More help is on the way for the homeless in the Bay area.
On Wednesday, Catholic Charities broke ground on new permanent housing at Pinellas Hope. The one bedroom apartments will be used to transition homeless people living in tent city into a permanent home.
“We have a long waiting list,” said Pam Long, the director of homeless services for Catholic Charities. “When people come into tent city, we give them four months to help them get back on their feet and to then move them into permanent housing.”
Right now, there are 80 of the one-bedroom housing units at Pinellas Hope. They are all occupied by formerly homeless people who are able to pay a small amount of rent based on their income.
Robert Magill, 69, has lived in an apartment here for four years. Before finding Pinellas Hope, the veteran lived on the streets, the woods and a friend’s garage.
“It’s comfy. It’s cozy. You can walk in and out of the door whenever you want,” Magill said. “I have neighbors and we sit on our porches and talk. Once a week, they take us to get groceries.”
Pinellas Hope also offers job training, clothing, food, substance abuse counseling and medical care.
The first section of the new housing is scheduled for completion in March and the entire project will be finished in December of 2015.