Cincinnati's West End is getting 57 new units of permanent supportive housing, increasing a local nonprofit's capacity by 25 percent.
City, county and nonprofit officials today cut the ribbon on Tender Mercies' 821 Flats on Ezzard Charles Drive. The new facility will offer 53 efficiency apartments and four one-bedroom units for those experiencing homelessness, along with onsite case management and social services support for residents. Those units are fully furnished.
More than 1,000 people experience homelessness on any given night in Hamilton County, according to federal data. Cincinnati is currently about 28,000 units short when it comes to housing that is affordable to its lowest income residents, according to a study by the Local Initiatives Support Corporation of Greater Cincinnati.
"Not only does this project build community with and for the 57 men and women who will call this beautiful building home, but we as a larger community benefit when all are provided full access to resources and can feel welcome, supported, respected and valued," Tender Mercies CEO Russell Winters said at the ribbon-cutting today. "Safe and secure dignified housing forms a foundation for individuals to improve their physical and mental health, self-sufficiency, overall quality of life and to reengage with community."
The 40,000-square-foot building co-developed by Over-the-Rhine Community Housing and constructed by Turnbull-Wahlert Construction occupies a former YWCA site.
The $10.6 million project was funded using $1 million in city and county contributions plus $912,000 in federal Low Income Housing Tax Credits administered by the Ohio Housing Finance Agency. Those credits were leveraged by the Ohio Capital Corporation for Housing, which raised roughly $8.5 million for the project.
LIHTC credits are used to attract investors who receive tax breaks in exchange for investing in affordable housing projects.
"The tax credit program is very, very competitive," Diane Alecusan of the Ohio Housing Finance Agency said at the ribbon-cutting today. "We have many projects that apply two, three, even four times before they get funded. This team was successful in their first attempt, and that was really by proposing a project that had a clear demonstrated need for the community, a very strong development team and a variety of funding sources to leverage the tax credits."
Ohio Mental Health and Addiction Services, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority, the Cincinnati Development Fund, the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati, First Financial Bank and RiverHills Bank were among the entities that provided financial support.
The site's operating costs — roughly $740,000 a year — will be funded by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Section 8 vouchers, federal Continuum of Care funds and support from the U.S. Bank Foundation.
"The city and the county collaborated on a way to come up with about a million dollars to kick in on the project, but that's just a small part of all the efforts of everyone here today," Hamilton County Commission President Denise Driehaus said today. "This is all about the residents. This building represents a dignified response to people in our community who deserve the dignity of a place like Tender Mercies and the services that will be given here."
