History: Gateway House, Inc. specializes in dealing with persons with mental illness. In 1994, they owned 39 apartments within a mile of their clubhouse and were building 20 more with HUD assistance. Gateway House was concerned about building some apartments that provided more on-site support services that would help more persons with mental illness achieve self-sufficiency. With this goal in mind, they had successfully raised $200,000 from private foundations and individual donations toward this goal.
Challenge: They were unclear how to generate the additional capital to plan and build these special needs apartments.
Solution: Working with Nehemiah Corporation, they learned of the availability of two new funding sources: the newly created South Carolina Housing Trust Fund and a new federal HOME program. Nehemiah worked with them to identify and evaluate a site, select an architect, and make application for these two funding sources as well as grant funds provided through the S.C. Department of Mental Health. Using the private funding of $200,000 as match, Buncombe Place Apartments, including 13 one bedroom apartments with community space, was completed in 1995. On May 23, 1996, Nehemiah was selected as Alternate Awardee through Fannie Mae Foundation’s Maxwell Awards of Excellence for their work on the complex.