INDIANAPOLIS – At the Indiana Housing Conference awards luncheon, the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA) awarded two South Bend housing developments with the Lt. Governor’s Excellence in Affordable Housing Awards. The awards celebrate the best in Indiana affordable housing with South Bend receiving two of the four awards available.
IHCDA and the Indiana Affordable Housing Council (IAHC) organized a six-member judging panel to evaluate the nominations. South Bend Heritage and its partners received awards for the development of Oliver Apartments and South Bend Mutual Homes. Oliver Apartments was selected as the 2018 Lt. Governor’s Excellence in Affordable Housing Award Winner in the Special Needs category. Mutual Homes received the same award in the Urban Housing category.
Oliver Apartments is a permanent supportive housing development that provides 32 independent living apartments for chronically homeless individuals in South Bend. Utilizing a Housing First approach to break the cycle of homelessness, residents engage with Case Managers who help provide guidance for recovery and health services. Residents are also assisted by Certified Recovery Specialists, onsite AA/NA sessions and an onsite Food Pantry. To date, over 700 recognized resident engagements with service providers have taken place and Emergency Room visits have been reduced by three-quarters over previous levels of resident use prior to permanent housing reducing costs to the health systems. South Bend Heritage and its partners, 1st Source Bank, Cinnaire, Oaklawn, Bradley Company, the City of South Bend, Indiana Health Centers, Corporation for Supportive Housing, United Way and Neighborhood Development Associates were on hand to accept the IHCDA Award.
South Bend Mutual Homes is a 24 single-family home housing cooperative. Mutual Homes offers a unique opportunity for those with lower incomes to live in brand new housing. The homes are located in the Lincoln Park Neighborhood. The housing cooperative is owned and operated by the respective residents. Since built in 2016, Mutual Homes has retained 95% of the original cooperative members. Residents have a Board of Directors and recently successfully fundraised and constructed a new park in the neighborhood. South Bend Heritage and its partners Neighborhood Development Associates, Cinnaire, 1st Source Bank, Federal Home Loan Bank and the City of South Bend along with Co-op residents accepted the award.
South Bend Heritage is a non-profit community development corporation established in 1974. Its purpose is to enhance the beauty and value of neighborhoods and empower residents, through collaboration, physical transformation, advocacy, and education. South Bend Heritage is part of the national NeighborWorks® network, an affiliation of more than 242 community development corporations located in every state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.