Loan at a Glance:
PCG’s $7,000,000 and Mass Housing Investment Corporation’s $7,107,250 NMTC allocations fund the acquisition and adaptation of a vacant former nursing home for use as a multi-purpose social service agency and transitional housing. M&T Bank provides the NMTC investment and a $2,500,000 NMTC leverage loan and serves as the grant sponsor for a $2,500,000 Federal Home Loan Bank Affordable Housing Program grant as additional project support.
This NMTC investment provides community impact benefits for low-income and very low-income people served by BRM including increased capacity (48 emergency shelter beds, 20 individual rooms for housing homeless women and children, ten transitional housing units, and 57 residential recovery units for the uninsured) and housing support.
NMTC investment also revitalizes a vacant building located in one of the two Bridgeport neighborhoods struggling most with poverty and hunger. Community Care Center is in Bridgeport’s South End, a targeted distressed community within a census tract that meets all three severe distress primary criteria, including a 39% poverty rate, 34% AMI, and an unemployment rate 3.19 times the national average.
Project Summary:
Named the Community Care Center, the project increases the capacity for Bridgeport Rescue Mission, Inc. (BRM) to provide a full spectrum of supportive services. At its new Community Care Center, BRM will provide stable temporary housing; employment training to provide a path to a job and sufficient income for housing and food; counselling to help residents deal with past issues and develop healthy skills for navigating life's challenges; medical services to address chronic health issues that otherwise result in intermittent work attendance and a high risk of loss of employment; and residential addiction treatment.
Borrower Summary:
BRM offers a full spectrum of services, including addiction treatment, trauma recovery, life skills, financial literacy training,
nutrition education, personal counseling, support groups, permanent housing placement, day-care placement, and activities for children residing in the supportive housing wing. Programs design supports and helps individuals make spiritual, physical, and vocational changes to allow them to recover and succeed in life. A well-balanced set of empowerment initiatives and supportive services, including assessment, case management, food service, substance abuse recovery, education, employment training and counseling, life skills training, nutritional education, parenting skills, financial literacy, personal counseling, support groups, housing placement, aftercare, and mental health care further assist residents.
Loan Result:
The project creates 65 construction jobs, 15 additional new jobs, and retains 45 jobs with all full-time jobs providing comprehensive benefits and offering resources for staff to advance within the organization.