental disabilities find a job and an affordable apartment somewhere, he said, but those with psychiatric conditions need a supportive living environment to help them make positive steps forward.

“If you’re homeless and your only issue is you’re homeless, we can get you a job and an apartment,” Powell said. “But if you’re mentally ill and homeless, you’ll become isolated in that apartment, and you’ll say, ‘Why do I need to take this medicine that does funny things to me?’”

The hardest part about establishing supportive housing for the homeless is receiving the necessary funding for it, he said, and the West End Ave. project recently received a major jump-start in early June when the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority Board approved IHA’s application for a $1.7 million competitive grant. The funding will cover all the remaining costs for the new building, Powell said.

“(We’re) excited, relieved and encouraged,” he said, speaking to the housing board’s recent approval.

Beyond the $1.7 million grant, IHA had already secured funding for the new structure from community and federal sources, Powell said, including the Westport Rotary Club and the Westport Sunrise Rotary Club. To honor the Rotary clubs’ initial backing, which helped IHA purchase the West End Ave. property in August of 2004, the apartment building will be called the Westport Rotary Centennial House, he said.

IHA, which operates an emergency shelter for homeless men and women in downtown Westport, also supplies temporary and affordable housing in town for homeless families, while running a community kitchen and food pantry out of the Gillespie Center, its shelter at 45 Jesup Road. Since 1998, IHA has also run Homes With Hope, its initial supportive housing program for the mentally disabled, which is located on Saugatuck Avenue.

Besides offering shelter and affordable housing for area homeless, the nonprofit's professionally trained staff also work to provide clients the support and life skills training needed to help prevent homelessness from reoccurring, Powell said.

At the new Westport Rotary Centennial House, which will have four one-bedroom apartments and two units with two bedrooms, a full-time IHA case manager will be assigned to help meet the daily needs of the residents, he said, who must be diagnosed with a psychiatric disability but demonstrate the ability to live independently.

The IHA caseworker, Paris Looney — who works with clients at Homes with Hope and is the program director of IHA’s temporary family housing shelter, the Bacharach Community — would be dropping by the Centennial House once a week to check in on the residents, he said. She would also be on call 24-hours a day if they needed guidance or help, Powell said.

Looney can help the residents find a job, he said, or lead them to a number of area support services, including psychiatric counseling and treatment, or child care.

“We’re not a mental health facility, but we can get you in touch with (one),” Powell said.

All the clients’ situations are different, Looney said, and her job is to evaluate their circumstances and ensure they get the services they need to successfully live on their own.

“What I try to do is get a feel for what’s really happening with that family (or person),” she said.

And beyond referring clients to the right professional services, Looney said, she also helps the clients help themselves.

“It’s basically empowering the client,” she said. “My job is to tap into what they have inside them.”

The new building’s units, which will each have a full bathroom, kitchen and central air, will be rented to eligible area homeless for a fee equivalent to 30 percent of their income, Powell said.

This summer, before workers break ground on the new structure, the present 1898 home on the site will be demolished, he said. The architect firm IHA has contracted to design the new building, Crosskey Architects of Hartford, had advised the nonprofit that the 109-year-old structure was not worth saving, Powell said.

Construction of the 5,800- square-foot Centennial House, which has received the necessary site plan approval by the town’s Planning and Zoning Commission, is expected to begin this fall, he said, after a new sewer line is put in place for the new facility. “It will solve homelessness for the six people tenants,” Powell said about the planned apartment building. “Once they get here, they never have to leave. They will never be homeless again.”

The need for emergency homeless shelters would decrease in the greater Norwalk area, he added, if more supportive housing facilities were built. As part of its strategic plan developed roughly three years ago, Powell said, IHA has committed to building 50 units of supportive housing in Westport and surrounding municipalities. The nonprofit has six down, he said, and 44 to go.  “It’s a significant small step,” he said.

Jeremy Soulliere covers Westport and Weston and may be reached via e-mail at jsoulliere@thehour.com.

