Southwest Community Health Center and the Housing Authority of the City of Bridgeport have broken ground on a $21 million project that will combine dental and medical care with supportive housing.
“To finally begin construction on a state-of-the-art facility in Bridgeport”™s South End neighborhood is a dream come true for us,” said Katherine Yacavone, president and CEO of Southwest Community Health Center. “Beyond a quality affordable health care facility and housing, we are creating more than 30 new jobs and saving more than 60 jobs.”
The single-building project on 46 Albion St. will include a 7,000-square-foot dental center, a 24,400-square-foot medical center and 35 units of public housing. The housing, which is the final large-scale project to complete the Father Panik Village replacement, will comprise 35 two-bedroom units on four floors above the dental center. The apartments were paired with the health center to give tenants access to a range of health services.
“We can”™t say enough about our partners”™ at Southwest willingness to work with us to create opportunities for Bridgeport families to receive continued health care while living in safe and secure housing,”
said Nicholas Calace, executive director of the city”™s Housing Authority. Calace recognized U.S. Rep. Jim Himes for his work securing some $5.3 million in federal funding for the health center.
“The quality of life for Bridgeport families is raised because of this partnership,” said Mayor Bill Finch.
The location on Albion Street will replace Southwest”™s existing facility located just yards away in the former Saint Stephen”™s Elementary School. Calace said the school”™s structure needed such significant changes to meet code that it became impractical to rehabilitate it.
The Albion Street property was the former location of the Evergreen Apartments and had been given to the Housing Authority by the state.
“Southwest Community Health Center has served families in the city of Bridgeport for decades and this agency along with the Housing Authority ”¦ continues to be the safety net for hardworking families who have fallen on hard times, need health care and a decent place live,” said Calace.
The dental center will expand the Southwest Community Health Center”™s services by 40 percent, and the medical center will offer a range of services including internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics and behavioral health.
Funding for the project comes from various sources including the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, M&T Bank, Fairfield County Community Foundation, donations and investment from the Southwest Community Health Center.
The medical center received its $5.3 million in Affordable Care Act funding through the Department of Health and Human Services.
The applications for the apartments are still in the review phase with a requested $7.8 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and $4.2 million in tax credits requested from the Connecticut Housing Finance Agency. A group of private citizens from Fairfield County have agreed to provide additional funding in support of the public housing.
In keeping with Finch”™s BGreen 2020 Initiative, the buildings will feature vegetative roofs and the entire project boasts exterior fiber-cement siding with at least 50 percent recycled material, low VOC paints and adhesives, highly reflective and high emissivity roofing and other features that will allow it to be LEED certified.
