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Youth who are homeless will soon have a place to call home in Midtown

Posted at 6:15 AM, Nov 14, 2018
and last updated 2018-11-14 10:53:22-05

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Near 31st and Harrison, what is now just an empty lot will soon be home to 50 units of affordable housing. 

Save, Inc. is teaming up with Vecino Group on the project funded with federal low-income housing credits. 

Supportive Housing Developer with Vecino Group, Heather Bradley-Geary says it's about creating affordable housing for the greater good and changing communities through housing.

"We have supportive housing communities in 10 different states, 20 different communities and we work with nonprofits such as Save, Inc. to ultimately end homelessness through collaboration,"  Supportive Housing Developer with Vecino Group, Heather Bradley-Geary said. 

The complex will be called Alhaven, with studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments.

"It's huge. There is not enough affordable housing in Kansas City," Save, Inc. CEO Blaine Proctor said. "Every week, you hear there's an announcement of a new luxury apartment building being built and it's rare that you hear of an affordable housing project being announced."

Roughly 25 percent of those units will be dedicated to those who have aged out of the foster care system between the ages of 18 and 24 and have a medical diagnosis. 

Proctor said this project will almost double the number of affordable housing units they currently offer. 

"By putting someone in permanent supportive housing, you are eliminating the need to go to the emergency room for a cold, or being picked up and put in jail on a regular basis," Proctor said. 

Wrap-around services will also be provided. 

"We'll have on-site medical services in partnership with the Kansas City Health Clinic," Proctor said. "We will have onsite specialty pharmaceutical services."

The hope is to keep people off the streets and on the path to a new start through this new development. 

"Chances are they want to be at home as opposed to being out on the streets — to doing whatever it takes to survive," Proctor said. "You're providing some stability for them and the ability for them to start working on their life and start working towards some sense of normality."

Save, Inc. expects to break ground next spring, with construction completed a year after that.