A ribbon cutting was held as Midlands Housing Alliance announced a new housing project for disabled senior adults. The Dutch Plaza complex will become Monarch Manor creating affordable housing for those who need it most.
Monarch Manor is an answer to homelessness says Transitions Director Craig Curry. According to Curry, $1.7 million in donations were raised for the project offering 55 permanent housing units for the disabled elderly. He says the units will be highly accessible, include an adult daycare facility, and offices for support services. While this is an extension of the Transitions shelter downtown it is not a shelter, Monarch Manor is permanent housing.
“Break this cycle of going to Transitions, hangout on the street, go to another shelter, eat a free meal somewhere, and then go back on the street. – That’s no good. We want to house people and stop that vicious cycle of addiction and mental health issues. They need help and getting them into a place is critical to then follow up with the needed services,” says Curry.
Curry says clients from Transitions are first in line to be residents at Monarch Manor. Darrell Byrd, a disabled veteran, was homeless and went through Transitions. Now he has permanent housing. Byrd says the process isn’t easy.
“You can’t give up, you got to live and learn – it’s never too late to learn what you got to do to get through anything you’re going through,” says Byrd.
“They’re not in ideal circumstances as it is and may have mental health challenges so to be able to rehabilitate someone to the point where they can stand independently on their own in an apartment that they have for themselves. . . is priceless,” says Transitions Board Chairman David Cote.
Phase one of the project is the construction of 22 units and the adult daycare facility which is scheduled to be complete this November and later occupied by December or January 2024, according to Curry.
Byrd is excited for others who will also gain independence. “I pray for people getting ready to walk through this door. They walk through this door, I know it’s going to be a great opportunity for them to have permanent keys.”