Family Housing Program

Address

1015-A S. Preston Street
 

Description

DePaul Apartments has 12 two-bedroom apartments for homeless families. These are permanent supportive housing units (PSH). PSH is permanent housing in which housing assistance, such as long-term leasing or rental assistance, and supportive services are provided to assist a houseless person with a disability in achieving housing stability. A disability can be a physical impairment, a developmental disability, a severe and persistent mental illness, HIV/AIDS diagnosis, or a physical, mental, or emotional impairment caused by alcohol or drug use. The focus for DePaul Apartments is on serving single parents, male or female, who are at least 18 years old. The apartments are specifically for parents with one or two children of the same gender or for small children where bedroom sharing is possible. These apartments enroll participants who have barriers such as low income, past or present substance use problems, a criminal record, or a history of victimization. This program also takes a “Housing First” approach, which acknowledges that people are more likely to have positive health outcomes and reach greater stability if they are housed.

Facility

DePaul Apartments is a three-story building and the first floor is handicap accessible. There are four apartments on each level and each comes fully furnished. Each unit has a living room, dining room, kitchen, and large walk-in closet. The building also has a homework room and playroom, and the Family Success Center’s playground is located right outside. There are free laundry services provided as well.

History

DePaul Apartments opened in November 1988. From 1986 to 1987, city officials and our volunteers noticed a substantial increase in the number of women and children eating meals in the Open Hand Kitchen. In response, we announced plans to build a structure to temporarily house homeless families. At that time, in August 1987, there were only 26 homeless families in three shelters in downtown Louisville. The city purchased the 1.1-acre plot with funds from a federal grant and gave it to us to build DePaul Apartments. A $650,000 campaign was launched for the land and construction costs, which were paid for by the Kentucky Housing Corporation and many companies and groups shared financing this project with us. The original design had connecting doors, which can be opened to make two units into a single unit for larger families. The goal was for families to live in an apartment for up to two years to prepare and educate parents to be self-sufficient.

Support

We provide case management to each family, establishing an individualized case plan, connecting them to needed resources and helping clients set goals that will allow their household to achieve self-sufficiency. Case managers help them in the following areas—housing, physical and mental health, drug and alcohol use, financial stability or debt reduction, legal issues, education, employment, parenting, daily life skills, and socialization or support networks. This can include transportation assistance to program participants to attend benefit appointments, employee training, or jobs.

Each resident also has access to individual and group counseling with licensed mental health professionals on staff. On campus, they have an adjacent playground. They can also have free lunch and dinner at the Open Hand Kitchen and groceries from the Food Pantry.

Address

East Family Apartments – 436 E. Kentucky Street

West Family Apartments – 416 E. Kentucky Street

Description

East and West Family Apartments serve homeless families and have 6 two bedroom and 4 three-bedroom apartments each. These are permanent supportive housing units (PSH). PSH is permanent housing in which housing assistance, such as long-term leasing or rental assistance, and supportive services are provided to assist a houseless person with a disability in achieving housing stability. A disability can be a physical impairment, a developmental disability, a severe and persistent mental illness, HIV/AIDS diagnosis, or a physical, mental, or emotional impairment caused by alcohol or drug use. These apartments enroll participants who have barriers such as low income, past or present substance use problems, a criminal record, or a history of victimization. This program also takes a “Housing First” approach, which acknowledges that people are more likely to have positive health outcomes and reach greater stability if they are housed.

Facility

East and West Family Apartments are two properties that are adjacent to each other and are two-story buildings with a total of 20 apartments for homeless families. These are furnished apartments with up to 48 total beds. Each unit has a washer/dryer hookup, and the three-bedroom apartments have two bathrooms. There are also some apartments with large balconies. There is a playground between the buildings.

History

We opened East and West Family Apartments for homeless families in November 2011. This was a part of an $11.1 million expansion project to transform our campus. It included the construction of four new buildings—East Family Apartments (10 units), West Family Apartments (10 units), One Bedroom Apartments (10 units), and Waypoint House (24-single room occupancy units) at the corner of Preston and St. Catherine Streets, and the remodeling of the 14,000 square-foot building from our Thrift Store & Warehouse Operations into the Family Success Center (until December 2024).

The lots where these four new buildings were constructed previously had dilapidated shotgun houses on them. The new construction provided a total of 54 new housing units, funded by $9.6 million from Stock Yards Bank, a $1.5 million loan from Brown Forman, and Community Development Block Grants from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Planning for the project began in 2005 because our Board recognized that while there was some off-campus housing and individual work from our conferences, the Shelby Park neighborhood was in need of permanent affordable housing. In 2008, we applied to Kentucky Housing Corporation (KHC) for tax credits for these four buildings. KHC is the state agency that awards tax credits. With the Great Recession, everything was delayed until 2010, when it was made possible to construct these apartments through multiple government entities and private funding.

