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South Bend Mayor And Heritage Foundation Announce Permanent Supportive Housing Complex

Gemma DiCarlo / WVPE Public Radio

Mayor James Mueller and the South Bend Heritage Foundation announced this morning that they will build a permanent supportive housing complex on the corner of Hope Avenue and Patty Lane, near Edison Park.

 

Heritage Foundation Executive Director Marco Mariani said that the project will take a housing-first approach to homelessness. By addressing the most basic need of the chronically homeless — shelter — Hope Avenue Homes will allow residents to focus on other concerns in their life. 

 

“The main goal is to keep them housed," Mariani said. "We want to see them begin to address whatever health or disability issue they may have. We’re wrapping a community around these individuals so that they can make new choices, create new relationships and stay housed.”

That community will include support staff from the Oaklawn Psychiatric Center, which will provide voluntary mental health and addiction services to residents. 

Construction on the 22-unit apartment complex is scheduled to begin in the spring of 2021. The Heritage Foundation will hold an online informational meeting about the development at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, September 22. 

 

Contact Gemma at gdicarlo@wvpe.org or follow her on Twitter at @gemma_dicarlo

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Gemma DiCarlo came to Indiana by way of Athens, Georgia. She graduated from the University of Georgia in 2020 with a degree in Journalism and certificates in New Media and Sustainability. She has radio experience from her time as associate producer of Athens News Matters, the flagship public affairs program at WUGA-FM.