As the Quad Cities face a shortage of affordable housing, one nonprofit is addressing the need with a new development.
The local nonprofit Humility Homes and Services broke ground this month on an 11-unit triplex and quadplex housing project on West 50th Street in Davenport.
CEO Ashley Velez Hagler states the $4.2 million project has been a work in progress since late 2023, with development consultant Gratus Development reaching out to partner with the nonprofit. The organization is also working with developer Build to Suit; architect Streamline Architects; and engineering firm IMEG Engineering to complete the project.
“Gratus is incredibly proud to partner with Humility Homes and Services on a project that has been years in the making. I first met Ashley and her team in late 2023, and by early 2024 this concept began to take shape. It’s taken two years of steady work to reach the starting line. We’re grateful for every funder, supporter, and partner who helped make this milestone real. Now the real work begins, as we move into construction and toward the day each family can open a front door of their own,” said a representative from Gratus Development in a press release.
“At Streamline Architects, we believe great design has the power to change lives. When Humility Homes approached us, we knew immediately it was more than a project; it was an opportunity to contribute something meaningful to the community we call home. We are honored to have played a role in bringing permanent, dignified housing to more families and individuals in Davenport, and proud to have invested our time, expertise, and resources to help make the vision a reality" added Andrew Dasso, Principal Architect at Streamline Architects, in a press release.
Velez Hagler said the nonprofit uses a coordinated entry list when deciding on the type of development needed in the Quad Cities. The list aims to help people at risk of imminent homelessness or people experiencing homelessness by connecting individuals and families to appropriate resources.
“So we looked at our coordinated entry list because for this project, we will be pulling people experiencing literal homelessness off coordinated entry, something as an agency we're very familiar with, something that we believe in and that we, this is how our other units are filled,” Velez Hagler said in an interview with WVIK. “And so we designed it also [by considering] …, what do the needs look like right now? I mean, in the perfect world, I'd build 300 and clear off the list, but that's just not realistic. So we based it kind of off of family size and the need that way.”
The development will include 1, 2, and 3-bedroom units, with six of the eleven constructed to be ADA compliant.
“[W]e looked for places that would be big enough to support the 11 units,” Velez Hagler said. “We also wanted to make sure that it was on a bus line, because a lot of individuals that we serve do not have stable transportation. So, we want to make sure that it was accessible to a bus line, accessible to getting food pretty easily. It was close to a school, closer to a school. So we chose that location with that in mind, obviously price, and then size of it too.
“And so all of our other projects that we've done throughout our 36-year history have been a little bit more on the smaller side,” Velez Hagler said. “Like, we have Myrtle and 7th Street. I have— there's 12 townhomes there, and then I have 6 duplexes on College Avenue that we used [the] same type of federal funding, same type of funding stream. So we wanted to do a little bit smaller because it's something that we're more comfortable with. There's also different regulations when you do smaller versus larger. And then we chose to do the quadplex and the triplexes because we, you know, 6 of the units are for people with disabilities. And so this way it was easier to develop because you don't have to worry about an elevator, those types of things that they can just go right into their home.”
The development will not contain on-site wraparound services; however, Velez Hagler notes coordinators will visit those who lease the units to assist with their needs.
“So our service coordinators go to the person's home now to see, to talk about cleaning skills, whatever is necessary,” Velez Hagler said. “And then they would transport them there to, if they have a job interview, if they just need to go to work, if they have a doctor's appointment that they would like their service coordinator to come with, we would go from there.”
She said the project cost is higher than they initially thought because of rising material costs, with each unit costing around $400,000.
Velez Hagler notes those who are accepted to live in the new development will not have to pay rent unless they have an income.
“But if you have an income, you'll pay 30% of your income to rent your place,” Velez Hagler said. “And then that money we will then use to pay for the service coordinator, to pay for some stability funds to keep them, you know, if they need a bus pass if they need work shoes, that type of thing, and then pay for the maintenance costs. So that is also somewhat why the cost is higher or that because it's meant to be self-sustaining. So services will always be in place, will always have maintenance costs. So it's not like the agency is taking on a potential debt or something like that.”
Velez Hagler said the coordinated entry list ebbs and flows, but demand averages between 300 and 400 households, with 40% of them in need of permanent supportive housing. “And permanent supportive housing is for individuals who have barriers to housing, such as evictions, lower income, criminal records, and they've been homeless multiple times, and they have some type of disability of long duration, whether it's a physical disability, a mental health disability, a learning disability,” Velez Hagler said. “And so when we were looking to build the project and figuring out what kind, we really looked at our data numbers, and we looked at what we would need.”
She notes anyone in need of assistance should reach out to Humility Homes. Information on the various services offered can be found on its website.
Velez Hagler said the nonprofit’s Community Is Us fundraising campaign is nearing completion, currently meeting 98% of its $2.9 million goal. “[H]elp us fix up our apartments and create different programming to help support individuals, and some of the programs that we created through this Community Is Us campaign would also help support the Sheridan Point Place when it's up and developed. So it's great to see stuff come to fruition and have it all just connect the pieces.”
Affordable housing affects all of us.
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