Dozens of people gathered in central Davenport on Friday, April 24, to celebrate the ribbon-cutting and opening of Carol’s Village Gardens, a four-story, $10-million affordable rental housing complex.
A complex combination of public and private funds – anchored by $7 million in Iowa low-income housing tax credits – made the Vera French project at 820 Harrison Street possible, built over a year and a half by Davenport-based Russell Construction.
Fittingly located next to the Vera French Community Mental Health Center’s Carol Center, the nonprofit agency’s 30-unit complex is comprised of six supportive units for people moving from homelessness; four two-bedroom apartments and 20 one-bedroom units, all with washer and dryer, microwave and dishwasher.
“It was built not just with bricks and beams, but with intention, care, and a vision for what a thriving neighborhood can be,” Angie Tracy, Carol Center director, said at the Friday morning event. “This project represents opportunity, stability, and a fresh start for many. It reflects the dedication of partners, leaders, and community members who believe in creating housing that's both beautiful and accessible.”
“And mostly, it reflects the spirit of Carol herself, someone who understands the power of community and the importance of creating spaces where people feel valued and at home,” she said of longtime Vera French supporter Carol Lujack.
Vera French opened a community outreach program in 1986, then added other services and officially opened the Carol Center in 2013, named for Lujack. After other Davenport sites, it’s been at its current location (a renovated former United Neighbors garage) since 2019.
“I mean you can't beat it,” Tracy said of having the new apartments right next to Carol Center, which itself serves about 1,000 people a year, with free support and counseling. “We have lunch every day that's free, so that helps. We have laundry that they can come in and if they just need somebody to talk to, we're here.”
The six new supportive living units are offered free to people who’ve been unhoused, and they can stay as long as needed, she said. Of the other 24 units, four are two-bedrooms and the rents are on sliding scale, based on ability to pay, Tracy said.
“As we prepare to cut this ribbon, we are not just opening the doors to new apartments. We're opening doors to new beginnings,” she said during the ceremony. “Thank you for your support, your collaboration, and your belief in what we can build together. I do have to say, after working here and myself and our staff and the clients watching this building go outside the ground. It was truly amazing and can't thank Russell enough for the job well done.”
“When I look at this building, 30 homes, 30 front doors, 30 places where someone can close out the noise of the world and simply be safe,” said Vera French CEO Dr. Rich Whitaker. “I'm reminded of something that should be obvious but is too often forgotten. That housing is healthcare. You know, it's not a luxury. It's not a reward for recovery. It's the very foundation upon which recovery is built.
“We know the research. We've lived the reality. For individuals navigating mental illness or substance disorders, the absence of stable, affordable, supportive housing is not merely an inconvenience,” he said. “It disrupts medication routines. It fractures the therapeutic relationship that takes months or years to build. It turns every small step forward into an exhaustive scramble just to stay in place.”
Residents only have to meet income requirements to live there; there’s no requirement they’re undergoing mental health treatment, he said.
“Unstable housing doesn't just make recovery harder. In many cases, it makes recovery impossible,” Whitaker said. “But supportive housing changes that equation entirely. When a person has a consistent, safe place to sleep, to cook a meal, to receive a visitor, to wake up in the morning with an address that is theirs, the possibility for healing expands dramatically. Treatment takes hold. Connections deepen. People can begin to imagine a future.”
“Carol’s Village Gardens is exactly that kind of place,” he said. “We named that place with intention. We named it after Carol, who was someone who inspired the Carol Center right here.”
“And these 30 units are not just apartments. They're a therapeutic environment integrated directly with the services of the Vera French Carol Center right next door,” Whitaker said.
“And that proximity is not accidental either. It is intentional, powerful. The people who call this building home and who already call it home will have access to the clinical support, the community and the compassion they need without having to travel across town to get it. The support comes to them. Or rather, they're already surrounded by it.”
“Developments like Carol’s Village Gardens require something rarer than funding. They require belief and vision,” he said.
“Belief that people with mental illness and substance use disorders deserve more than crisis intervention and emergency shelter. Belief that our community is stronger when everyone in it has a stable place to stand and live. The Vera French Carol Center has embodied that belief for years. The peer recovery specialists, the employment specialists, the leadership, they show up every day for some of our most vulnerable neighbors, with skill, with dedication, with genuine care.”
Pledging to do more
The complex symbolizes the community commitment to affordable housing and mental health, Whitaker said, crediting many investors, donors and funders. They include Iowa Finance Authority, Regional Development Authority, Scott County Regional Authority, Bechtel Trusts, the city of Davenport, Scott County Housing Council, Vera French Foundation and Quad City Bank and Trust.
“We're not done. The need for supportive affordable housing in the Quad Cities remains significant and the work of organizations like Vera French Community Mental Health Center and Vera French Housing continues to be essential to meeting it,” Whitaker said.
“The low-income housing tax credit is widely considered the primary tool for developing affordable rental housing in the United States,” said Stacy Kiser, executive director for Vera French Housing Development. “It works by providing tax credit incentives to developers to sell them to investors for equity, lowering construction costs to allow reduced rents.”
The new project includes six units specifically dedicated to permanent supportive housing, for people transitioning from homelessness, she said.
