YWCA gives permanent housing to former foster girls

Kitchenettes are included in each of the 23 efficiency apartments at the YWCA's newly constructed Independence Place, a permanent residential facility for former foster youth. Photo Credit: Samara Katz

View Image Gallery

The second floor of the YWCA building on Prospect Avenue has been repurposed to house Cuyahoga County’s young women who have aged out of foster care.

The newly renovated facilities, called Independence Place, include 23 furnished efficiency apartments with kitchenettes, bathrooms, closets and basic household items. In addition, tenants have access to a community room, laundry facilities and a playroom for children.

Three YWCA employees who live in the Heights helped make the $5 million undertaking possible: Gina Cheverine, chief program officer; Fannie Johnson-Baxter, manager of supportive services; and Margaret Mitchell, president and CEO of the YWCA. Mitchell said planning for Independence Place has been a top priority for her since she joined the organization in May.

"We have a long history of helping people, but this is a new, more permanent option. This is not a halfway house, or a temporary solution," Mitchell explained. "The housing is such a stabilizing factor. Being able to have a permanent home, a telephone number that you can be reached at, access to a computer on a regular basis, all of these are basic necessities from which you can really move your life forward. Our goal is to see each of our residents move into a life of independence and self-sufficiency."

Some tenants have children or are pregnant, but most are not equipped with the skills to raise children, find jobs or perform household tasks, such as cleaning and cooking, Mitchell added. Each year, about 200 teenagers in Cuyahoga County become too old for foster care each year, according to the Public Children Services Association of Ohio.

"They age out when they turn 18, but many do not have a high school diploma, they do not have a home, they do not have preparation for work, and without the Y stepping in, it really is a bleak situation," Mitchell said.

Independence Place houses women between the ages of 18 and 24. "It’s a time when you have a certain degree of independence, but at the same time, you’re still very dependent on parents or guardians to get you to that next step. And when you come out of foster care, that really isn’t there for you," Mitchell explained.

While she said there are certainly nurturing foster families, Mitchell explained that many former foster children experience traumatic situations and develop mental health issues. In fact, they have more than seven times the rate of drug dependence and nearly twice the rate of alcohol dependence compared to the general population, and their rate for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) exceeds those of some U. S. war veterans, Mitchell said.

With the YWCA’s support, residents pay rent on a sliding scale, depending on their income level. Child care and education can be provided through the YWCA’s Nurturing Independence and Aspirations (NIA) program, which helps the young women overcome various challenges and enables them to spend time on career development.

Funding for the program came from low-income housing tax credits, donors, and federal, state and local governments, Mitchell said. The project also received historic tax credits, which meant architects and contractors had to ensure that the integrity of the building was preserved throughout construction, according to Chuck Miller, of Doty & Miller Architects. Repurposing old buildings is a green concept in itself, Miller said, but Independence Place also meets requirements for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver certification by the United States Green Building Council.

"There are lots of challenges associated with renovating old buildings," said Miller, a resident of Cleveland Heights and a founder FutureHeights. Renovating Independence Place included using cleaner fuel, new electricity and plumbing and the use of sustainable and locally produced materials, he said.

Joseph Linek, chief project manager for Doty & Miller, was in charge of the design and implementation of the construction documents, and was the representative for the company on site during construction. As many as 50 people arrived to work each day, with contractors from Regency Construction assembling the building with hammers and whirring tools. The noise made the location an improbable place to hold customary progress meetings, he said. "The YWCA was working the whole time on the first floor, so there was a lot of coordination to make sure their work could go on uninterrupted and everybody was kept safe during construction," Linek said.

Tenants moved in last January, and an opening ceremony was held last month. Miller said the project speaks to how the local community can respond to need for such programs on a grassroots level. Independence Place also provides a model that could be used in repurposing other Cleveland Heights buildings, he said.

"The YWCA building was built during the 1920s, and most of our architecture dates back to that time," he said. "They were trying to build for future generations, and so it’s very sturdy, and we wanted to maintain that. With the adaptations we’ve made to this, there’s no reason we can’t use this building for another 100 years."

Linek agrees the experience has been a rewarding one. "To see something that we all thought of at Doty & Miller come to life and become living quarters for these girls is really neat. We built everything around the community room at the core, so by opening their doors these girls can congregate, learn from one another and share their experiences."

Independence Place is implementing the key elements of the YWCA’s mission—eliminating racism and empowering women, Mitchell said.

"When we think about the YWCA’s mission, we have to make sure we are thinking about those who are often last, lost and the least among us," Mitchell said. "That is where so many isms, particularly racism, can affect those who are boxed out of the system. With Independence Place, we are empowering these young women to be engaged and have opportunities to grow."

For more information, go to ywcaofcleveland.org.