Evergreen Lofts is the first affordable housing of its kind in Buffalo: a 19th-century trunk factory converted into safe, attractive apartments for formerly homeless people with HIV/AIDS and low-income LGBTQ residents. Nearly $10 million in equity from NEF, and federal and state historic tax credits, made the project possible.
The excerpt below is from:
Evergreen Lofts: Creating a Safe Space To Call Home
By Sarah Maurer, Buffalo LISC
In August of 2016, the first tenants of the newly opened Evergreen Lofts walked through the doors of a former warehouse on Genesee Street and found what many of them had been seeking for a long time – a safe, affordable apartment to call home. The Evergreen Association’s vision of providing affordable housing that would be open and affirming to members of the LGBTQ community, low-income individuals and families, and those living with chronic illness had become a reality.
Originally founded as AIDS Community Services in 1983 to provide assistance to those affected by the HIV/AIDS crisis, the organization has since expanded to provide health services to the entire community, focusing on underserved or stigmatized individuals who are battling chronic health conditions. The Evergreen Association encompasses several non-profit service providers, including Evergreen Health, The Pride Center of Western New York, and Community Access Services.
“The larger association oversees Evergreen Health, which encompasses medical behavioral health services such as chronic disease management, social work and medical care coordination,” said Justin Azzarella, Evergreen’s VP for Community Development. “Under that same umbrella is the Pride Center of WNY, whose mission is to improve quality of life for LGBTQ folks throughout the community and the eight counties of Western New York. Our third partner organization, Community Access Services, is primarily focused on communities of color, with a more major shift toward Buffalo’s East Side communities over the last five years.”
Evergreen’s holistic structure and years of experience serving the local LGBTQ population led them to the realization that there was a significant need for this type of open and affirmative housing in Western New York. Many of their clients face discrimination and even violence when staying at shelters or moving into group-living environments, and have experienced the harsh reality that revealing their sexual identity might compromise their personal safety. By partnering with Southern Tier Environments for Living (STEL), Evergreen developed a plan to address their clients’ housing needs through adaptive reuse of an historic building. Continued[+]...