They have lived inside the crowded north Omaha homeless shelter and have eked out a living outdoors on its grounds.
But homeless people who go to the Siena-Francis House for help will be getting another option: bona fide apartments. Their own. Where they can live as long as they need. With support services to boot.
Today, the shelter at 1702 Nicholas St. will officially mark its foray into on-campus permanent housing with a groundbreaking ceremony for three two-story buildings.
Two buildings will hold a combined 48 efficiency-style apartments for single adults who meet the federal definition of chronically homeless: on the streets for more than a year, with a disabling condition.
Each apartment is about 320 square feet. At least 19 of them will be earmarked for adults with mental illness.
A third building will be a 11,000-square-foot community services center that will provide office, classroom and meeting space for some 70 area nonprofits the shelter partners with for various services to homeless people.
The buildings will sit along 18th Street, just northwest of the shelter.
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Tenants will be expected to pay up to $250 a month in rent but will be offered an array of on-site social services plus meals at the shelter.
The shelter's move reflects a national trend toward permanent-style housing for the homeless as a greater share of federal dollars goes that way. The two other emergency shelters in Omaha, Open Door Mission and Stephen Center, have opened or are pursuing their own on-site apartment-style living.
The Siena-Francis House project costs $7.25 million and is funded through a bank loan, government grants and tax credits.
Footings have already been installed, and shelter director Mike Saklar hopes to move the first tenants in by late fall.
Saklar said he is aiming to provide "the highest degree of independent living that's practical" — but with case managers helping with budgeting, health, employment and other areas.
"We want this to be just like any other apartment," he said.
Contact the writer: 402-444-1136, erin.grace@owh.com
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