Supportive housing for LGBTQ+ seniors finally opened
LONDON: A supported housing community designed for LGBTQ+ seniors has been opened as part of an equality campus.
The Residences at Equality Park has opened its doors, becoming the first affordable housing development with supportive services for LGBTQ+ seniors in Florida.
The development serves low-income adults who are 55 and older and living with a disabling condition such as physical illnesses or disabilities due to complications from diseases, including HIV/AIDS, said officials.
Located in Wilton Manors near Fort Lauderdale, The Residences at Equality Park is a partnership of Carrfour Supportive Housing, the state’s largest nonprofit affordable housing developer, and The Pride Center, one of the nation’s largest nonprofit LGBTQ+ community centers.
“The opening of The Residences at Equality Park marks an important step toward addressing the affordable housing needs of the residents of the city of Wilton Manors and the surrounding areas of Broward County,” said Stephanie Berman, president and CEO of Carrfour. “In working with our partners at The Pride Center, we identified housing in the area as a challenge for seniors—especially among LGBTQ seniors who face discrimination, bias, and sometimes even hostile treatment from landlords as well as fellow tenants. The Residences, coupled with The Pride Center’s growing LGBTQ+ seniors’ programming—one of the largest of its kind nationwide—gives residents a permanent, safe place to live and customized, culturally proficient support services they need to age in place.”
Carrfour serves as the project’s developer, operator, and service coordinator, while The Pride Center provides residents with on-site supportive services, including service linkage, senior support groups, wellness workshops, recreational activities, a speaker series, cultural events, and exercise classes.
Situated on The Pride Center’s 5-acre Equality Park campus, the four-story apartment building includes a fitness center, a library, and a computer room. The Equality Park campus also includes approximately 30,000 square feet of office and meeting space for programs and services, encouraging synergy among other local nonprofit organizations.
There are 48 units ranging in size from studios to two-bedroom apartments—34 of which are earmarked as permanent supportive housing for low-income seniors with disabling conditions who need on-site supportive services in order to maintain their housing. Forty-three units are reserved for residents earning 60% or less of Broward County’s area median income (AMI), which equates to a maximum annual income of about $35,000 per year for a one-person household and about $40,000 per year for a two-person household. The remaining five units are assigned to those earning 33% or less of the AMI, which equates to a maximum annual income of about $18,000 per year for a one-person household and about $20,000 per year for a two-person household. Monthly rents are based on income, with starting rates ranging from approximately $800 to $1,000.
The $15.3 million Residences at Equality Park was supported by multiple sources of funding, including $11.2 million in low-income housing tax credit equity from Enterprise Housing Credit Investments. In addition, JPMorgan Chase Bank provided $9.63 million in construction financing while Florida Housing Finance Corp. added a $862,734 development viability loan and a $550,000 gap loan. Broward County provided a $450,000 gap loan, the city of Wilton Manors provided a $50,000 gap loan, and The Harry and Jeannette Weinberg Foundation provided a $1,253,528 grant.
The Residences at Equality Park marks Carrfour’s first completed development in Broward County. The organization recently opened the Dr. Alice Moore Apartments, a supportive housing community in West Palm Beach. Carrfour is also nearing completion at two other developments: Heritage Park at Crane Creek, a mixed-income housing development in Melbourne in Brevard County, and Northside Commons, an affordable housing community in Miami’s West Little River neighborhood.
