Building on Success
Samaritan House breaks ground on new Villages at Samaritan House development

Members of the Fort Worth community have cause to celebrate with Samaritan House staff and residents as they break ground on the new “Villages at Samaritan House” project Thursday, September 13th at 3:15PM. The event will take place in the parking lot across the street from the current Samaritan House facility at 929 Hemphill Street.

“The creation of The Villages at Samaritan House is another long-anticipated step in the fulfillment of our Mission,” says Steve Dutton, Executive Director of Samaritan House. “Offering supportive multi-family housing will enable families to stay together while the individual who is HIV-positive takes the necessary steps to survive this disease. We’re proud that Fort Worth is supporting our efforts to create this new housing and we will do our best to honor that support with a model development.”

The new housing will include sixty-six new apartments, ranging in size from one to three bedrooms. In addition, Samaritan House will renovate a wing in their current facility that now contains office space, adding eight additional Single Room Occupancy (SRO) units. The project is possible because of an award of Federal tax credits from the State of Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, aimed at creating new housing for low income residents with special needs. The new Villages at Samaritan House will create 100,000 square feet of new living space and will triple Samaritan House’s current capacity. It will also allow for the service of couples and families with children for the first time in the agency’s history.

“Our residents are also excited about this expansion and the new housing it will create,” says Dutton. “We have been planning for the additional support services our new residents and their families will require.”

New partnerships are planned with existing local nonprofits and government agencies to provide many of these new services on-site. Samaritan House is implementing a waiting list of prospective tenants for the new homes, consisting of referrals from local service partners. The new housing is scheduled to open in the fall of 2006.

For more information about the groundbreaking ceremony, contact Aaron Siegel at (817) 566-0120, extension 165.

 

Why We Are Expanding

• Demand for our services continues to exceed our capacity, and our wait list continues to grow
• More and more residents have family members
  • We currently can only house single people
  • Many residents have spouses and even children
  • These families need to stay united
• Family members often need some of the same services we offer