Patrick Barden, Jr. is crossing his fingers for nice new neighbors now that Columbus House is getting the money to turn a rundown housing project in the Hill into permanent apartments for the homeless.
Barden (pictured), who’s 73, is the self-appointed caretaker of one-way Frank Street. As he rolls out neighbors’ bins for trash collection, he keeps watch over the boarded-up Valentina Macri Court, a 17-unit public housing project that the city housing authority has emptied out to make way for major repairs.
The project got a boost when the State Bond Commission on June 29 approved $2 million to renovate the building, as part of a $30 million initiative by Gov. Dannel Malloy to create more supportive housing in the state. Supportive housing combines social services with affordable homes for people struggling with addiction, mental illness, or other health obstacles.
The grant will jumpstart a plan already under way by Columbus House, a New Haven-based social services agency that operates homeless shelters. The city’s housing authority, which owns Val Macri at 109 Frank St., picked Columbus House last year as the preferred developer to lease the building and convert it into permanent homes for the homeless. The housing authority has applied to the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development for permission for the plan.
The state money will pave the way for much-needed repairs, including redoing bathrooms and kitchens and overhauling the HVAC system, Columbus House Director Alison Cunningham said. Columbus House also plans to install solar panels, thanks to a grant from TD Bank, she said.
In a change from the original proposal, only half of the apartments will be reserved for the homeless. The other half will be now open to other low-income families, according to Cunningham. She said the state is also paying for a case manager to work with tenants on the site.
Tenants began moving out as the building wore down, making some apartments uninhabitable. The housing authority ordered the remaining seven tenants to relocate last year. One, a former homeless man named Nelson Ortiz, bemoaned having to give up his spot.
Now he won’t have to: Three of the evicted tenants have expressed interest in returning, and “yes, they can return,” Cunningham pledged.
Cunningham said the federal approvals go as planned, her agency hopes to break ground “by end of this calendar year” and open up the renovated building to tenants “by the end of 2013.”
There’s no wait-list yet. “As soon as we open that list, there will be tons of people applying,” she said.
State Senate Majority Leader Martin Looney, of New Haven, called the project a good fit for Malloy’s supportive housing initiative because it was ready to get off the ground.
“Supportive housing addresses the root causes of chronic, long-term homelessness,” Looney said in a press release. “The improvements at Valentina Macri Court are an investment that will give folks more than just a roof over their heads – it gives them a place of their own where they can start over.”
Postman Marvin McCain (pictured) recalled walking through the complex as it gradually deteriorated over his 10 years on the Frank Street route. He watched as a roof began to crack and a patio walkway became unsafe to walk on.
McCain welcomed the news of the upcoming rehab.
“It will be beautiful,” said McCain, who has delivered mail in the Hill for 24 years. “You want to see the neighborhood come up.”
Keeping An Eye Out
Patrick Barden, Jr. lent a more skeptical eye to the proposal.
He said the apartments, which were built in 1972, used to be in good shape.
“They were nice,” he said. Over his 30 years living on Frank Street, he saw cracks appear in the building.
The apartments were reserved for the elderly and people with disabilities. Barden said the complex drew in “drunks and drug addicts.”
He said he works hard to keep his street nice: In the winter, he shovels sidewalks. Year round, he said, he makes sure his neighbors don’t miss trash pickup. On Tuesday, he began bringing neighbors’ garbage and recycling toters to the curb for collection.
“There isn’t a bin on this street” that he doesn’t roll to the curb, he said.
He said he’s fighting an uphill battle to take care of the street. At home, he has to “bomb” roaches that are overrunning the apartment he rents. Outside, he keeps an eye on a band of people who have been ducking behind houses to strip stolen cars for parts.
As Valentina Macri got boarded up last year, he said, people started using it as a dumping ground. A man in a white van began using the garage to strip stolen cars. He said the housing authority tore down the garage to eliminate the problem, which then moved further up the street.
He said he wishes the city would reserve Valentina Macri for seniors only, with “no drinking and no drugs.”
Barden said he has been mugged twice outside his home by “drug addicts” for as little as $10.
“I can’t take this much longer,” he said, leaning on a cane between trips to the curb.
He said he is about ready to walk down to the city housing authority and sign up for a new apartment, somewhere new and roach-free. He’s not applying to live in Macri.