The McGregor Foundation in East Cleveland has been awarded a $3,461,280 U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grant. The funds will allow for the creation of 80 affordable housing units for very low-income senior citizens who are at least 62 years old. The support ensures permanent housing affordability and will create designs so residents can independently age-in-place.
Ann Conn, president and CEO, The McGregor Foundation, says 54 of the units will be built in a new structure on The McGregor’s campus in East Cleveland. Another 26 will be created from renovated units in an existing building. Groundbreaking is expected in spring 2021, with the first Independent Living Project residents moving in during spring 2022.
“This is a very powerful program that we are really excited to bring to our campus,” says Conn, who was named to her position Jan. 1. “We started courting HUD in 2008, knowing how this funding would greatly benefit residents. But we were always the bridesmaid and not the bride. If HUD was funding three projects, we’d be the fourth in line. But we had a shovel-ready project this time, and all we needed was the funding. I think that helped.”
Program eligibility for the Section 202 HUD Grant requires residents to earn less than 50 percent of the area’s median income. However, most recipients of Section 202 earn less than 30 percent.
Roberta (“Bobbi”) McNamara, chairman of The McGregor Foundation’s board of directors, believes the grant complements the mission of The McGregor Foundation — supporting seniors in need and those who serve them.
“Housing is one of the largest needs for seniors in Cuyahoga County,” says McNamara, who also is a volunteer yoga instructor who works with McGregor residents. “The government would like people to age in their homes. But houses age, too, and can become unhealthy.”
According to the Ohio Department of Aging, Ohio has the sixth largest 65-plus population in the U.S. The department believes these grants can help address the state’s short- and long-term housing needs.
HUD provides Section 202 funding to nonprofit organizations in two forms. The first is capital advances, or funding that covers developing, acquiring or rehabilitating the development. If housing remains available for very low-income residents for at least 40 years, no repayment is necessary. The second form, Project Rental Assistance Contracts, covers the difference between the residents’ contributions toward rent and the cost of operating the project.
McGregor was one of only four recipients of this grant in Ohio. The Ohio grants are part of the $51 million Section 202 grants HUD awarded nationally. Only 18 organizations in the country were awarded the grants. These are the first HUD grants of this kind awarded since 2011, according to McGregor’s chief marketing officer, Lee Ann O’Brien.
The McGregor Foundation was established in 2002 as a private grant-making foundation. Its origins reach back more than 125 years, caring for seniors at the A.M. McGregor Home in East Cleveland and Amasa Stone House in Cleveland’s Glenville neighborhood.
For more information, visit mcgregorfoundation.org.
