This week are taking a slight departure form the usual type of home we feature. This is a true dream come true - for many.
The six-bedroom, two-story home with 6 and 1/2 bathrooms near the Government Hill Historic District downtown was purchased by the San Antonio AIDS Foundation, or SAAF, in July to fill a gap in services.
Hope Action Care, the local nonprofit that had sheltered this population for 17 years at Casa Martin, lost its federal funding and had to close June 30.
“These people don't have anywhere to go,” said Jose Cervantes, SAAF's director of case management. “So we helped them make the transition. Some stayed at our skilled-nursing facility. Some, we paid for motel rooms or allowed to sleep under our gazebo.”
The residents are pleasantly surprised with the aesthetics of the new transitional home.
“Just look at this place. To me, it's luxury,” one resident said.
Indeed, the gray and white home with charming French decor, high ceilings and covered porches is far from the normal dormitory shelter. The home was in foreclosure, and the $171,000 purchase price was far less than its $400,000 value, said SAAF Executive Director David Ewell.
Ewell said the previous tenant, an assisted-living facility that had moved into the home before the sale, had just decorated the place.
Cervantes and Ewell say the need for transitional housing is great. So far, six residents have moved in, but they expect that soon the 20 beds will be filled and a waiting list will be created.
The new SAAF home, which is handicapped-accessible, includes 20 beds, is a short walk from SAAF's skilled-nursing facility on East Grayson Street, and will house people up to three months. The three-month limit exists to motivate residents to work toward self-sufficiency through employment or by obtaining Social Security or disability benefits.
- Thanks to The Express News
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