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One less stepping stone

A transitional housing facility is being sold to the city of Largo for $850,000. Now people wonder what will happen to those trying to get back on their feet.

By EILEEN SCHULTE
Published April 15, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Joseph Garnett JR.] Andre Taylor Jr., 13, and his brother Jamarcus, 3, play at the Stepping Stone complex in Largo on Friday. The city of Largo is planning to buy the complex.

LARGO - For 23 years, the converted rundown motel known as Stepping Stone has been a rock for homeless families needing long-term help to independence.

But that tradition will soon be on hiatus, causing consternation among some homeless advocates.

The 19-unit transitional housing facility is going to be razed to make way for retail shops and condominiums aimed at attracting upper-middle-class residents to Largo's downtown.

Stepping Stone's parent agency, Religious Community Services, has agreed to sell the facility to the city for $850,000. A contract is expected to be signed in July.

Largo's goal is to create a stylish redevelopment district on the north side of West Bay Drive, the main thoroughfare in the downtown core. The RCS property is among the parcels Largo has spent millions to acquire in hopes of attracting developers to build on those properties.

RCS said it plans to use the proceeds from the sale to build or buy a bigger, better facility and expand its services - but when or where that will happen is unclear.

RCS bought the Stepping Stone property at 158 Ridge Road in 1984 and turned it into a transitional housing complex. Built in the 1950s as a single-story, open air Florida motel, the facility sits on less than an acre.

Clients who finished an eight-week stay at RCS's 85-bed shelter called Grace House but couldn't find housing graduated to Stepping Stone. They were allowed to stay from six months to a year. Thirty-eight families stayed there last year.

Stepping Stone offered job coaching classes, a reading room, laundry room, play area and child care for one evening each week for a small program fee.

RCS hopes Stepping Stones' closure will have a negligible impact on the homeless population, since the agency will offer rent, mortgage and utility assistance, said Lisa Matzner, RCS development director.

While no current residents will be asked to leave, RCS is no longer adding new residents to Stepping Stone, instead referring them to the Salvation Army and other programs.

"It's a loss," said Kip Corriveau, the director of the Salvation Army's social services program who is a member of the Pinellas County Coalition for the Homeless. "It ripples through the homeless system."

He said at last count, there were at least 5,195 homeless people in Pinellas County.

Corriveau, who formerly worked for Grace House and Stepping Stone, said the transitional housing facility filled a needed void.

"Ten years ago, eight weeks was long enough to get people into housing," he said. "Not anymore."

He said the Salvation Army is the only long-term housing option for working homeless families in the northern Pinellas County area. It has 72 beds and is three-quarters full.

"We're really good at bringing people off the streets for emergency shelter, but where do they go next?" Corriveau said. "Most of the clients make about $900 a month. To rent a two-bedroom apartment in Pinellas County you need to make over $16 an hour. And you need about $1,500 to move in. You need to turn on the electricity and pay the rent, first month, last month and security."

He said most of his clients work in the medical field as certified nursing assistants and the like. Some are school bus drivers. Many are college graduates. They have jobs.

And a lot of them are leaving Pinellas County because they cannot afford to live here anymore, Corriveau said.

Only three families remain at the Stepping Stone property.

One of them is Natalie Taylor, 37, and her two sons Andre, 13, and Jamarcus, 3.

The two boys were shooting hoops in the nearly deserted concrete basketball court while Taylor sat on a plastic chair in the shade smoking cigarettes outside of her one-bedroom unit.

Taylor, who works as a dietician aide at the Freedom Square retirement home, has lived at Stepping Stone since December.

She said she was a crack addict and spent 16 months at Operation PAR, the nonprofit drug abuse prevention and treatment agency.

The crack cost her home and custody of her children for years. When she got clean three years ago, she moved in with her sister who had a one-bedroom apartment, but it became too crowded.

She stayed at Grace House for a few months before moving to Stepping Stone with her children and regaining control of her life. The program has worked wonders for her. She's enrolled in classes to earn her GED.

Taylor thinks it's a shame that Stepping Stone is closing.

"If Largo is going to build shops here, where are people like me going to go?" she said.

Community help

Religious Community Services was founded in 1967 by a small group of Jewish and Christian congregations. It has 70 paid staff and more than 1,200 volunteers from 82 local churches and synagogues. The nonprofit's annual budget is $5.5-million.Among the group's services:- Feeds about 4,000 people each month at its food pantry- Serves 515 people at Grace House annually- Helped 17,000 people last year through its domestic abuse program- Offers free clothing, furniture and household goods to program participants through its thrift store

[Last modified April 14, 2007, 18:43:07]