Community Partnership Breaks Ground on Areyto Apartments
City of Bridgeport, CASA, Alpha Community Services & Fairfield 08 to Build 20 Units of Permanent Supportive Housing

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – March 15, 2007 – Today Bridgeport Mayor John M. Fabrizi, CASA, Inc., Alpha Community Services, a branch of the Central Connecticut Coast YMCA, Fairfield 08, and other city officials and local organizations celebrated the groundbreaking of the Areyto Apartments, a 20-unit permanent supportive housing development for people who were formerly homeless.  Construction is expected to take approximately 14 months.

“This project contributes to our Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness by providing 20 units of permanent supportive housing combined with individualized health, support, and employment services – a proven, cost effective solution that addresses the root causes of homelessness,” explained Fabrizi.  The Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness was launched in June 2005 in partnership with the Mayor’s Office and the United Way of Eastern Fairfield County and in collaboration with more than 100 greater Bridgeport area leaders.

Financing for the project is being provided under the State sponsored Supportive Housing Pilots Initiative and will be part of a statewide program spearheaded by the national Corporation for Supportive Housing, the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, and the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority.  The City of Bridgeport contributed the property at 665 Arctic Street to CASA and provided the development with partial tax abatement.

The Areyto Apartments architect, Leonardo Rodriguez, is designing the building to be a significant new asset in the Upper Eastside neighborhood.  The building will have three stories and is designed to be both consistent with and an asset to the surrounding neighborhood.  The development will blend a combination of masonry and wood exterior materials that will harmonize with nearby Victorian –era buildings.  The redevelopment of this vacant parcel into supportive housing will contribute to the revitalization of the surrounding neighborhood and together with streetscape improvements, will create a safer community for Bridgeport residents to live in.

The contractor for this project is Encon Construction, Inc. of Branford, a general contracting firm that has been in operation for 17 years.  Their portfolio includes some 40+ construction and renovation projects that include State and municipal buildings, schools, recreational and cultural facilities, churches, and residential buildings.

Each of the 20 one-bedroom apartments will have a fully-equipped kitchen, bathroom, and living area.  The first floor will house on-site case management and common space, as well as providing for property management and security.  The project will be known as Areyto Apartments, named for an ancient ritual practiced by the Native Americans of the Caribbean and South America, in which communities gave thanks and honored each other for the blessings of health, the gift of family, and the power of community.

Areyto Apartments is co-sponsored by the Chemical Abuse Services Agency (CASA) and Alpha Community Services, a branch of the Central Connecticut Coast YMCA.

“Through funding from DMHAS, CASA will offer supportive services to the tenants of the Areyto Apartments,” explained Asher Delerme, executive director, CASA.  “Case management services will take place on-site at Areyto Apartments.  Individuals also will be linked to other supports offered at various locations within the community. Case managers will work to connect tenants with the array of services that presently exist in the Greater Bridgeport area.  The goals of the supportive services are to help all residents maintain recovery from mental illness and/or substance abuse; maximize self-determination; increase daily living skills; promote the appropriate use of community-based services; decrease the use of crisis and emergency services; and engage people in a meaningful, long-term recovery process that includes community responsibility.”

“We are extremely happy for this day as we add another 20 units of supportive housing to assist a population who counts on us for leadership,” stated Carmen Colon, executive director, Alpha Community Services.  “We urge everyone, especially political leaders to embrace the efforts of all the groups working diligently to eradicate homelessness.  On behalf of the homeless population we thank Mayor Fabrizi, City Council President Andres Ayala, and City Councilwoman Maria Valle for making this day possible.”

To learn more about rental guidelines for Areyto Apartments, please contact CASA at (203) 339-4112.
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Photo above: Community partners celebrate the groundbreaking for the Areyto Apartments on Bridgeport's East Side.  Pictured here are (L-R) Terry Nash, CHFA; Tony Thesing, NEF; Carmen Colon, Alpha Community Services; Bridgeport Mayor John M. Fabrizi; City Council President/State Representative Andres Ayala; and Asher Delerme, CASA, Inc.

"Building a Better Bridgeport"

www.ci.bridgeport.ct.us