40-unit St. Cloud housing proposal aims to help those facing mental health, homelessness

Yahoo

15-05-2025

A new housing project focused on mental health, substance use and homelessness could come to the Granite City.
The St. Cloud Planning Commission pushed forward Center City Housing's proposal to build the 40-unit apartment complex at the old YMCA site, 1530 Northway Dr., near St. Cloud Technical and Community College. Community Development Director Matt Glaesman said the lot has been vacant for roughly eight years.
Center City Housing's project, Elm Ridge Apartments, would be monitored with a 24/7 front desk and security.
Similar program seeks assistance: After decades of second chances, St. Cloud's Dream Center needs help
The organization's executive director, Nancy Cashman, said the average age of residents in similar facilities is 50 years old. She told planning commissioners the project would help those struggling with homelessness and health issues, citing the difficulty of addressing health woes while experiencing homelessness.
"Living on the streets is not a very good treatment plan," Cashman said. "Traditionally, nobody makes good progress while living on the streets."
Cashman said residents will likely be 50% or 30% below the area median income. A Stearns County subsidy helps cover roughly $700 for rent and supplement services, Cashman told Commissioners on May 13 at its May 13 meeting. If a resident has income, she said rent will be a third of what the tenant brings in.
There aren't many barriers for residents to live at the proposed building in an effort help meet them where they're at, according to Cashman. She said this helps long-term, citing other housing first programs Center City Housing did. Center City Housing manages similar projects in St. Cloud like River Crest and River Heights.
"It sounds a little bit counterproductive but it actually works because people can find their own investment in their own lives," Cashman said.
What's up with the space shuttle? Project continues after St. Cloud inventor files for bankruptcy
Jamie Opper, who was a social worker in Seattle before moving to Waite Park, vouched for the program during her public hearing statement. She said housing first models like Center City Housing's proposal work, can help those in need "blossom."
"When you can get somebody into a safe environment like this, where they feel safe, where they have a space to call their own, it really can help kind of lessen the symptoms," Opper said. "It can help people sort of get back on their feet."
A National Low Income Housing Coalition report states housing first programs, like the Elm Ridge Apartments project, helped decrease homelessness by 88% and improved housing stability by 41%.
In 2017, Coborns looked at the old YMCA site to build either a gas station or grocery store, according to previous St. Cloud Times reports, but that idea failed.
The proposal is now up to the St. Cloud City Council, according to city processes.
Corey Schmidt covers politics and courts for the St. Cloud Times. He can be reached at [e-mail].
This article originally appeared on St. Cloud Times: Minnesota housing project aims to combat homelessness in St. Cloud