Cooper Street Apartments

Organization Name: Warren Washington Assn. for Mental Health

Project Title: Cooper Street Apartments

Project Location: Warren County, Glens Falls, NY

Project Description:
WWAMH’s project is a result of Governor Cuomo’s five-year, $2.6 billion commitment to developing 6,000 units of supportive housing in New York State. WWAMH has been awarded two grants: The Homeless Housing and Assistance Program (HHAP) grant for 5.8 million dollars for construction and the Empire State Supportive Housing Initiate (ESSHI) grant for 3.4 million dollars to support operations. These funds will be used to develop 28 units of permanent, supportive apartments and emergency apartments for homeless individuals. These units will allow us to assist single adults and families alike. Our target homeless populations are 14 adults with Serious Mental Illness, four units for transitional age youth, and four units for survivors of domestic violence. A six-bedroom emergency, Single Room Occupancy (SRO) unit will assist individuals experiencing homelessness while connecting them to services. Included in Cooper St. apartments will be a community room, health and fitness center, and separate family room for our two and three-bedroom units. All applications for Cooper St. apartments will be made through our NY-523 Continuum of Cares (COC) Coordinated Entry (CE) process.

Community Impact:
We expect the community impact of our Cooper Street Apartment project to mirror the proven community impacts of our currently operating Housing First Program but on a larger scale. This program has operated for 12 years and provides subsidized, permanent housing for our community's most vulnerable individuals in a healthy, therapeutic environment. Person-centered assistance with benefit coordination, connection with providers in the community, and emotional support is provided. These factors facilitate recovery and growth allowing the individual to make positive contributions to the entire community that they otherwise would be ill-equipped to do.

It is our goal to assist everyone staying in our interim apartments to obtain permanent supportive housing. This year 100% of our interim guests have been permanently housed following their stay. We maintain a nearly 100% occupancy rate in our other units. We expect the same of our Copper Street Apartment. Research shows those permanently housed reduce costs to the social safely net. This impact is felt in the reduction of emergency department visits, hospital admissions, hospital readmissions, and lowered interaction with the criminal justice system.

Organization Description:
Serving the community since 1948, WWAMH is a safety net provider for individuals in Warren and Washington Counties that are in different stages of their mental health recovery. WWAMH provides the following services: clinical mental health care, care management, supportive treatment, housing, benefits management, dual-recovery services, and a psychosocial club. Striving to provide a continuum of mental health care has uniquely positioned WWAMH in the community to address the affordable housing needs of Warren County.

Team Members:

The most important team members for this project are our Residential Specialists. Working in a person-centered manner, they help with individual housing goals and connections to community support.