We purchased the land and property to build these apartments because there was, and still is, a significant unmet need for shelter space and affordable housing. Vacant businesses on the lot that became One Bedroom Apartments were torn down to pave the way for the 10 units of affordable housing. This was an opportunity to serve the community in a new way. At the time, we primarily operated emergency and transitional housing with congregate rooms and little privacy, rather than permanent affordable housing. This move was a significant step in serving the homeless and low-income households of our community.

The initial idea behind the tax credit property was for our clients in emergency and transitional housing programs to graduate into these apartments with income of their own. However, over time, after a HUD Continuum of Care (CoC) sitebased PSH grant was paired with the property, we shifted to taking all referrals from the CoC’s coordinated entry and implementing a Housing First model, as HUD and the CoC required. Thus, many clients don’t have income and could be living at another local shelter or on the streets; all of our referrals come through the coordinated entry.

Support

We provide case management to each client, establishing an individualized case plan, connecting them to needed resources, and helping clients set goals that will allow their household to achieve self-sufficiency. Case managers help them in the following areas—housing, physical and mental health, drug and alcohol use, financial stability or debt reduction, legal issues, education, employment, daily life skills, and socialization or support networks. This can include transportation assistance to program participants to attend benefit appointments, employee training, or jobs.

Each resident also has access to individual and group counseling with licensed mental health professionals on staff. On campus, they have an adjacent playground. They can also have free lunch and dinner at the Open Hand Kitchen and groceries from the Food Pantry.

Address
421 E. St Catherine Street

Description
One Bedroom Apartments has 10 one-bedroom apartments for individuals and/or couples where one resident has a disability. A disability can be a physical impairment, a developmental disability, a severe and persistent mental illness, HIV/AIDS diagnosis, or a physical, mental, or emotional impairment caused by alcohol or drug use.  These are permanent supportive housing units (PSH). PSH is permanent housing in which housing assistance, such as long-term leasing or rental assistance, and  supportive services are provided to assist a houseless person with a disability in achieving housing stability. These apartments enroll participants who have barriers such as low income, past or present substance use problems, a criminal record, or a history of victimization. This program also takes a “Housing First” approach, which acknowledges that people are more likely to have positive health outcomes and reach greater stability if they are housed.

Facility
One Bedroom Apartments is a two-story building with five units on each floor. Each apartment comes fully furnished with a bedroom, dining room, living room,
bathroom, and washer/dryer hookup.

History
We opened One Bedroom Apartments in November 2011. This was a part of an $11.1 million expansion project to transform our campus. It included the construction of four new buildings—One Bedroom Apartments (10 units), East Family Apartments (10 units), West Family Apartments (10 units), and Waypoint House (24-single room occupancy units) at the corner of Preston and St. Catherine Streets, and the remodeling of the 14,000 square-foot building from our Thrift Store & Warehouse Operations into the Family Success Center (until December 2024). 

The lots where these four new buildings were constructed previously had dilapidated shotgun houses on them. The new construction provided a total of 54 new housing units, funded by $9.6 million from Stock Yards Bank, a $1.5 million loan from Brown Forman, and Community Development Block Grants from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Planning for the project began in 2005 because our Board recognized that while there was some off-campus housing and individual work from our conferences, the Shelby Park neighborhood was in need of permanent affordable housing. In 2008, we applied to Kentucky Housing Corporation (KHC) for tax credits for these four buildings. KHC is the state agency that awards tax credits. With the Great Recession, everything was delayed until 2010, when it was made possible to construct these apartments through multiple government entities and private funding.

We purchased the land and property to build these apartments because there was, and still is, a significant unmet need for shelter space and affordable housing. Vacant businesses on the lot that became One Bedroom Apartments were torn down to pave the way for the 10 units of affordable housing. This was an opportunity to serve the community in a new way. At the time, we primarily operated emergency and transitional housing with congregate rooms and little privacy, rather than permanent affordable housing. This move was a significant step in serving the homeless and low-income households of our community.

The initial idea behind the tax credit property was for our clients in emergency and transitional housing programs to graduate into these apartments with income of their own. However, over time, after a HUD Continuum of Care (CoC) sitebased PSH grant was paired with the property, we shifted to taking all referrals from the CoC’s coordinated entry and implementing a Housing First model, as HUD and the CoC required. Thus, many clients don’t have income and could be living at another local shelter or on the streets; all of our referrals come through the coordinated entry.

Support 
We provide case management to each client, establishing an individualized case plan, connecting them to needed resources, and helping clients set goals that will allow their household to achieve self-sufficiency. Case managers help them in the following areas—housing, physical and mental health, drug and alcohol use, financial stability or debt reduction, legal issues, education, employment, daily life skills, and socialization or support networks. This can include transportation assistance to program participants to attend benefit appointments, employee training, or jobs. 

Each resident also has access to individual and group counseling with licensed mental health professionals on staff. On campus, they have an adjacent playground. They can also have free lunch and dinner at the Open Hand Kitchen and groceries from the Food Pantry.