Full Circle Communities and the Ruth Ellis Center partnered on REC (Ruth Ellis Clairmount) Center, a 43-unit mixed-used permanent supportive housing development in Detroit. REC Center targets youth at risk of homelessness or living with disabilities, as well as LGBTQ+ youth (age 18 to 24) with very low incomes—rents are affordable to those earning at or below 30 percent of the Area Median Income with the help of Project Based Section 8 subsidies. The property is designed to foster communal living and encourage peer support networks and independent living skills. A wellness center offers services largely tailored to serve the LGBTQ+ population.

The REC Center is the 2023 AHF Readers' Choice Award Winner in the Permanent Supportive Housing category. This development was also a 2022 CREW Detroit Impact Award Winner in the Special Impact Project category. 

Located only 1,500 feet from the Virginia Square-GMU Metrorail station, Lucille and Bruce Terwilliger Place is a 160-unit affordable rental community featuring a contemporary 6,000-square-foot ground floor space for American Legion Post 139. In response to an aging facility and diminishing membership, the members of the American Legion Post 139 selected developers Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH) to redevelop their site in Virginia Square to create affordable apartments and a new, modern Post facility. The certified EarthCraft Gold building also includes community and multi-purpose spaces, a counseling office, and a business center. Terwilliger Place has a 50 percent veteran preference, and 26 units are deeply affordable to households earning 30 percent of the area median income (AMI).

As veterans continue to get priced out of Arlington, APAH saw a need to serve the individuals who had dedicated their lives to serving their nation. Now, in the heart of Arlington County, veterans can enjoy living in a community made for them. With nearby shops, access to transportation, community amenities, and supportive services, veterans can feel empowered to build and thrive in a new, safe, and stable home. This community serves as a replicable model for veterans services organizations in the middle of a town with a large veteran presence, which can influence potential developers and veterans services organizations alike.

Bruce and Lucille Terwilliger Place is the 2023 AHF Readers’ Choice Winner in the Urban category. This development won the 2023 CoStar Impact Award for Multifamily Development of the Year.

In 1951, Lennox House opened as a 110-room hotel in Grand Prairie, Texas and shut its doors in 1985. National Church Residences converted the old hotel into a 40-unit senior housing complex in 1993, and now, it's been substantially rehabilitated to extend its useful lifespan as well as preserve its affordability, which is key for the elderly community and individuals with disabilities. This three-story garden-style building provides 39 one-bedroom and one two-bedroom apartments under the renewal of the Section 8 subsidy RAD conversion program. This development serves the elderly and individuals with disabilities, ages 62 or older, earning 30-60 percent of the area median income (AMI).

The upgrade includes interior and exterior rehab with kitchen and bath remodels, new flooring, fixtures, window coverings, new ENERGY STAR appliances, window replacements, etc. Residents have access to a new community garden and outdoor space. Two units are modified to comply with Section 504, physically handicapped accessibility and sensory impaired requirements.

Lennox House is the 2023 AHF Readers’ Choice Winner in the Preservation category.

Photo credit: Rick Bryant.

Once a vacant parking lot, Berkeley Way and The Hope Center unites shelter, food, and services in one affordable and supportive housing complex in Berkeley, California. BRIDGE Housing and Insight Housing (formerly Berkeley Food & Housing Project) worked together to make this inspiring venture a reality. Between the two buildings, there are 89 affordable apartments, 53 permanent supportive housing (PSH) units, 12 transitional housing units for veterans, and 32 emergency shelter beds. The Hope Center has a ground-floor community kitchen with the shelter and veterans housing and PSH units above it.

The community of Berkeley aims to support individuals coming out of homelessness at 15 and 50-60 percent of the area median income (AMI). Both developments benefit from the Section 8 subsidy. The city has been granted to improve the transportation system regarding bicycle connection, bus stop upgrades, and zero emissions. Along with convenient access to Berkeley’s BART transit and bus services, residents have plentiful employment opportunities in downtown Berkeley.

Together, Berkeley Way and The Hope Center is a 2023 AHF Readers’ Choice Finalist in the Urban Category.

Completed in Fall 2022, 1064 Mission Street is now San Francisco’s largest permanent supportive housing community. With 256 new affordable homes, residents can experience a service-enriched community in the middle of San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood. Mercy Housing California (MHC) and Episcopal Community Services of San Francisco (ECS) worked together closely on the development of 1064 Mission Street to play a small, but vital part in the battle to end homelessness.

While new, affordable homes were crucial to the development, co-developers and City of San Francisco partners also placed a large focus was placed on providing critical services to enhance the lives of people who have experienced homelessness, an issue that runs rampant in one of the nation’s most expensive cities. The focus on tailored services resulted in the creation of the new Maria X. Martinez Health Resource Center, operated by the San Francisco Department of Public Health (DPH) and the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. On-site clinical, case management, and in-home care services are also provided by ECS, St. Anthony Foundation, and Homebridge.

1064 Mission Street is a 2023 AHF Readers’ Choice Finalist in the Urban category.

Landmark Place is a senior-focused and supportive campus in Kingston, NY and consists of the rehabilitated former Kingston Alms House (Landmark West), which offers 34 studio apartments. The new construction (Landmark East) is a 4-story building with 32 one-bedroom apartments. All 66 apartments cater to seniors 55 and older and 35 units are reserved for formerly homeless seniors. This community is the first affordable housing development for seniors built in Kingston in over 20 years. Created by RUPCO, Landmark Place ensures that seniors in the community can live with dignity, empowering residents with supportive housing services and a sense of community that allows them to thrive.

Landmark Place's supportive services include a full-time on-site behavioral health specialist, on-site licensed practical nurse, transportation services, daily living skills training, health, wellness, and socialization activities. It is a 2023 AHF Readers' Choice Award Finalist in the Seniors category.