A PLACE TO CALL HOME Our Community Place Builds More Apartments To House Homeless Tenants

By ASHLYN CAMPBELL Daily News-Record

The fixtures of a furnished apartment near Woodbine Cemetery looks like any other apartment in the city, except it is much smaller.

But for the people who will eventually live there, the one room efficiency is enough to call home, according to the staff of local daytime homeless shelter and homelessness nonprofit Our Community Place.

Two new efficiency apartments, built out at 50 Reservoir Street, right across from Woodbine Cemetery, are set to start housing tenants who have dealt with homelessness. A ribbon-cutting ceremony last week marked the next stage of Our Community Place’s efforts to address homelessness in the area.

The tiny, cube-shaped building already has two apartments on its first floor. Those have been housing tenants who used to be experiencing homelessness after OCP bought the entire building, located at 50 Reservoir Street, in August, 2021.

These two new apartments are in the building’s lower level. They each have a window and porch, enclosed bathroom, kitchen area and bedroom alcove. The rent for these apartments is $760 a month, according to Sam Nickels, former executive director of OCP who was there for the beginning of the project.

Nickels said there’s not enough housing to address the needs of extreme low-income folks in the area.

According to the 2021 Harrisonburg housing study, there’s a severe lack of housing available for people with an extremely low income. Rent for a one bedroom apartment in downtown Harrisonburg starts around $800 to $1,000 per month.

OCP’s options for providing housing to its clients are limited, Nickels said.

The first course of action OCP takes would be try and find housing in the private market.

“Folks who are chronically homeless, that’s pretty much near impossible,” Nickels explained. “They just don’t earn enough money to afford market-rate apartments.”

Another option for extremely low-income folks is getting a federal housing vouchers. The problem is, Nickels said, there aren’t enough landlords who are willing to rent to someone with a voucher.

“We were like, ‘Okay, we’ve found all the landlords we can. We’ve placed everybody we can,” Nickels said. “We’re gonna have to build our own.’”

The efficiency apartments have no walls or dividers between rooms. The rent is $760 per month and includes all utilities. Donors may help cover monthly rent, Nickels said. Nickels said the rent is lower because of donations, grants and low-interest loans from community members.

Donations helped make the apartments all-electric, contributing to an efficient electrical system that does both heating and cooling. The furniture is donated, and Our Community Place provides anything the residents need for the apartment.

“That’s really important is to make sure when the unhoused people come in here that they have their stuff that honors their dignity,” said Matt Tibbles, who took over as executive director last Monday. “But it also gives them a sense of ‘this is mine.’”

A case worker helps decide who gets to move in to the apartments, since there are so many people who fit the bill. Two individual men were selected to fill the rooms and attended the ribbon cut ceremony.

“[One of them] has had some challenges where he’s not available for vouchers … so it’s been really difficult to place him,” Nickels said. “[He] was crying. He was just really anticipating and looking forward to having his own place.”

No residents have moved in yet, because of some snags. The sprinkler system set up for fire safety had a leak. Part of the last inspection is testing the sprinkler water line. There’s likely still a small leak, Nickels said, because the line hasn’t passed the inspection yet, but the apartments are still on track for move-in in the next week or two.

Nickels said the nonprofit was “tickled pink” to see the project from renovating the space to placing people who will eventually live there. Nickels and Tibbles said projects like these wouldn’t be possible without support and collaboration from the community.

“Hopefully, this will be a model that says it can be done,” Tibbles said. “And we as a community can do it together and can be stronger as a community.”