Apr 21, 2013 5 min read

The April 2010 fire at Avalon Court on Greene Street in Waynesburg that claimed two lives and displaced 41 others uncovered a harsh deficiency – the county lacked transitional housing for those affected by disaster.

“This was a wake-up call for us,” said Karen Bennett, executive director of Greene County Human Services Department. “We operate seven housing units throughout Greene County for homeless adults, but they are rental properties operated by our Permanent Supportive Housing program, and they are scattered throughout the county,” she said.

The tragedy at Avalon Court triggered a response from the human services department and the county commissioners to move forward with establishing a transitional housing apartment complex in Waynesburg, and last month Whitehill Place was dedicated.

It was just eight months after the blaze that the county purchased a building at 189 E. High St. that formerly served as a doctor’s office. The building near St. Ann Church was converted into a five-unit apartment building about five months later..

When the final piece of the more than three-quarters-of-a-million-dollar puzzle was put in place, “the beautiful picture of Whitehill Place emerged,” Bennett said.

The county has granted the property to nonprofit organanization Connect Inc. to manage. Whitehill Place opened Nov. 15, 2012, and all six apartments are occupied.

Bennett said the residents are allowed to stay for no longer than 18 months and must meet certain federal criteria. Residents will receive job and life-skills training, as well as treatment for any behavioral issues, with the ultimate goal being self-sufficiency.

No one questions the value of having such a transitional house in Greene County. But Whitehill Place barely scratches the surface when it comes to meeting housing needs in Greene County, which, as one study suggested, may need as many as 600 additional units for low-income and extremely low-income individuals.

But before the county is labeled a housing desert, consider the value of the Greene County Housing Authority, an autonomous county entity, which operates eight HUD-subsidized housing projects.

Among them is Avalon Court, which underwent a $5 million renovation following the fire. The apartment complex originally consisted of 40 units – 20 studio apartments and 20 one-bedroom apartments. As part of the building’s transformation , the architect redesigned the space with 28 one-bedroom apartments and six studio apartments, eliminating six apartments.

Lois Mocniak, executive director of the housing authority, said after the residents moved back in, “You can’t imagine how delighted we are to have this behind us.”

Mocniak is quite aware that dealing with people seeking public housing can be frustrating at times.

She was asked if being homeless moves an applicant upward on the waiting list. She said matter-of-factly, “No.”

“We had a lady come in recently who said she was living in a car. Her name happened to come up on the waiting list and she turned the offer down. Did that mean she is still homeless?”

Well, perhaps she thought living in a car was better than living in one of the county’s housing units.

Mocniak did say, though, that if a person is homeless as a result of a disaster, he or she is pushed up the list. But for someone to just come in and say he is homeless, “No they are treated just like anyone else making an application,” she said.

“But, frankly, people coming in and saying they are homeless is not a common thing,” Mocniak said. And, surprisingly, her assessment of the housing market in Greene County, generally speaking? “Adequate.”

“Don’t let the waiting list alarm you because a lot of people have been called before and they are just not interested at that moment, and they drop to the bottom of the list. They could have been on a waiting list for five years and we may have offered them five or six different places, and they say they are not interested,” she said.

Mocniak said the housing authority is not overwhelmed with people waiting to get in. “Tenants are bound to a year’s lease, but they can give a 30-day notice, so we do have a pretty good turnover,” she said.

She said public housing is not for the long-term. “People end up getting a job, buy a house with a yard, garage and garden, and sometimes they just can’t take care of themselves so they end up in a nursing home or go live with a family member. Those factors contribute to a lot of vacancies.”

In addition to the 284 HUD-subsidized housing units, there is also private subsidized housing in the county, such as Bridge Street Commons, Carmichaels Arbors, Cedarwood Apartments in Carmichaels, Mountainview Gardens, Parkview Knoll in Carmichaels and Waynesburg House.