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AFFORDABLE HOUSING UNITS COMPLETED FOR HOMELESS

VETERANS ON BEDFORD VA CAMPUS -- The majority of

tenants will be Vietnam veterans in their late 50s or

early 60s, and a few who've fought in the Gulf War

and in post-911 Afghanistan.

 

 

Story here... http://www.townonline.com/
bedford/homepage/x268217339

Story below:

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Affordable units for vets completed

By Patrick Ball
GateHouse News Service

Caritas Communities has completed Bedford Veterans Quarters, 60 units of affordable permanent housing for homeless veterans on Bedford Veterans Administration Medical Campus.

Final inspections should be completed by week’s end. Caritas is currently accepting rental applications for qualified veterans, and will hold a Grand Opening on July 18, and expects to have tenants by September.

The housing is located in Building 5, which has been renovated into a two-floor single-resident occupancy quarters, composed of 60 furnished units with three-and-a-half bathrooms, three common areas and kitchen facilities, and includes a seven-room women’s wing on the second floor of the building. Fifty-six of the 60 units receive project-based Section 8 rental assistance.

According to the Executive Director of Caritas Communities Mark Winkeller, Bedford Veterans Quarters will be “the largest permanent housing opportunities in the greater Boston area, and one of the few constructed recently.”

He believes permanent housing is lacking because the Veterans Administration does not support permanent housing. Instead, they support transitional housing, where tenants must move out after two years.

“One of the big challenges for anyone – whether they’re a homeless veteran or anyone with low income – is that there is a limited supply of permanent housing that’s affordable,” he said.

The tenants will either be homeless, coming from a shelter or will come from transitional housing, and will be offered a 12-month lease upon moving in. Rent on each unit is $804 a month, and while a minimum base payment is required, Winkeller said it is quite modest.

Winkeller said he expects the majority of tenants to be Vietnam veterans in their late 50s or early 60s, and has spoken with people who’ve fought in the Gulf War and in post-911 Afghanistan. Caritas only recently began informing veterans about this housing, and therefore does not have a sense of the amount of area veterans from the country’s current conflict in search of Section 8 housing.

The resident criterion includes either an honorable or general discharge from service, an annual income below $29,000 and a CORI background check.

Every room comes fully furnished, with bed, dresser, mattress, nightstand, light and mirror. Caritas is still deciding on potentially providing a mini refrigerator as well.

Winkeller said, “We want people to have a dignified comfortable life. These people are going to be pretty poor, so charging them for those things doesn’t help in their quest for independence.”

The rooms also are pre-wired for cable, Internet and telephone access, but the tenant must provide the equipment. The common rooms will have large screen televisions

There will be a Caritas resident manager living in the building. The company does property management – repairs and tenant selection –, but did not do the actual construction. The 10-month renovation process, completed by the Boston-based company BiltRite, went “very smoothly”, according to Winkeller.

Although located on the VA campus, Bedford Veterans Quarters is completely independent from the hospital. Still, Winkeller has had extensive conversations with administrators, and believes the proximity could provide benefits for both entities.

“They are not only aware that we are coming in, but they are very receptive to it,” he said. “It provides them with the opportunity to help even more people than they are already helping.

“There is a very extensive support network on the VA hospital ground. We expect the majority of people who move in there will be eligible for it.”

Deborah Outing, public affairs officer for the Bedford VA, doesn’t know what kind of impact the Veterans Quarters will have on the hospital, but anticipates being able to help people they otherwise wouldn’t reach.

Some towns are not receptive to the prospects of Section 8 housing, but Bedford was welcome to it, said Winkeller.

“The town of Bedford was very supportive of this. They’ve been knowledgeable about the project for many, many years,” he said.

Assistant Town Manager Joanne Nickerson said, “We’ve supported the concept from its inception and are looking forward to welcoming 60 new residents.

“Bedford, for a long time, has had a policy of welcoming diversity, and we want to have a diverse population in our town,” she said. “I think that the Bedford housing plans try to support making Bedford a welcoming and comfortable home place,” and this project is consistent with that.”

She said, “The town tried to apply some federal money that it has for the project, but there was hitch in the language of the lease document that the VA has with the federal government that inhibited those funds.”

The town of Bedford was not the only backer of the Bedford Veterans Quarters.

Mortgage funding, which paid for the acquisition and renovation of the building, was provided primarily by public funding sources, including the Bedford Housing Trust, The Brookline Bank – who provided a permanent mortgage, the MassHousing Affordable Housing Trust, the State Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation, the State Department of Housing and Community Development and the Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation.

Additional support was received from the Cambridge Savings, Citizens Bank, the Commercial Brokers Association, the MassHousing Center for Community Recovery Innovations, the Middlesex Savings Bank and the Yawkey Foundation – all of whom gave grants to support the public cost.

Nevertheless, the lack of support the Bedford Veterans Quarters received from some – particularly the hi-tech companies active in the defense industry.

“We certainly have applied to a number of defense contractors in the area for support, and have not been supported. Maybe I didn’t’ ask the right people. … Nobody has ever said it’s a bad idea, but they also haven’t said, ‘Here’s $25,000 [the cost to furnish one of the rooms].”

He said, “This is not about politics. You are providing a service for people who really do need assistance.”

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Larry Scott  --