Vera French’s individual placement and support program is an evidence-based employment model for people with serious mental illness or behavioral health conditions, Kiser noted.
“Affordable housing touches all of us. Whether you are looking for a new home, you want a mortgage that you can still pay the bills -- you want to be able to pay utility costs, medical costs, groceries, maybe go on a vacation or out to eat, we all need affordable housing,” she said. “What is our community without affordable housing and the added benefit of support to help ensure people live well, whether in your home, in an apartment or whatever you choose.”
In 2020, the Quad Cities Housing Council (which Kiser has chaired for seven years) found in a study of low-income individuals and families in the community, there’s a need for over 6,600 affordable units for people making $20,000 or less in annual income.
“I'm proud to say that Carol’s Village Gardens is hoping to be part of the solution desperately needed in our community and we must keep going,” Kiser said. “Housing development is expensive and time consuming from concept through production. Vouchers are needed for homeless units to help nonprofits help our operations sustain and keep people housed. Housing people with the most critical needs helps lessen the cost and burden on police, ambulance, hospital service and ultimately saves our community money. We must do more to increase funding, keep the process moving and reduce the time it takes to put units online. This takes money, time, perseverance and a lot of faith.”
A building that really matters
“This is a great project,” said Jim Russell, CEO of Russell Construction. “This building really matters. It matters for the people who get to live here. It matters because it's right here in the middle of the city where the heat is. It matters because it re-anchors the community here and really keeps the mission of Vera French going forward. I'm proud to serve on the board, have been for a while and it really connects a lot of dots for me to be here and celebrate this project.”
“This is what community looks like,” said State Sen. Cindy Winckler. “This is what community looks like with all of the individuals that are here to celebrate. I want to add my congratulations and thank the individuals who worked so hard to make this happen. It is an area that is so important that we spend some time and some effort in reinvigorating these neighborhoods.”
“The word important doesn't quite cover this, but I am so honored and pleased that the Iowa Finance Authority could make a significant role in the contribution that this facility will make to the city and people of Davenport,” said State Rep. Ken Croken. “We talk a long time about numbers in Des Moines, and statistics are just people with the tears wiped away. And I think today we are wiping away many tears for many people. We need to do so much more.”
“I am so proud that the community came together using public funds, private funds to build this,” said Maria Bribriesco, member of the Scott County Board of Supervisors. “This is so important. Vera French offers mental health services, which is important, but what is fundamental is housing. Maslow's hierarchy of needs tells us that housing is shelter, is a fundamental need. A place where you can be safe.
“A place where you can dream and you are protected from the elements and from the outside world,” she said. “This is a place that offers this to the residents. And I am so happy that this community values housing and was able to reach fruition with this project. I commend the people who and the organizations that work so hard to bring this dream into reality.”
“This is truly an incredible day for the city of Davenport,” said Davenport 8th Ward Ald. Matt Lienen, representing Mayor Jason Gordon. “This project was accomplished using a collaborative effort from many organizations, including local and state government partners, community stakeholders and city staff, led by Bruce Berger. I especially want to thank our community partner at Vera French for their vision in bringing this project to life.”
“I'm very familiar with the positive impact Vera French has on our community,” he said, noting his mom worked at Pine Knoll for 32 years, and father has worked 10 years as a Vera French building and grounds manager.
“With the opening of Carol's Village Gardens, 30 units of affordable one and two-bedroom apartments have been added to our housing portfolio,” Lienen said. “This not only provides much needed housing, but also improves the quality of life of the residents. This is what it means to build a better future together.”
The Vera French Housing Corporation was formed in 1994 to assist individuals with persistent mental illness to obtain permanent, affordable housing linked to the center’s support services and other resources within the community. Today, Vera French Housing owns and operates 170 rental units scattered throughout Davenport and Bettendorf. Vera French Housing believes stable housing is vital to allowing individuals to focus on their mental and physical well-being.
Of their units, there are nine group homes and a crisis stabilization short-term living home, Whitaker said.
Holiday Court, off Bettendorf’s Devils Glen Road (near Wallace’s) is the most recent similar complex that Vera French opened, in 2011.
“We had a deadline. Because of that tax credit funding, you got to get it all leased up, built and leased up within two years. Once that funding's committed, you've got two years to make it happen,” Whitaker said of the $7 million in tax credit financing, and there were 100 people who applied to rent at Carol’s Village Gardens.
The new complex helps gradually meet the huge affordable housing need in the area, Whitaker said.
“We have to start somewhere. And I think part of the issue is people see that huge, monumental problem and the need, and then they kind of get paralyzed by that or they think it's somebody else's responsibility,” he said. “Well, as a community mental health center, like I said in my speech, housing is healthcare, and it's an important part of getting past mental illness is you've got to have that stable housing.
"And so, Vera French, being a part of making housing here in the Quad Cities is, I think, part of our obligation," Whitaker said. "It's our responsibility. It's not somebody else's responsibility. We're going to take and do what we can do.”
“It’s a good partner and a good development,” said Scott Fitzpatrick, director of acquisitions for Midwest Housing Equity Group, which arranged the state housing tax credits. “The state needs organizations like Vera French involved, and we raise dollars to invest in the Midwest.”
For more information on Vera French, visit the agency’s 2025 Community Outcomes Report HERE.
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