Families take up residence at Pope Francis Haven

Linda Nelson still can’t believe her new apartment is real.

For six weeks, she lived with her husband, twin babies and 2-year-old son in a cramped room at the West Wynn Motel after losing housing with a roommate in late June.

“Me and Linda almost killed each other a couple times,” her husband, David Parisia, joked.

The family is one of 24 that have moved into Pope Francis Haven, Catholic Charities’ latest housing project for formerly homeless families. They sat on the lawn eating pizza after a grand opening ceremony Thursday.

Though their last bout of homelessness only lasted a few weeks, Nelson and Parisia have been without permanent housing for most of the eight years they’ve been together. Two years ago, they were able to get clean, stop using drugs and begin trying to find a place to live.

“We found roommate after roommate,” Nelson said. The couple would stay somewhere for as long as they could, but never had a lease in their name or a place to call their own.

In time, the couple regained custody of the younger Parisia, who had been in foster care for 16 months, after his parents’ drug use and lack of stability. They went to counseling through Catholic Charities and found they were eligible for a subsidized housing voucher for the new complex in Spokane Valley.

“This place is an absolute blessing,” Nelson said.

The two- and three-bedroom units at Pope Francis Haven come with brand-new kitchens and access to a community building with a computer lab and playground. They came outfitted with beds, thanks to a donation from the Mormon Church.

Residents will be able to take a variety of life skills classes in the community room. Brandi Anderson, a nutritional educator with Washington State University’s extension program, said families coming out of homelessness typically haven’t been cooking regularly and may need some help to get started.

In a series of nine to 11 classes, she covers different nutrients and gives people hands-on practice making food.

“They get the skills, they get the recipes, they get to try new foods,” she said.

Catholic Charities also plans to offer classes in budgeting, cleaning and other life skills provided by on-site staff.

The complex has filled almost half of its 52 units in just three weeks. Under the terms of the funding used to build and maintain the apartments, all units must be full within three months. Rob McCann, the executive director of Catholic Charities, said there will be no problem filling the building.

“It shows you the need,” he said.

He said as far as he knows, the building is the first in the nation named for Pope Francis.

Nelson is eager to raise her twin girls, Gabriella and Isabella, in their three-bedroom unit. Her son will begin Head Start soon, and her husband wants to go to college. She’d like to work on a degree online, she said, so she can continue being a stay-at-home mom.

She said she hasn’t had her own place to live since she was 16.

“It still doesn’t feel real,” she said.