The solution to homelessness is to place homeless people in homes. That's the obvious answer, but the obstacle is money.
Removing that financial roadblock is the mission of Ability Housing of Northeast Florida Inc., a nonprofit organization that develops affordable housing for adults with disabilities and people moving from homeless shelters or transitional housing.
Ability Housing evolved out of Grove House of Jacksonville, which was founded in 1986 to operate a group home for six adults with developmental disabilities. That led to expanding the scope to providing community-based services to disabled people who lived in their own homes.
In 1998, Grove House developed a planned housing program and a year later the Florida Developmental Disabilities Council designated the program as a state demonstration site for the development of an affordable housing model. The program has since grown to 29 single-family rental units that are available to adults with disabilities who wish to live independently and to formerly homeless people.
The agency in 2004 devoted itself solely to developing and operating affordable rental housing. Grove House then was approached by the Emergency Services and Homeless Coalition to participate in a 10-year plan to end homelessness in Jacksonville.
The organization was rebranded in 2007 as Ability Housing and in 2008 entered the multifamily housing market when it took over Mayfair Village, an 83-unit, 50-year-old apartment community on the Southside.
With funding from federal and state sources, the property was purchased and rehabilitated. It is now home to people who have transitioned out of homeless shelters and others who are at risk of becoming homeless based on their income.
Based on the success of Mayfair Village, Ability Housing purchased Renaissance Village, an abandoned 52-unit apartment complex near Shands Clinic on the Northside.
"We use much of the same model as a for-profit real estate developer and property manager. We're a business," said Shannon Nazworth, Ability Housing executive director.
She said homeless shelters provide intervention to move an individual or family off the street. Ability Housing can provide a permanent solution to homelessness by making available affordable housing that serves the community's most vulnerable members – those who have income, but can't afford market-rate housing.
The area median income in North Florida is $23,600 for an individual and $33,650 for a family of four. Making less than 50 percent can qualify a person or family to live at an Ability Housing property.
Nazworth said the average annual income of residents living at the properties is $8,800.
"To the typical person, that's a mind-boggling number. If there are children involved, it's outrageous," said attorney John Osgathorpe, shareholder at Taylor Day and chairman of Ability Housing's board of directors.
"Homelessness is not about housing, it's about affordability," Nazworth said.
Costs are subsidized with federal housing grants and state programs with no direct local government support.
"We have never asked the City for any money from the general fund," said Nazworth.
Other sources of funding for Ability Housing include LISC Jacksonville, which supports office expenses; and support from Bank of America Foundation; the Boeing Co.; Deutsche Bank; Wachovia Foundation, a Wells Fargo Company; and individual private donations.
Ability Housing's properties currently have more than 400 residents who are in stable, sustainable housing, thereby reducing the need for services at shelters and health care costs associated with being homeless. Real estate values in neighborhoods where the organization's properties are located have increased, Nazworth said.
"That's what attracted me to Ability Housing. It solves social issues and it makes sense in terms of dollars and cents," said Osgathorpe.
The organization recently moved from the original Grove House offices along West Adams Street to a larger space in the SunTrust Tower at 76 S. Laura St. Nazworth said there was really no discussion of moving out of the neighborhood.
"We probably could have found less expensive space in the suburbs, but we made a conscious decision to support Downtown. To me, Downtown is the ultimate community development corporation," she said.
To learn more about Ability Housing's programs and opportunities, visit abilityhousing.org.
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