Next step: Fair House is ready to be called home

By John Howell
Posted 4/25/17

By JOHN HOWELL Now that the Fair Street mansion built in 1830 has been restored and renovated to provide 10 chronically homeless people with permanent apartments, the units need some love and attention before they can be called home. That was evident

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Next step: Fair House is ready to be called home

Posted

Now that the Fair Street mansion built in 1830 has been restored and renovated to provide 10 chronically homeless people with permanent apartments, the units need some love and attention before they can be called home.

That was evident Thursday evening as an estimated 150 people, many of them neighbors, were welcomed to the Fair House warming.

One unit was partially furnished, giving a cozy feel of belonging. Predictably, it was also the room other than the open bar and kitchen with its platters of hors d’ oeuvres where everyone congregated.

The house warming was aimed at raising the funds to furnish the apartments with everything from kitchen utensils and linens to couches and beds. As executive director of the House of Hope CDC, Laura Jaworski explained federal and state funding that made preservation and renovation of Fair House possible can’t be used for furnishings. Jaworski reported Friday that the event raised $17,000.

“We’re pretty pleased,” she said.

But the House of Hope could still use some help.

Jaworski said the House of Hope is looking for donations of such items as towels, small microwave ovens, fans, plateware, utensils, desk and table lights and, naturally, furniture including tables, beds and chairs. The House of Hope will even arrange to pick up donations. Calls can be made to Dawn Santos at 463-3324 ext. 206.

Residents are expected to move into Fair House in the next four to six weeks. While the city has issued a certificate of occupancy, some minor details remain to be completed and the process of qualifying candidates as residents is ongoing. Those selected, Jaworski said, will “come from all walks of life.” She imagined some might not have graduated from high school while others could have multiple higher education degrees. All will have been “chronically” homeless and all, once approved for residency, will be considered “permanent” residents. They will be expected to pay a third of their monthly income as rent. A caseworker will work out of the house on weekdays and, as Jaworski explained, residents may transition out of the house when ready, but that is not necessary. Most of the units follow the configuration of the mansion with bathrooms and closets being added so they are independent apartments. Although spacious and inviting, most do not have a kitchen. They are outfitted with refrigerators.

The house has a common kitchen where tenants can cook. Microwaves and coffee makers are permitted in the units.

A formal ribbon cutting is planned for May 22 at 9:30 a.m. Naturally, says Jaworski, the community is invited. But then she plans for Fair House to be a part of the community.

Under a partnership with the URI Master Gardeners, House of Hope plans to have two large raised gardens on the property. These would be primarily vegetable gardens for the tenants of Fair House as well as the George Galen Wheeler House, which the House of Hope renovated as housing five years ago. Jaworski said the gardens would be open neighborhood residents.

“It’s another thread in the fabric of the community,” she said.

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