$500,000 Grant to Help Individuals with IDD Live Independently in Nashville

Washington, DC – December 22, 2015 – (RealEstateRama) — THDA will provide $500,000 to help Urban Housing Solutions develop a second apartment complex where Nashvillians with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) can live as independently as possible.

Urban Housing Solutions will acquire two adjacent apartment buildings in the Chestnut Hill area of South Nashville. With the THDA grant and another $700,000 in additional funding, the nonprofit will transform these structures into a 19-unit apartment complex where individuals with IDD and divinity graduate students can live side by side.

There are nearly 7,000 people with IDD on the State of Tennessee’s waiting list for a Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) waiver—a number that grows larger every month. By rule, these individuals have no more than $2,000 in assets.

“Urban Housing Solutions is taking on a very difficult challenge with such enthusiasm, and creativity, and success that the entire state should take notice of what’s happening here,” said THDA Executive Director Ralph M. Perrey. “I want to thank Urban Housing Solutions for building new partnerships and offering us new opportunities to serve people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.”

The development, which is tentatively called Chestnut Commons, is patterned after Urban Housing Solutions’ success with the 12 Garden Street apartment building, which was also funded in part by THDA.

At 12 Garden Street, residents of low income with IDD live next door to divinity students who have volunteered to provide assistance as needed. The development was created by Urban Housing Solutions in partnership with the Nashville Intellectual and Developmental Disability Housing Group, Trevecca Nazarene University, and Vanderbilt Divinity School.

Funding for the $500,000 grant comes from the Housing Trust Fund (HTF), which was created by the THDA Board of Directors to provide financial support for innovative, affordable initiatives that serve the housing needs of Tennessee’s most vulnerable residents.

The Housing Trust Fund receives no tax dollars but is replenished by revenue from THDA’s Great Choice home loan program. HTF grants are awarded through a competitive application process. Since 2006, THDA has provided more than $72 million in HTF grants to local governments and nonprofit organizations across the state.

Photo (front to back, right to left): John Gregory, UHS board chair; State Senator Thelma Harper; State Representative Harold Moses Love; Jaco J. Hamman, Ph.D., Vanderbilt Divinity School; Rusty Lawrence, UHS executive director; Adrianne Bond Harris, Nashville Mayor’s Office; Carolyn Naifeh, co-founder and executive director of Nashville IDD Housing Group; Denise McBride, THDA; Alandis Brassel, general counsel, Rep. Cooper’s Office; Brent Elrod, UHS director of projects; and Kathy Floyd-Buggs, director of community services, Rep. Cooper’s Office.