Garden Court & City Participating in IN Housing Institute, Grant Money for Housing Project Available

This week Plymouth City Attorney Sean Surrisi is participating with a team of folks led by Garden Court in the Indiana Housing Institute.  This is a four-month-long conference that’s held in Bloomington. 

Surrisi said the Plymouth team was one of six teams from around the state that was selected to participate in the training.  The local team has members from Garden Court, the Bowen Center, the Marshall County Community Foundation, United Way of Marshall County, SRKM Architecture, and the City of Plymouth.

Surrisi said the conference is sponsored by Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority (IHCDA).  He continued, “Once a team has been admitted to this institute program and successfully completes it, the IHCDA commits to at some point in the future, providing grant funding in the form of tax credits for the development of a permanent supportive housing development.” 

The project under consideration that Garden Court is developing is a proposed mixed-use development that would be townhomes that would be 80% regular affordable housing with about 20% of the units being permanent supportive housing units such as what was developed by Garden Court at the Serenity Place on West Jefferson.  This is where folks who may be experiencing homelessness or have other needs are provided a surrounding of support services from the Bowen Center and other resources.

Surrisi said, “It’s an exciting project.  Lots of the details of it are still being decided and worked out with the team over these coming months that will conclude with another 3-day session next month.”  He said there is a possibility that Garden Court might be ready to move forward applying for a grant yet this year which would be due at the end of June or they may wait until next year’s grant cycle depending on their readiness and finding a location within the city for the project and seeing who many of the other six teams are ready to apply with their projects because this would be a competitive grant opportunity.

Surrisi said, “It’s an exciting process.  The Serenity Place has been a success so far and having more housing units that aren’t just dedicated to that special need in the city with the help of state funding is an encouraging prospect.”