January 19, 2018 - Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry on January 18 helped cut the ribbon on a rehabilitated home that is part of the Vincent Village campus. The home, 2702 Gay St., is the first of six that will be rehabilitated with funding that the City of Fort Wayne receives from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). City HUD funds will also be used to demolish another home and build a new one in its place.
Local homeless families will move from area shelters into the homes as they are completed. The families will pay rent based on their incomes.
“Thanks to a great partnership between the City and Vincent Village, we are addressing homelessness one person and one family at a time,” said Mayor Henry. “By working together, we are making a meaningful difference in this neighborhood and in our community.”
“It is the partnership with the City of Fort Wayne that has allowed us to continue to both expand and maintain the highest level of energy efficiency in our agency owned rental homes on our campus,” said Denise Andorfer, executive director of Vincent Village. “It’s imperative that we provide affordable housing to families coming out of area shelters that also include intensive wrap-around services to ensure they don’t become homeless again. Our five-year transitional rental home program is an innovative approach to addressing the underlying causes of homelessness.”
The City of Fort Wayne’s Office of Housing & Neighborhood Services provided approximately $500,000 in Federal HUD funds. Because Vincent Village is a certified CHDO (Community Housing Development Organization), the agency qualified for the funding. The City has funded other Vincent Village housing projects over the last decade and continues to help the agency move residents from homelessness to self-sufficiency.
Vincent Village works to alleviate homelessness by providing shelter, care, advocacy, affordable housing and supportive services for homeless families. The agency owns 35 single family homes, which includes 37 units for families exiting the Vincent House or other area transitional or emergency shelters.
The home on Gay Street was a complete rehabilitation and included installation of all new windows as well as repair of the foundation. The other homes to be rehabilitated are located at 3006 Holton Ave., 2818 Holton Ave., 2933 Holton Ave., 3002 Reed St. and 2902 Reed St. Each house is in need of substantial repairs, such as new windows, roofs, wiring, flooring, and heating and cooling systems. A house at 2719 Lillie St. was determined to have too much structural damage, so it will be demolished and replaced with a new home. All the homes were originally built in the 1920s and are currently owned by Vincent Village.