Homeless have a home as Housing Authority converts Modesto motel into apartments
Shawn and Andrea Smith and their 6-year-old son were among the first people Thursday to start moving in to Kansas House, the former 103-room Modesto budget motel being converted into permanent supportive housing for homeless people.
The Modesto husband and wife said they had been homeless off and on for about five years, sleeping in cars or staying in motels.
“We’re just really grateful,” said Andrea Smith, 31, adding their money went fast when they rented motel rooms and cars were not made to be lived in. They are hot in the summer, cold in the winter, and it’s hard to keep food from spoiling.
Officials say Kansas House is a major milestone in the local effort to help homeless people because it’s the first project in Stanislaus County that provides housing the next level above a shelter and is a bridge between shelters and traditional housing.
The expectation is that after a year, Kansas House residents will look for traditional housing, but there is no time limit on how long someone can live at Kansas House as long as they follow the rules and are good tenants. Residents will work with case managers, social workers and other providers on the issues in their lives.
Tenants who misbehave face eviction
Tenants who don’t follow the rules face eviction. The husband and wife who manage Kansas House live in the property’s two-bedroom apartment.
The Stanislaus Regional Housing Authority is the lead agency on this roughly $8.2 million project, though it is getting financial and other help from Stanislaus County and Modesto. The authority is using the nonprofit Stanislaus County Affordable Housing Corp. to manage Kansas House. The husband and wife who manage it are STANCO employees.
“A little over a year ago the county CEO (Jody Hayes) and I were discussing homelessness and affordable housing,” Housing Authority CEO Barbara Kauss said in a Friday interview. “And so I asked him, ‘What can the Housing Authority do?’ Almost in jest he said, ‘You can buy the hotel and renovate it’. And I said, ‘OK.’
“So I approached our (the authority’s) board and our staff, and we took a deep breath, and that’s exactly what we did. ... The more we work with this project, the more we are convinced it can change people’s lives and have a real impact on the community.”
Kauss stressed this has been a team effort among the Housing Authority, Stanislaus County and Modesto.
Bought the American Budget Inn for $5.2M
The Housing Authority bought the 1970s era American Budget Inn & Suites at Kansas Avenue and Highway 99 in a mostly industrial area for about $5.2 million last fall and is spending $2.8 million to $3 million to renovate and upgrade the property, turning it into 103 studio apartments. Each apartment is roughly 275 square feet and equipped with a kitchenette, shower, washer and dryer, and a futon that turns into a bunk bed.
Modesto is providing $2.5 million and the county $3.4 million toward the project, with the money coming from the federal and state funding they receive to help poor people, the mentally ill, homeless people and other vulnerable people.
The Kansas House consists of four wings. Residents started moving in to the first wing Thursday, and all of the wing’s 23 apartments were expected to be occupied by Monday. Work continues on the three other wings. Tenants could start moving in mid June, with all apartments occupied by late June.
Officials expect Kansas House could have 200 to 225 residents, including seniors, disabled people, single parents and their children and couples with and without children.
Kansas House tenants are screened and selected by homeless social service providers working together to find the best fit for their clients. Prospective tenants cannot just walk in to the Kansas House office and fill out an application for a studio apartment. Officials stress it is an apartment complex and not a homeless shelter.
Tenants go to top of the Section 8 list
Kansas House tenants will use Section 8 vouchers to help pay their rent (that includes tenants without an income). After a year, tenants in good standing can ask to be placed at the top of the waiting list for a voucher that can be used for other Section 8 housing, such as a single family home or duplex.
Officials say while it depends on lots of factors, it is possible someone could find housing within a few months.
That’s exactly what the Smiths hope to do after a year. “We want to succeed in life, getting into a regular house or permanent housing,” Andrea Smith said.
Shawn Smith, 32, who just got a job as a security guard at a Modesto motel, said he is thankful he and his family have a safe, comfortable place to call home. The Smiths also thanked the nonprofits Family Promise of Greater Modesto and Turning Point Community Programs as well as the Housing Authority for helping them.
The Smiths are getting help in budgeting and making better money decisions. “You have to want to succeed,” Andrea Smith said. “You have to get case management. Budgeting ... that has helped us because we have learned to save money.”
