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Capital Campaign Update
Capital Campaign Update: The $500,000 Capital Campaign is underway. Initial contributions include a $60,000 grant from the Bruening Foundation, $150,000 grant from the Cleveland Foundation and a $45,000 grant from Saint Luke’s Foundation, as well as over $20,000 in donations and pledges from individual donors and corporations.
History
More than 25 years ago, local organizations and individuals saw the need for more options in accessible, affordable housing for people with mobility disabilities. To address this need, they created Maximum Accessible Housing of Ohio (MAHO; then called Maximum Independent Living), an organization to advocate on behalf of people with mobility disabilities and to develop, own and operate accessible apartment communities.
The first of these communities, Circle Vistas, was built in University Circle in 1984, a rehab of a century-old furniture warehouse. This building was made available by University Circle, Inc. When University Circle, Inc., began plans to develop the University Arts and Retail District (UARD), Circle Vistas was approached as a vital part of the area. MAHO has been working with UCI and Case Western Reserve University on the plan to build a New Circle Vistas building adjacent to the current building. There has been good, steady progress and MAHO still hopes to start construction in early 2009 and open a year later.
Community Support
“Living at Circle Vistas has been a blessing for me, but knowing I will be living in a new, fully accessible building is a dream come true and long overdue,” wrote Circle Vistas tenant and MAHO Trustee Donna Prease in a letter to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In July, Donna and 19 other residents of Circle Vistas wrote letters to HUD expressing their support of the project.
These letters—along with letters of support from government officials including United States Senator Sherrod Brown and City of Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson—were submitted to HUD as part of an application to allow the move. This request was one of only three in the nation to be approved by HUD prior to the September 30, 2007 deadline. MAHO is grateful for the outstanding support of the Cleveland HUD office in obtaining the approval.
MAHO is also working with Forest City Capital and Enterprise Community Partners on the funding for the project. In the summer, the City of Cleveland approved a substantial Housing Trust Fund allocation for this project.
City Architecture’s August Fluker has met with the staff, Board of Trustees, Circle Vistas tenants, and accessibility consultant Sally Levine at every step of the design process for their input and ideas. The plans continue to evolve and detailed units plans have recently been developed.
Goals of New Circle Vistas
The goal for the new building is for it to be a model of accessible housing. New Circle Vistas will include a model unit to be used as a physical location for MAHO’s Accessible Housing Resource Center and a place to provide training about the best in accessible design.
In his letter to HUD, Tenant Gregory Stuart wrote, “I’ve been proud to call Circle Vistas my home. By proceeding with this project, not only do you better our lives, but give us all a new beginning.” The generous support of UCI, Case Western, Senator Brown, and Mayor Jackson will help give Gregory and his neighbors their new beginning.
Updated 11/03/08
