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A Tampa agency is looking at a New Port Richey tract for low-cost, temporary housing for elderly veterans.
By RYAN DAVIS
© St. Petersburg Times, published June 22, 2001
NEW PORT RICHEY -- A Tampa non-profit agency is negotiating to buy an abandoned Congress Street apartment complex and turn it into low-cost, temporary housing for elderly veterans, agency officials said.
Tampa Hillsborough Action Plan plans to spend $2-million redeveloping the property, 5816 Congress St., and adding three buildings, executive director Lynn Knox said. The village would house 62 people, ages 55 and older.
They would receive a variety of services, including job counseling and placement, for little or no cost, she said. Each person could live at the facility for up to two years.
No timetable has been set for purchase, construction and opening, she said.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has given the project preliminary approval for two years of financial assistance, said Guy Liedke, a VA program specialist in Tampa. If it gets final approval, the VA will pay half the daily cost for a veteran to live in the facility -- up to $19 a day.
THAP will pay the other half, Knox said. Veterans will pay a small service fee if it is determined that they can afford it.
Knox stressed that the facility is not a rehabilitation or treatment center. Applicants can be denied if they have an extensive criminal record, she said.
"Its mission is to provide safe and decent housing to veterans that will ultimately lead to self-sufficiency and independent living," she said.
The organization plans to build 32 units, each with two bedrooms and bathrooms, Knox said.
She said she plans to work with city officials, but redevelopment director Gerald Paradise said Thursday that he knows nothing about the proposed project.
-- Ryan Davis covers higher education and social services in Pasco. He can be reached at 800-333-7505 ext. 3452.