www.marej.com M id A tlantic Real Estate Journal — Owners, Developers & Managers — Construction Management & Design Build — November 22 - December 12, 2019 — 9B Construction Management & Design Build Breathing new life into abandoned and foreclosed buildings Volunteers of America provides housing formany of America’s homeless through adaptive re-use A
years. Volunteers of America was able to purchase the units, renovate them, furnish them with the aid of the com- munity and move homeless veterans into them. Blue But- terfly Village houses veterans including homeless women veterans and their children. Residents like Classie Spier, former Army Reserve who served in Iraq only to return to civilian life with limited resources and depression. She and her children were home- less until VOA gave them a home. The same is true of the more than 24 other families living there with more rede-
velopment planned. “It made perfect sense that these va- cant homes on the naval base should be used to house some of the many homeless veter- ans in Los Angeles,” explained Sheridan. Los Angeles has the largest homeless population in the country and Volunteers of America has multiple hous- ing and service programs throughout and surrounding the city. And it’s not all formerly existing housing. In West Humboldt Park in Chicago, Volunteers of America re- ceived a parcel of land donated by the city of Chicago.
LEXANDRIA, VA — Volunteers of Amer- ica is frequently listed as one of the nation’s top pro- viders of housing for homeless veterans but it also provides low and moderate income level housing for other home- less populations including families with children; seniors; recently incarcerated adults; and people with disabilities, including physical and mental disabilities. While finding and securing affordable housing is easier in some areas of the country than others it is still a chal- lenge. Although Volunteers of America is often able to secure abandoned and foreclosed buildings that may be eyesores to the community, the organi- zation still sometimes faces community pushback—“not in my back yard,” or NIMBYism. Foreclosed hotels and motels have been particularly useful for housing homeless popula- tions. In Cocoa, FL, Volunteers of America has been able to place 257 homeless veterans in transitional housing in a fore- closed motel. In New Orleans, more than 75 formerly home- less seniors live in a foreclosed hotel that was purchased and renovated by Volunteers of America. “Finding housing opportuni- ties isn’t easy,” said Patrick Sheridan , executive vice president for housing for Vol- unteers of America. “Through purchasing and renovating available buildings, we’re able to provide community improvement as well as much- needed housing.” Volunteers of America holds more than 18 million s/f in- cluding more than 25,000 units across the country, for housing those in need. In Philadelphia, a train sta- tion, North Broad St., opened in 1929 as a bustling station. Then it went through years of ups and downs as popularity of the train grew and then waned through the depres- sion and World War II. After ridership dwindled, it was sold as a motel. Years later, it was heavily damaged by fire and was returned to use as a train station. Ridership dwindled again and the station fell into neglect. In 1996, the building was added to the National Register of Historic places and was purchased by Volunteers of America to provide housing for those transitioning out of
Repurposed housing for the homeless in Philadelphia
shelters. Volunteers of Amer- ica Delaware Valley Lofts at 2601 has come to provide safe, affordable housing for some of Philadelphia’s most vulner- able residents. The re-use and new life of this train station, with its classical revival ar-
chitectural exterior, has been life changing for its residents. Outside of Los Angeles, a naval base decommissioned more than 200 new town- houses. They were built but then never occupied and they sat empty for more than five
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