Seniors praise TMHA’s new facility in Girard

June 19, 2010 at 12:06a.m.

BY JORDAN COHEN

GIRARD

For Don Emerson, executive director of the Trumbull Metropolitan Housing Authority, Friday’s grand opening of the $7 million Girard Manor is the best example of what housing for low- to moderate-income senior citizens should be.

“This will be the model for what we build in the future,” Emerson said. “Subsidized housing does not have to look dilapidated.”

The three-story, 47,000- square-foot facility located on Washington Avenue contains 40 units and a commercial-size kitchen that provides meals for the residents. Its amenities include a lobby with a fireplace, fitness center, lounge and even an Internet caf that will provide wireless access.

“I wish this were located on [U.S.] Route 422 so more people could see how beautiful it is,” said Girard Mayor James Melfi. Several of the residents also praised their new home.

“It’s a beautiful building,” said Grace Leash, 79, who moved to Girard Manor from Youngstown. “We’ve all become friends, and we’re almost like a family.”

“I love it,” said Grace Hennings, 82, “and I’m really looking forward to all the activities they will have for us.”

“I was depressed about where I was living before I came here,” said Mary Ripoli, 83. “This is totally different.”

Emerson emphasized that Girard Manor, which already has a waiting list, is subsidized housing and not public housing. The complex is managed by TMHA but owned by a separate entity, Girard Manor Associates, Ltd. TMHA determines each senior’s rent based on income.

The executive director said applications for federal funding to build Girard Manor were rejected twice before approval was granted on the third try in 2008. The federal government granted $5.5 million of the $7 million cost to TMHA, and the state provided the balance.

“We meet federal standards that qualify us to use some of these units as assisted-living facilities if we choose to do that,” Emerson said. “In the future, I believe everything we build will qualify for assisted-living.”

However, there is one amenity Girard Manor lacks and several of the women said it in unison: “Cable,” Ripoli said. “They should hurry up and get that in here.”

Emerson said TMHA expects to have a cable contract and service “very soon.”