South Cumminsville will get a new, 80-unit affordable housing development next year for people who have experienced homelessness or have disabilities.
The $12 million, permanent supportive housing project called The Commons at South Cumminsville, developed by National Church Residences and South Cumminsville-based Working In Neighborhoods, will include single-bedroom units that are semi-furnished.
The development will also include on-site social workers, educational and vocational instruction, a computer room with internet access, a laundry room, a fitness center and social activities — part of a wrap-around concept called “Housing First” that the developers say aims to help residents achieve self-sufficiency.
Strategies to End Homelessness will identify prospective residents via shelters and street outreach efforts. Each resident’s housing will be paid by a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development project-based housing voucher administered by the Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority. Cincinnati currently needs roughly 30,000 units of housing affordable to its lowest income residents, according to a report by the Greater Cincinnati Local Initiatives Support Corporation.
Cincinnati-based Model Group will be the contractor on the project, which is funded in part with City of Cincinnati HOME funds.
National Church Residences provides affordable housing to 42,000 seniors in 25 states and Puerto Rico, as well as permanent supportive housing in Ohio and Georgia. The group started providing the latter a decade ago in Columbus.
Working In Neighborhoods has been working with low-and-moderate income residents in South Cumminsville and surrounding communities since 1978 and has built or rehabbed 165 affordable units in Cincinnati. The group also does weatherization and energy education for low-income homes, among other community work.
National Church Residences says the project should be complete by fall 2020.
This article appears in Apr 10-17, 2019.
