Housing for poor, mentally ill to be built

Apartments for low income, severely mentally ill people will be built in northwest Coeur d’Alene with a $1.3 million federal grant secured by St. Vincent de Paul.

Fourteen low-cost units will go on land owned by the city on Fruitland Lane behind the former Tidyman’s building.

Coupled with the agency’s purchase of the Sandman Hotel on Sherman Avenue for use as transitional housing, the apartments will provide unprecedented housing opportunities for the chronically mentally ill in Kootenai County, said Lynn Peterson, executive director of St. Vincent de Paul.

“This is such a needed project,” Peterson said. “We’re desperate for housing for this clientele.”

The projects will be St. Vincent’s first housing units dedicated to mentally ill people.

The grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development provides more than $1.2 million for construction of the apartments on Fruitland as well as $138,500 to provide subsidized rent for the occupants. A $1 million grant from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare will fund the purchase and renovation of the Sandman Hotel.

Peterson expects the Fruitland apartments to be open within a year and said the hotel should be ready for occupancy by next March. The 11-unit hotel will provide transitional housing; the apartment on Fruitland will be permanent housing.

“Until you’ve got a stable living environment you can’t move forward,” said Kathy Reed, social services director for St. Vincent’s. “This is just going to be a great option.”