Page 14 - Ministry of Caring

SPECIAL PROMOTIONAL SECTION
Josephine Staton cares for the plants at Sacred Heart Village I.
Safe Housing for Very Low-Income Seniors
Village of Saint John will offer 53 additional affordable units.
Josephine Staton doesn’t know the precise species of the plants in the lush, sunlit hallway near her apartment door.
But she knows the story behind each one—many belonged to neighbors who moved or passed away—and she cares for them tenderly.
Staton lives in Sacred Heart Village I (SHVI) on North Monroe Street, a 77-unit building of subsidized apartments for very low-income seniors, age 62 and older. In 2003, with her children grown and out of the home, Staton was struggling to maintain her Wilmington residence by herself. Her minister, who worked for the Wilmington Housing Authority, recommended SHVI.
“I like the security,” she says, referring to the 24-hour front- desk staff and surveillance cameras. “I like the neighbors. For me, it’s peaceful, and my children are satisfied knowing that I’m OK.”
The Ministry of Caring opened SHVI in 2001. It is independently incorporated and has its own board of directors, though the Ministry provides administrative support.
Poor senior citizens often have no good option for permanent housing that is safe and affordable. The waiting list for an apartment at SHVI hovers around 100 names. That continuing need is the reason the Ministry built Sacred Heart Village II, a new 25-unit building on the East Side that offers the same safety and amenities to its residents.
Another nascent senior housing project, Village of Saint John (VSJ), will convert the 158-year-old Cathedral of Saint John, located at the corner of Concord Avenue and Market Street in the Brandywine Village section of Wilmington, into 53 units of affordable housing for seniors.
Former Wilmington Mayor Jim Baker, a member of the Ministry of Caring Board and president of the newly formed VSJ Board of Directors, said the city has been trying to improve the Brandywine Village neighborhood since he joined city
council in the 1970s.
“Slowly but surely, it’s turning around, and Village of Saint John is at the center of that whole change,” he says.
M14 WWW.DELAWARETODAY.COM FEBRUARY 2017