Charity Converts Office Into Living Space for the Homeless
June 1, 2009 | Read Time: 1 minute
A suburban Washington advocacy group is testing a new approach to creating low-cost housing, converting the upper floors of an office building into mixed-use living space for the homeless, The Washington Post reports.
The Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless, in Bethesda, Md., purchased the building last month with a low-cost government loan. The ground floor will be rented to retailers, with the four higher floors serving as single-room residences rented out for 30 percent of the occupants’ income.
County officials said the project provides an opportunity to try out the increasingly popular “housing first” concept, which encourages governments and nonprofit groups to address homelessness through permanent housing rather than using most of their funds for temporary shelters.
The federal stimulus law includes money to help nonprofit homelessness groups approach their jobs in new ways. Read the Chronicle’s article about the federal aid, part of a special report on charities and the stimulus law.
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