THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 20, 1995 TAG: 9507180119
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SCOTT McCASKEY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 77 lines
Old carpet was pulled up. Floors were scrubbed. Fresh coats of paint were laid down. When the work is over, eight needy families will have a new home.
On July 10, the renovation of two Ocean View apartment buildings for the homeless began with a number of helping hands. Following an influx of grants and loans came the manpower. Volunteers from Norfolk's Haven Family Center, the Virginia Housing Development Authority and the Navy Seabees provided the elbow grease.
``They were working unbelievably hard,'' said Mindi Haugen, property manager for Haven Family Center. ``We got a lot done the first day.''
The renovation project is being directed by the center, which provides emergency and transitional shelter to homeless families.
Named Morgan's Place after late community activist Ernie Morgan, the buildings at 9602 7th Bay St. will provide ``supportive housing,'' a kind of steppingstone for people looking to find permanent homes eventually. The occupants will work on site and perform various tasks and services to earn vouchers to be applied toward rent. Money earned by tenants will go into a savings account earmarked for acquiring long-term dwellings. Occupants also will receive financial and career guidance.
``The ultimate goal of Morgan's Place is to make people self-sufficient and help find them a permanent place to live,'' said Elizabeth Brickhouse, executive director of the Haven center.
Established in 1992, the center already operates one shelter in Ocean View, a temporary home to families just getting off the street. Occupants are housed for 30- and 90-day periods, sometimes longer if they are actively seeking employment or trying to shake a substance-abuse problem.
The center's most motivated occupants will qualify to move to Morgan's Place, scheduled for completion Dec. 15. Tenants can remain there for up to two years.
``The people going to Morgan's Place are the ones really wanting to make a change in their lives and are willing to work at it,'' Brickhouse said. ``... we try to offer a continuum of care.''
The two apartment buildings were given to the center in 1992 by Life Savings Bank. But a lack of funds for the estimated $160,000 in renovations had the project on hold until recently. The center received just over $150,000 in federal, state and local grants and loans during the last several months. On July 10, a $30,000 donation from the Virginia Housing Development Authority in Richmond put Morgan's Place over the top. The authority is a public mortgage finance agency that provides affordable loans for first-time home buyers and subsidies for affordable rental housing.
``The Haven center had a specific need and a plan that could be achieved with that amount of funding,'' said Mike Anderson, authority spokesman.
On July 13, a major windfall came to the center. The Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded the Morgan's Place project a three-year grant of $384,527. The funds will be used to hire an employment director, a care manager and to provide tenant services such as financial counseling and transportation.
Administrators at the center had been applying for the broad range of funds for a long time.
``It takes awhile for people to understand what we're trying to do,'' Brickhouse said. ``You have to get the trust of the community and get them to believe in what you're doing.''
Brickhouse feels that once completed, Morgan's Place will be very beneficial to the homeless.
``A lot of homeless people are just down on their luck, out of a job, no car, no support system,'' Brickhouse said. ``Morgan's Place will especially help those who are motivated.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by BETH BERGMAN
Navy Seabees Marcus Alvarado, left, and Zachary Taylor work on the
Morgan's Place homeless shelter.
by CNB