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Compass, Meridian, Help Hotline project construction to start in spring
By Kalea Hall
YOUNGSTOWN
Construction on a more than $7 million North Side affordable housing complex for those with behavioral or substance-abuse disorders is expected to start in the spring.
The Marian Arms apartment complex project brought together multiple community agencies — Meridian Community Care, Compass Family and Community Services and the Help Hotline Crisis Center — to work on developing the 40-unit housing complex in the city.
“This is really a unique project that is bringing them all together combining them in one facility,” said Joseph Caruso, CEO and president of Compass. “It is an exemplary partnership.”
Construction is expected to take one year to complete.
The project received a $700,000 affordable-housing grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati, $420,000 of which was awarded through Huntington Bank.
Eric Stachler, vice president of community development at Huntington, said the bank worked with the partners involved on the project to put together the grant application.
The FHLBank evaluates and scores the best projects every year before awarding them.
“This project was the fourth-highest [scoring] project,” Stachler said.
Other funding for the completion of the complex includes $5.8 million in tax credits; a $500,000 grant from the Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services; and a $350,000 grant from the Ohio Housing Finance Agency.
Caruso said the FHLBank grant was one of the final pieces of funding needed for the complex with the goal to have no debt owed on the building.
The facility will be located at the northwest corner of Madison Avenue and Covington Street, where the former Martin Luther King Elementary School was located.
Both Meridian Community Care and Compass operate facilities such as this one, but there is still a need for more, Caruso said.
“Right now we are at capacity for our units,” he said.
The Mahoning County Mental Health Board assessed that an additional 100 units are needed, and these 40 permanent, supportive housing units will be a part of that 100.