BEGIN:VCALENDAR
PRODID:-//punkave//apostrophe 1.x//EN
VERSION:1.0
TZ:0
BEGIN:VEVENT
CATEGORIES:MEETING
DTSTART:20120131T153000Z
DTEND:20120131T173000Z
DTSTAMP:20120108T022200Z
SUMMARY:Garrett House Grand Opening
DESCRIPTION:Come join us as we celebrate the Grand Opening of Garrett House! The event will take place at 609 N. Washington Street, Wilmington, DE 19801. Ribbon cutting will begin at 10:30am followed by refreshments and tours of the new building. Garrett House New, Affordable, & Accessible Housing for People with Physical Disabilities January 18, 2012 United Cerebral Palsy of Delaware (UCP) has breathed new life into an historical building in Quaker Hill that will provide new housing for people with disabilities. Mayor James Baker will help UCP dedicate the new building, called Garrett House, on January 31. Garrett House is now Delaware’s newest housing option for people with physical disabilities. UCP and Independent Resources, Inc. (IRI) headed the project. Garrett House is named after Thomas Garrett, a famous Wilmington historical figure, who was a Quaker and abolitionist. He was a contemporary of Harriet Tubman, and a station master on the Under Ground Railroad. His son, Ellwood Garrett, built and owned the original home in 1848. By the mid 1990’s the original building had deteriorated badly. It had become a place for homeless people and was known for drugs. The City of Wilmington gained control of the building and boarded it up until UCP acquired the building from the City to create new housing for people with physical disabilities. The lack of housing for people with disabilities has long been known in Delaware. In 2003, Governor Ruth Ann Minner started the Commission on Community-Based Alternatives for Persons with Disabilities. The Commission identified housing as a goal. IRI Executive Director Larry Henderson asked the City of Wilmington if it had a property that the two agencies could develop as new, affordable, and accessible housing. The City recommended Garrett House, and donated the building and property to the project. UCP became the owner of the building, and took on the job of raising the funds to renovate the original building, and to add new construction to increase the number of apartments. The building was in great disrepair. The rear of the building had fallen down, the roof had holes in it, and the building had suffered years of water damage. The interior was unusable and needed new floor joists and supports for structural integrity. The front brick wall of the three story building was in danger of falling into the street. The goal, create seven accessible apartments as housing for residents with disabilities would be a challenge to raise. The cost was $1.8 million. Since Garrett House is located in the Quaker Hill community, the historical nature of the building also had to be preserved, and the new construction would be required to compliment the original design, especially the windows and the lines of the building. The capital funding for Garrett House came from a grant from the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Additional funding came from the City of Wilmington, the Delaware State Housing Authority, the Delaware Division of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC), New Castle County, JPMorganChase, Bank of America, First State Community Loan Fund, Delmarva Power, the Longwood Foundation, and Crystal Trust. The building was completed in December, 2011, and has three floors, with an elevator. All interior doors are wide for those who are wheelchair users, and each apartment has its own washing machine and dryer. The building has two accessible means of entrance and exit, and it has a parking lot with five parking spaces for those with wheel chair accessible vans. Garrett House will provide independent, residential apartments for adults with physical disabilities who meet federal income guidelines. The apartments will be open to people with any physical disability, not just those who have Cerebral Palsy. All of UCP and IRI’s programs are open in this manner. Because it was funded with a HUD grant, Garrett House comes with a rent subsidy for people with disabilities who are low income. Thomas Garrett was committed to freedom for all people. He would have approved of the new life and purpose of the building named in his honor. For more information contact: United Cerebral Palsy of Delaware, Inc. Bill McCool wmccool@ucpde.org or Lindsay Pawlikowski lpawlikowski@ucpde.org 302-764-2400
LOCATION:
UID:31
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR