Affordable Apartments Ready for D.C. Families

Nonprofit Displays 21 Units in Southeast

In the past two years, Joann Russell, a single mother of six, has been homeless and bounced around from friend's house to relative's couch to anywhere she could find a place. She now lives in her mother's house in Northwest Washington, where she shares a bedroom with four children while the two oldest boys sleep in the basement.

But Russell got a glimpse at her future yesterday as she toured Independence Place, a cluster of five buildings with 21 apartments for low-income families.

"It's just so big!" said Russell, 28, while her son Antonio, 8, chased his brother Deonte, 3, from room to room.

So Others Might Eat, an interfaith nonprofit organization that advocates for the poor and homeless, bought the buildings in the 2800 block of N Street SE in 2002 and created 14 two-bedroom and seven four-bedroom units.

SOME dedicated the project yesterday and is in the final stages of selecting the families who will live there. In a city with rapidly escalating housing prices, the project is one way to offer a home to large families of modest means, officials said.

"Affordable housing in our city is becoming an endangered species," said the Rev. John Adams, SOME president. "It's God's providence that we found this building."

According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, the District is the least-affordable place in the country for people seeking two-bedroom housing. In 2004, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments counted 2,552 people in families described as "literally homeless" -- meaning they had temporary housing but no home or shelter of their own.

Despite city reserves flush with cash, "homelessness among families is on the rise," council member Vincent C. Gray (D-Ward 7) said yesterday. "There is instability in the lives of people in the District, and this program brings stability."

With private donations and some public funds, SOME spent $3 million to purchase and renovate the property. In addition to the apartments, one building will feature a ground-floor community room that will offer after-school and enrichment programs for the estimated 60 children who will live in the apartments.

Of more than 200 families who inquired about the program, 50 have been interviewed. Shelia Dashiell, the Independence Place program manager, said she would do final interviews this week. The scheduled move-in date is July 1.

"The families are the cream of the crop," Dashiell said. "We have families who are ready to make a difference in their life."

Dashiell said applicants must have a source of income, whether from public assistance or a job. Rent will be based on 30 percent of a tenant's income. The program forbids drugs and alcohol on the property, and recovering addicts must document that they have been sober for six months. Tenants who violate the rules could face eviction, Dashiell said.

Every family that moves in will be assigned to a case manager. The goal, Dashiell said, is for a family to one day be able to pay market rate for housing.

Katrina Bunter, 28, held her daughter Jasmine, 9, on her lap during the dedication, then smiled as she toured the carpeted, renovated apartments. Bunter, a sports coach at nearby Randle Highlands Elementary School, is living with her sister, who will move soon. Bunter said she cannot afford rent higher than $600 a month.

Russell, the mother of six and one of the applicants interviewed, said she is eager to find out whether she will be able to call Independence Place home.

She paused several times as she walked through the empty apartment yesterday, as if to imagine where she might put furniture. Her children already were claiming rooms.

"Do you like it?" she asked, turning to son Antonio. He nodded his head.

"This could be your new home," she replied.