ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis nonprofit will hold a socially distanced groundbreaking ceremony next week for its planned $22 million development in north St. Louis' JeffVanderLou neighborhood.
DOORWAYS, which is an interfaith agency providing housing and supportive services for those at risk of homelessness due to HIV and poverty, will break ground on the development on Nov. 18 at 10 a.m. at 1101 N. Jefferson.
A 50-unit apartment complex for emergency housing needs, client-service center and administrative offices for the organizations will be part of the first phase. According to a release from DOORWAYS, the construction of the three-acre campus is expected to be done by spring 2022.
“This groundbreaking signals the beginning of a significant new era for DOORWAYS and the expansion of our organization’s ability to serve our clients,” Opal M. Jones, president and chief executive officer of DOORWAYS, said. “Homeless people with HIV are 10 times more likely to die from HIV-related causes. This campus will allow us to expand our circle of care, increase efficiencies, and build a community from the inside out. It will be a place where people will stabilize their health, as well as find hope.”
DOORWAYS said when the project is completed, the new housing and client-service center will allow it to provide its clients with services including case management, 24-hour staffing, behavioral health services, employment services and HIV-related health services.
The nonprofit said it will also expand its capacity to offer other services like self-development, computer literacy, GED and HiSET instruction, stress management, financial literacy and household-budgeting training, and nutritional counseling.
“Housing and health care alone are not enough,” Jones said “Our clients and their families also need services to address a mix of life-limiting challenges to anchor them to stability.”
