DATE: Tuesday, October 28, 1997             TAG: 9710280271

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B4   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY LOUIS HANSEN,STAFF WRITER

DATELINE: SUFFOLK                           LENGTH:   71 lines

HUD TO FINANCE HOUSING FOR SUFFOLK'S ELDERLY POOR

Two Episcopal organizations have been awarded $3.9 million to build apartments for some of the scores of elderly Suffolk people waiting to get into decent, affordable homes.

The federal grant will finance a 68-unit building for low-income seniors, increasing Suffolk's housing for the poor by about 10 percent.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development awarded construction funds for Magnolia Gardens, to be erected at Portsmouth Boulevard and Prospect Road, to St. Paul's Episcopal Church in downtown Suffolk and the Norfolk Urban Outreach ministry.

``The Suffolk area is one of (HUD's) target areas,'' said the Rev. Richard O. Bridgford, director of the Urban Outreach ministry. ``There's nothing like this in Suffolk.''

Magnolia Gardens is the only low-income, elderly housing project that HUD will fund this year in the region. The three-story building will be on a six-acre tract.

``This is good news for seniors in Suffolk who want a chance to live independently,'' said U.S. Rep. Norman Sisisky, D-4th District, in a statement announcing the grant.

Norbert David, a regional HUD manager who reviewed the proposal, said HUD considered a number of criteria, including location, an experienced sponsor and community support.

``They demonstrated a need,'' he said. ``For an elderly project, there's always a need.''

Clarissa McAdoo, Suffolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority director, said more public housing for poor seniors is ``very much needed.'' She added that the city faces a challenge in providing affordable housing for a growing elderly population.

Between 1981 and 1991, Suffolk's elderly population increased 24 percent, to 12.9 percent of the entire population. It was expected to continue rising through the next decade.

Many of Suffolk's poor live near downtown, where some homes lack plumbing and are otherwise dilapidated. The others are scattered around the largely rural city.

Suffolk's public housing communities include residences for elderly residents. Chorey Park and the Bettie S. Davis Village have designated units for elderly and handicapped residents.

Urban Outreach Ministry has built three senior housing projects - two phases of the Tucker House, 136 apartments on Armfield Avenue in Norfolk, and Trinity Wood, 71 units in Emporia. Bridgforth said the Suffolk facility would be modeled after Trinity Wood, which was built in 1992.

The Suffolk building will house seniors 62 and older who hold Section 8 certificates. To qualify for Section 8 housing under current guidelines, a resident must earn no more than $13,500 annually. For couples, the maximum annual income level is $15,500.

With more than 2,000 residents awaiting Section 8 housing, the city last year stopped accepting applications, saying that it did not want to create false hopes.

As planned, the building will contain 68 one-bedroom apartments, each with a full kitchen. The building will have an elevator and be fully accessible to handicapped residents. Nursing and house cleaning services will not be provided.

Officials from St. Paul's Episcopal Church and Urban Outreach Ministry failed to win the federal grant last year, then re-applied.

The church and the ministry will form a nonprofit corporation to manage the project, and will share operating costs.

Bridgford said the planning and construction of the facility would take about two years. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

Map

Proposed senior home site KEYWORDS: SENIOR CITIZEN HOME

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