Progress Underway On Greenfields Community Living Project

JESSUP, MD — Officials have broken ground on the Greenfields Community Living Project, a $990K project that calls for the construction of three single-family, energy efficient, net-zero housing units. Each home will have three bedrooms.

The future residents of the Greenfields Community Living Project will be some of the county’s most vulnerable residents, specifically those of very low income earning 30 percent or below of the HUD Baltimore- Columbia- Towson area median income, and have a diagnosed disability, varying from the autism spectrum disorder, Down syndrome, traumatic brain injury and/or other intellectual disorders.

“The Greenfields Community Living Project provides safe, affordable, and sustainable housing options for our most vulnerable residents,” Howard County Executive Calvin Ball said in a statement. “We are using an innovative model to transition a site that was previously occupied by three vacant and blighted homes into accessible and affordable housing for persons with developmental and intellectual disabilities in Howard County.”

Through the county’s annual entitlement allocation from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the project has been funded with Home Investment Partnership (HOME) Program funds, the county’s Community Renewal MIHU fee-in-lieu funds, state bond financing and discretionary funds from the Weinberg Foundation.

Upon completion, the units will be available for immediate occupancy. These units will be owned and managed by iHomes, Inc. as single-room occupancy units and every resident will have a lease and pay rent for his/her own room and the use of communal spaces. Residency in the affordable units also will include wrap-around services provided by Humanim, Inc., such as enrollment in adult day programs, independent living training, physical rehabilitation, and teaching job readiness skills.