Paul Fuchcar of the Council for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services speaks at a news conference held Thursday, July 10, 2014, at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga to discuss the state’s plans for tackling widespread prescription drug abuse in Tennessee. Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Commissioner E. Douglas Varney was present to speak.More new apartments are going up on Chattanooga’s North Shore, but this complex is targeted with helping men and women with substance abuse problems stay on the straight and narrow path.
“When you come out of rehab you feel like the deck is stacked against you,” said Jeannie Harper, chairwoman of the board for the Council for Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services. “These are for those people continuing down the recovery road.”
CADAS plans to break ground Monday on the 24-unit, $2.5 million project on its campus at Manning and Minor streets.
Support services such as relapse prevention, life skills and community meetings will be available for the residents, according to CADAS.
Harper said the site makes sense because of its proximity to needed services such as bus lines, a laundromat and grocery store.
“A lot of times, they don’t have cars,” she said, adding the tenants will be expected to find jobs to pay rent at the apartments.
Paul Fuchcar, CADAS’ executive director, said rental rates were uncertain at this point, but the units will fall into the “low-income” range. All the apartments will be single-occupancy and have one bedroom.
Harper said that while CADAS has halfway-house services and a residential program for mothers, this is the first offering of its type for the agency.
“We recognized a need,” she said. “It’s a need we saw when CADAS looked at the services we offered. Affordable, quality housing was underserved.”
Completion is set for spring 2017. The 12,000-square-foot project is funded in part by grants from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati and the Tennessee Housing Development Agency. Pinnacle Financial Partners is providing a loan for the project, according to CADAS.
Betsy McCright, executive director of the Chattanooga Housing Authority, said it may be able to assist with project-based vouchers for renters.
“This project represents the culmination of three years of planning to create a facility which will provide permanent housing to these worthy individuals,” Harper said.
Fuchcar said the apartments will offer a “valuable component” to CADAS’ tools to help people with addictions.
“Our hope is that, for these 24 people in early recovery, living in our apartments will redefine how they view their personal recovery and assist them in regaining their lives,” he said.
Kenny Dyer, Pinnacle’s Chattanooga president, said providing affordable housing should be top priority because it’s critical to the success of the community.
Dyer said he’s looking forward to seeing “the long-term positive it makes for the residents.”
Contact staff writer Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318.