Housing project keeps options open
Ground broken on six-unit, low-income complex in Marlborough

MARLBOROUGH - A six-year dream to give low-income workers affordable housing has a grounding in reality, as a Marlborough nonprofit lays the foundation for a new apartment building.

Employment Options Inc. held a groundbreaking ceremony yesterday at 153 Mechanic St., where it is building six federally subsidized apartments. The agency provides employment training, job placement and other services to people with special needs or mental illness, and will offer the units to its members.

Standing before a large concrete hole on a bitter cold morning, the agency’s leaders said they look forward to the day when they could help insulate at least a few people from an inhospitable housing market.

“It’s really designed for people who are already living in the community, but who are living in substandard housing — the hotels that they’re living in, the single-room occupancies,” said Executive Director Toni Wolf “These are folks who are working but who just aren’t making enough money.”

Funding for the $1 million project comes largely from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the agency gets support from other entities such as the Marl borough Co-Operative Bank, the city and dozens of local employers. The project was delayed in large part, Wolf said, by federal red tape.

Designed by Gorman Richardson Architects of Hopkinton, the two-story, 5,781- square-foot building features four two-bedroom apartments and two one-bedroom units. One of the first-floor apartments will be handicap accessible.

Wolf said the agency hopes to have people living there by next fall. Rent will amount to 30 per cent of a tenant’s income, with the rest coming from federal subsidies.

Employment Options provides services to about 268 active members, Wolf said. Given the amount of interest in the project, she said, it will be difficult to choose who gets the housing. She said the agency will involve members in its decisions, and a committee will help set the se lection criteria.

For the few who are chosen, the housing will be life altering, Wolf said. Too many people are paying $80, $85 a week to rent a room or live in a hotel, she said, and they never get ahead.

“It’s just knowing there’s a roof over their heads,” Wolf said. “This is really nice, permanent housing.”

Several of the agency’s members came to the ceremony. Carol Ann Clevesy has been get ting services for the past decade. The training she received, she said, helped her become the first legally blind person to work at a local Burger King. She now works at the CVS drugstore at the Solomon Pond Mall, stocking shelves and assisting customers.

“It helped me become more sociable, more active,” Clevesy said. “It helped me come out of my shell and not be afraid be- cause I have a sight problem, and to be more active in the community.”

Clevesy, who has an apartment in Hudson, said she struggles to get around because of the lack of public transportation there. She said the apartment project is a good one.

“I love it, it’s great for our members who are living in halfway houses and group homes,” Clevesy said. “I’m going to put my name in for one of the homes.”

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