Famicos Foundation Creates a Pathway for Housing Stability and Neighborhood Revitalization Cleveland

Trough a mission-driven housing plan that includes building new properties on vacant land, growing opportunities for businesses to move to Cleveland neighborhoods and preservation of existing housing stock, Famicos Foundation, a nonprofit community development corporation, has laid a pathway for housing stability and neighborhood revitalization efforts in Cleveland. Here is a look at how some of their plans will take shape.

Senior Home Repair Grant

Famicos received a $202,000 Affordable Housing Program grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati to support critical home repairs in their service area that includes Hough, Glenville, as well as other areas of St. Clair Superior and Collinwood that intersect to overlap ward boundaries.

“Although the overall population in our neighborhoods has declined, our seniors have stayed the course in their efforts to age in (their) homes,” says Carolyn Dawson, COO of Famicos Foundation. “Yet, their inability to keep up with the maintenance and repairs has impeded our ability to preserve existing housing.” 

The grant funds, leveraged with other grants, will provide home repairs for 20 owner-occupied senior homes with a focus on addressing health and safety issues. 

Exterior fixes will include repairs or replacements of roofs, porches, doors and windows. While interior repairs will include replacement HVAC systems, hot water tanks and water repair damage. 

Dawson adds that ensuring mobility within and around the home is a key factor to the repairs as well.

“One of the most prominent signs of aging is the senior’s ability to balance while walking, making it difficult to safely enter and exit their home, whether it’s a stair or a ramp,” Dawson says. “These repairs make sure the railings are secure and the stairs are easy to manage.”

The program funds will be available until fully subscribed during a two-year period ending in February 2027.

LA55 Development Project

The former Sterles Restaurant site may soon trade its past for a new purpose as a proposal for a senior living community potentially brings about a 63-unit housing development, featuring 55 one-bedroom and eight two-bedroom apartments.

Aptly named Living at 55 (LA55), the development is meant to expand housing opportunities for seniors 55 and older in the St. Clair Superior neighborhood. 

“This area is unique in its cultural diversity, close proximity to the lakefront and other amenities,” Dawson says. “This affordable senior project will be intermixed with viable businesses and existing plans for the E. 55th Street corridor including future lakefront development blocks away from the site.”

The apartments will be affordable at rents averaging 60% of area median income. Eight of the units will be fully accessible, plus two sensory units. 

Amenities will include a fitness room, multipurpose community room with kitchen, Wi-Fi access and on-site property management with resident services. The building will also provide a variety of age-in-place features.

The timeline is largely dependent upon Famicos Foundation's completion of capital funding for the project.