The Sheehan Landing project has been five years in the making, said Rae Martin, executive director of St. John Center. The 80-unit facility at 3501 Sheehan Landing Drive is expected to open in late March.
As a single-site permanent supportive housing facility, Sheehan Landing will provide stable housing and wraparound services in one building, Martin said. It will focus on people with disabilities who are experiencing homelessness.
“There's the opportunity for us as providers to be educating people on how to be a good neighbor, how to build community, while also addressing things that are related to their behavioral health needs,” she said.
In contrast, scattered-site supportive housing can be spread out across a city. A nonprofit may buy and manage its own units, or work with landlords who accept vouchers.
When Martin joined St. John in 2021, she looked to cities like Cincinnat and Seattle and states like Colorado, where single-site supportive housing has thrived, she said.
Sheehan Landing, constructed by LDG Development, is funded by $17.5 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds, $1.5 million from U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Community Development Block Grant funds, and Low Income Housing Tax Credits.
Martin said Sheehan Landing will have on-site case managers, round-the-clock security and medical services in partnership with Phoenix Health Centers. Residents will also have a stocked pantry from local nonprofit Dare To Care and access to legal services provided by the Legal Aid Society.
To get a spot at Sheehan Landing, prospective clients need to go through a detailed application process. St. John is partnering with Legal Aid Society to identify clients who have a documented disabling condition, qualify for Social Security benefits and disability income and help them through the application process. People will pay 30% of their income for housing.
Martin said several clients have already started the process and she hopes they will be able to move in when the building opens.
She said she hopes the location off Preston Highway will encourage clients to get out and about.
“We needed something that was on a bus line close to food and medical resources, because the goal was we want to make services accessible. We want people to be engaging with society and outside of the building,” she said.
Steve Berg, chief policy officer at the National Alliance to End Homelessness, said the single-site permanent supportive housing model has helped get people housed in other cities. A scattered-site model can also work well if landlords are willing to participate and accept vouchers.
“There's been many places where once they started recovering from COVID, they saw rents going up very quickly. And the voucher programs for the scattered-site model just weren't able to keep up with the increasing rents,” he said.
A single-site permanent supportive housing for those with physical and mental health conditions can help people who need more services beyond a roof over their head, he said.
“It tends to focus on people who have very serious problems that would mean that if they didn't have this sort of intensive model, they would probably be on the streets for years and years,” he said.
And it’s particularly helpful to low-income seniors, he said.
“One of the big things we're concerned about is an increasing number of older people who are losing their housing and becoming homeless. You need more supports for people who are just getting old and having physical problems,” he said.
More information about Sheehan Landing is available here.
