Union Mission Project Provides Homes for Chronically Homeless

By Jan Skutch
Savannah Morning News
Savannahnow.com
January 7,2010

Things went south for Sharon Williams in 2004.

Illness left her unable to continue her business. Her husband abandoned her. She went homeless, living with friends.

"I just lost everything," said Williams, 47. "It just happened at one time."

Today, Williams and her two adult children - her caregivers - have a new home at Dutchtown Campus Apartments, a Union Mission program that provides permanent homes for the homeless with special needs.

The 48-unit complex on Middleground Road provides supportive housing for chronically homeless individuals and families with mental health and addictive disease needs, HIV or disabilities.

The $6 million project incorporated a partnership with the Georgia Department of Community Affairs and other funding sources.

New face to homelessness
With permanent supported housing, residents have someone there to keep their lives together and keep them accountable, said the Rev. Micheal Elliott, Union Mission president and CEO.

"It's putting people in homes rather than in shelters," he said. "I think shelters have helped perpetuate the problem of homelessness."

It may be the future face of dealing with the issue. But the need for shelters remains "so people don't die on the streets," Elliott added.

Grace House at Union Mission, Salvation Army, Inner City Night Shelter and The Old Savannah City Mission remain full, he said.

Letitia Williams, Union Mission vice president for housing services, said Dutchtown's 48 units can accommodate as many as 110 people.

Federal housing grants provide rent subsidies for residents. And unlike apartments rented from private complexes, Union Mission acts as its own landlord for Dutchtown residents, Robinson said.

Finding a way home
Sharon Williams suffered a stroke in 2004 that caused physical and attention problems.
She once owned Sharon's Crab House for 13 years. Now she's awaiting a ruling on her disability claim.

She has no medical insurance, and adding to her woes was a bout with depression two years ago that sent her to the now-defunct Savannah Area Behavioral Health Collaborative and member Union Mission.

They housed her in supportive living on Huntingdon Street until an apartment at Dutchtown opened up last month. There, she moved into a two-bedroom, one-bath unit for the same $380 a month - including utilities - she paid before.

"I'm very, very happy," she said.

Tailored to her needs
Williams' tale is not atypical at Dutchtown.

Sallie Anderson, 63, had been homeless since 2006, when she lost her job as a telemarketer as she awaited surgery.

She received treatment at Curtis V. Cooper Primary Health Care and had surgery as an outpatient at a Memorial University Medical Center clinic.

Social Security-based supplements assisted her expenses in 2007, and she found housing through Union Mission at the Chelsea Apartments for $267-a-month until December.

Now she is busy completing her Dutchtown move with the help of neighbors, family and her church.

Her one-bedroom apartment includes a handicapped-accessible bathroom, one of three such apartments at Dutchtown. And her $267-a-month rent is the same she paid at Chelsea.

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