This heart-warming story provides encouragement that many in this region are trying to make things better for the poorest among us. We are so blessed to live in a city that appreciates and supports the work that we do. Enjoy this article found in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.

Coming home to HEARTH

By Len Barcousky, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
photo by Michael Sauret/Post-Gazette
Thursday, January 7th, 2010
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Sonni Parker still cannot believe her good luck.

The day after Thanksgiving, she and her two young daughters moved from what she described as a dangerous street on Pittsburgh’s North Side into a townhouse on Rodenbaugh Avenue in Ross.

“I didn’t think we would ever get a chance to live in a place like this,” she said of her duplex apartment. “It will be great for my kids to be in a good school district and to be able to play outside.”

Ms. Parker, 19, and her two daughters are one of 11 families living in a new “affordable housing” complex called Hearth at Benet Woods. The $2.1 million project was a joint venture between the nonprofit Benet Woods Housing Corp. and Trek Development Group, a for-profit builder.

Benet Woods Housing is a subsidiary of HEARTH, a nonprofit social service agency that provides temporary housing and counseling for homeless women with children. It operates on the grounds of the former St. Benedict Academy, now called Benedictine Place, on Perrysville Avenue in Ross.

“Our service area is outside Pittsburgh,” said Arlene Grubbs, a member of the board that oversees Benet Woods Housing. “And there is a clear need for affordable housing in suburban areas.”

In Allegheny County, “affordable” translates into monthly rent of about $667, including utilities. That amount is based on tenants spending no more than 30 percent of their income on housing.

At least 5,000 such units are needed in the suburbs north of Pittsburgh, according to Judith Eakin, executive director of Hearth and its Benet Woods Housing unit. “Our 11 units are a small drop in the bucket toward meeting that need,” Ms. Eakin said.

Hearth at Benet Woods became controversial as soon as it was announced. Rodenbaugh Avenue is on the border of Pittsburgh and Ross, and hundreds of neighbors on both sides of the municipal boundary signed petitions opposing the project. Although the Benet Woods tract was zoned for multifamily housing, the surrounding streets contain mostly single-family homes.

Ross commissioners reluctantly approved the project after Trek Development and Benet Woods Housing filed a discrimination suit.

The developers told Ross officials that their project would not be low-income or public housing. They described it instead as affordable housing for anyone who met its moderate income guidelines, which range up to about $38,000 for a family of four.

Tenants of Hearth at Benet Woods include two alumni of HEARTH’s transitional housing program, Ms. Eakin said. One is a social worker and the other is a medical assistant at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. Other renters include two families with a member who is physically disabled. Two of the 11 apartment units were constructed to meet the needs of people with disabilities.

Starting this month, a HEARTH case manager will offer tenants opportunities for counseling in financial management, education and employment opportunities, Ms. Eakin said. They also will be given guidance on how to research and use community services and amenities.

Ms. Parker, a 2008 graduate of Perry High School, grew up in Pittsburgh’s Lawrenceville neighborhood. Much of her family lives within 15 minutes by car from her apartment. “It’s peaceful, clean and affordable here,” she said.

When her daughters Mya, 2, and Alayna, 1, get a little older, she hopes to enroll them in day care and resume classes at Community College of Allegheny County, which she attended for one semester. Her long-term goal is to become a nurse.

“In five years, I hope to be out of college with a career,” she said. “I hope to be in a house of my own and not paying rent.”

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10007/1026188-54.stm#ixzz0bxEVHNOx