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Expected Opening: October 2008
The beautiful
landscaped grounds of Mont Marie in Holyoke will soon be
the setting of a new Senior Residence. The
low-income elderly housing facility is being built by the
Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield
with the help of Mercy Housing, Inc. The
apartments are planned for the building that housed the
Mont Marie Conference Center, which is now closed.
The facility will include
activity rooms, exercise areas and a library with
computers and internet access.
The residence is
situated on 52 acres overlooking the Connecticut River
Valley and is conveniently located near the Holyoke Mall,
the Holyoke Medical Center
and other medical facilities. Community-based
support services such as Meals on Wheels and visiting
nurses, will be available to
residents.
The project is being funded primarily
through a $6.2 million Housing and Urban Development grant
and will be open to all qualifying residents of Western
Massachusetts. Additional service-based housing for
seniors is being considered for Mont Marie.
Project Update: July 30,
2008
The
Sisters of St. Joseph of Springfield are pleased to
announce that work is on schedule
for the Mont Marie Senior Residence, a Housing and
Urban Development project at the Congregation’s Mont Marie
campus in Holyoke.
Plans
include converting the former Mont Marie Conference Center
at 34 Lower Westfield Road into 49 low income apartments
for the elderly.
The housing units are expected to be ready for occupancy
in October 2008.
The
apartments will be available to women and men, age 62 and
older who earn less than 50% of the area median income.
The median income for the Springfield area in 2007 is
about $50,000.
While the
facility is designed for independent living, outside
supportive services will be available to qualifying
seniors. Besides the 540 square-foot apartments, the
facility will include community and exercise rooms, a
library, meditation room and an interior courtyard
with gardens, benches and gazebo.
Planning
for the project began several years ago when the
Congregation saw an urgent need for affordable housing for
seniors in Western Massachusetts. “Responding to the
emerging needs of our community is always at the heart of
who we are as Sisters of St. Joseph,” says Sister Mary
Quinn, President of the Sisters of St. Joseph of
Springfield. “We are grateful for the partnerships that
have developed as we respond to this need for affordable
housing and we look forward to welcoming new neighbors to
Mont Marie.”
In
October of 2004, the Congregation received a $6.2 million
capital advance from HUD’s Section 202 Supportive Housing
for the Elderly program to help finance the project, as
well as project-based rental assistance for five years.
The Sisters of Saint Joseph also secured funds from
several other sources to meet the $8.9 million renovation
cost including:
Affordable Housing Trust, Housing Innovation and Housing Stabilization funds,
City of Holyoke HOME funds, pre-development grant from HUD
and the
National Religious Retirement
Office.
In addition, the
Holyoke Gas and Electric Company was able to support the
project by providing $100,000 in economic development
assistance.
Studio
One Inc. of Springfield is the Architect for the project
and Western Builders, Inc. of Granby is the General
Contractor. The Mont Marie Health Care Center and Mont
Marie Child Care Center remains fully operational during
the construction.
To obtain
more information about the application process,
interested persons should contact Jill Keough, Director of
Operations, at 413-536-0853 x 280. Applications will
be reviewed by Appleton Corporation, the property
management company selected for the project.
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