Government

Affordable Housing Coming for Seniors in North Nashville

THE TENNESSEE TRIBUNE — eople age 62 and up will be able to find affordable housing in a new development complex being built in North Nashville.

Published

5 years ago

May 26, 2019

Clare Bratten

By Clare Bratten

NASHVILLE, TN — People age 62 and up will be able to find affordable housing in a new development complex being built in North Nashville slated for completion in summer of 2020. Fifty-five rental units in a contemporary complex (complete with a rooftop solar panels) will be located at 26th and Clarksville as Phase III in what will be a three-building complex with multigenerational housing. Phases I is built and Phase II opens this summer. A Phase III ground breaking marked the beginning of the new construction.

The facility called “TN-SILVER” (which is an acronym for “Supportive Integrated Living for Vulnerable Elderly Renters”) will include health and wellness support that will help older residents live independently. The project is being developed by Urban Housing Solutions as part of their affordable housing project at the site after consulting with non profit agencies who advocate for seniors and finding solutions.

“We always talk about aging in place, but Tennessee is a state that ranks 43rd in senior health – it also ranks in the 40s in services and support systems. That puts seniors attempting to age in place at risk in our communities, extremely vulnerable,” said Vickie Harris, one of the consultants for the project. Harris, an expert on senior health and wellness was chair of the board for the Council on Aging in Tennessee, and now is founder and CEO for Community ConneXor. “This state ranks high in cardio vascular diabetes and diabetes. So, low income older adults are highly represented in that category,” said Harris.

“Just being a senior creates vulnerability because of multiple chronic conditions. What we have is the integration of housing as a base, because we need safe affordable housing for seniors, then we’re adding to that – technology. As their chronic conditions begin to take their tolls (such as falls), how do we use technology that creates a communication link to those who may be able to assist quicker,” said Harris.

The third layer that Urban Housing Solutions is adding to TN SILVER is supportive service coordination. The housing development will include a clinic which will help seniors navigate other health services available to them. “I don’t know if you’ve tried to navigate our community resource ecosystem. In fact, I’m not even sure we could call it a system. It’s a lot of great organizations doing work, but as an individual, you must go to each one of those agencies. Older adults do not have that capacity. So TN SILVER truly is an innovation comprehensive solution at a time when Nashville is in the midst of an affordable housing shortage and experiencing a rapidly expanding population of low and moderate income older adults. We know when we look around the North Nashville area that hundreds of North Nashville older adults have excessive housing costs and/or are living in housing with serious physical problems,” said Harris.

Tracy Patton, Director of Community Housing Services at Urban Housing Solutions described other amenities of the complex. “The addition of a shaded pedestrian walkway with ample seating, a community building with classes with intergenerational programming, an onsite clinic will elevate the continual care that promotes long term health care for our residents at 26th and Clarksville.”

Brent Elrod, Director of Planning and Development for Urban Housing Solutions said the emphasis on senior housing was new for Urban Housing Solutions and this project was slated for completion in summer of 2020.

“We’ve never actually developed an intentional senior housing project project . . .Urban Housing Solutions is a private non-profit which builds affordable housing. Over the last couple of years, we’ve been lucky to happy support and guidance from local experts here who are more familiar with the needs of the senior community and make this a real model for the rest of the state,” said Elrod.

Elrod said his group consulted with non-profits who were knowledgeable about the needs of the older community members such as Vickie Harris, Tennessee Commission on Aging and Disability, Council on Aging, Fifty Forward, AARP, Senior Ride, Vanderbilt School of Nursing, and Tennessee State University.

Elrod recognized the government and corporate partners who are financing, designing, landscaping parts of the TN SILVER complex. The Tennessee Housing Development Agency awarded the low-income housing tax credits for this project, Pinnacle Bank who purchased the tax credits and provided the construction loan. Metropolitan Development Housing Agency awarded 52 project-based vouchers and Fifth Third Bank supported the rooftop solar array.

“We’ve got a great development team working on this project: the Danielian Associates architects, as well as David Baker Architects for contributing their design vision,” said Elrod.

This article originally appeared in The Tennessee Tribune.

Clare Bratten

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Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

Published

3 days ago

April 26, 2024

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

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Alameda County

DA Pamela Price Stands by Mom Who Lost Son to Gun Violence in Oakland

Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018.

Published

7 days ago

April 22, 2024

Oakland Post

District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones

Publisher’s note: Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018. The photo was too small for readers to see where the women were and what they were doing. Here we show Price and Jones as they complete a walk in memory of Scott. For more information and to contribute, please contact Carol Jones at 510-978-5517 at morefoundation.help@gmail.com. Courtesy photo.

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Bay Area

MAYOR BREED ANNOUNCES $53 MILLION FEDERAL GRANT FOR SAN FRANCISCO’S HOMELESS PROGRAMS

San Francisco, CA – Mayor London N. Breed today announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded the city a $53.7 million grant to support efforts to renew and expand critical services and housing for people experiencing homelessness in San Francisco.

Published

1 week ago

April 20, 2024

Oakland Post

Mayor London Breed

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Contact: Mayor’s Office of Communications, mayorspressoffice@sfgov.org

***PRESS RELEASE***

MAYOR BREED ANNOUNCES $53 MILLION FEDERAL GRANT FOR SAN FRANCISCO’S HOMELESS PROGRAMS

HUD’s Continuum of Care grant will support the City’s range of critical services and programs, including permanent supportive housing, rapid re-housing, and improved access to housing for survivors of domestic violence

San Francisco, CA – Mayor London N. Breed today announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded the city a $53.7 million grant to support efforts to renew and expand critical services and housing for people experiencing homelessness in San Francisco.

HUD’s Continuum of Care (CoC) program is designed to support local programs with the goal of ending homelessness for individuals, families, and Transitional Age Youth.

This funding supports the city’s ongoing efforts that have helped more than 15,000 people exit homelessness since 2018 through City programs including direct housing placements and relocation assistance. During that time San Francisco has also increased housing slots by 50%. San Francisco has the most permanent supportive housing of any county in the Bay Area, and the second most slots per capita than any city in the country.

“In San Francisco, we have worked aggressively to increase housing, shelter, and services for people experiencing homelessness, and we are building on these efforts every day,” said Mayor London Breed. “Every day our encampment outreach workers are going out to bring people indoors and our City workers are connecting people to housing and shelter. This support from the federal government is critical and will allow us to serve people in need and address encampments in our neighborhoods.”

The funding towards supporting the renewal projects in San Francisco include financial support for a mix of permanent supportive housing, rapid re-housing, and transitional housing projects. In addition, the CoC award will support Coordinated Entry projects to centralize the City’s various efforts to address homelessness. This includes $2.1 million in funding for the Coordinated Entry system to improve access to housing for youth and survivors of domestic violence.

“This is a good day for San Francisco,” said Shireen McSpadden, executive director of the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. “HUD’s Continuum of Care funding provides vital resources to a diversity of programs and projects that have helped people to stabilize in our community. This funding is a testament to our work and the work of our nonprofit partners.”

The 2024 Continuum of Care Renewal Awards Include:

$42.2 million for 29 renewal PSH projects that serve chronically homeless, veterans, and youth
$318,000 for one new PSH project, which will provide 98 affordable homes for low-income seniors in the Richmond District
$445,00 for one Transitional Housing (TH) project serving youth
$6.4 million dedicated to four Rapid Rehousing (RRH) projects that serve families, youth, and survivors of domestic violence
$750,00 for two Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) projects
$2.1 million for three Coordinated Entry projects that serve families, youth, chronically homeless, and survivors of domestic violence

In addition, the 2023 CoC Planning Grant, now increased to $1,500,000 from $1,250,000, was also approved. Planning grants are submitted non-competitively and may be used to carry out the duties of operating a CoC, such as system evaluation and planning, monitoring, project and system performance improvement, providing trainings, partner collaborations, and conducting the PIT Count.

“We are very appreciative of HUD’s support in fulfilling our funding request for these critically important projects for San Francisco that help so many people trying to exit homelessness,” said Del Seymour, co-chair of the Local Homeless Coordinating Board. “This funding will make a real difference to people seeking services and support in their journey out of homelessness.”

In comparison to last year’s competition, this represents a $770,000 increase in funding, due to a new PSH project that was funded, an increase in some unit type Fair Market Rents (FMRs) and the larger CoC Planning Grant. In a year where more projects had to compete nationally against other communities, this represents a significant increase.

Nationally, HUD awarded nearly $3.16 billion for over 7,000 local homeless housing and service programs including new projects and renewals across the United States.