Collaboration was the common theme Monday evening as supporters and community members gathered at the corner of Ninth and Tennessee streets to break ground on the Hope Project affordable housing development.
The planned 10-unit affordable housing project is primarily a partnership between Ninth Street Missionary Baptist Church, who own the land, and Family Promise, who will operate the housing.
Monday’s groundbreaking was for a new six-unit building at 909 Tennessee St., which is currently a parking lot. An existing four-unit building at 913 Tennessee will remain for a total of 10 units.
Family Promise Executive Director Brenda Wahl said the new project would fill a need as a transition point for those waiting for vouchers or funds to move into housing. It will also offer families case management services for families as they work to save money, build a budget and move into housing.
Wahl listed Family Promise projects that were made possible with the help of Ninth Street Missionary Baptist Church.
“Ninth Street has been a great friend of Family Promise throughout our time here in Lawrence, for 16 or 17 years now,” she said.
The church is one of the longest-standing in the community at 162 years old.
“We wanted to ask you to be that example in this community,” Pastor Eric A. Galbreath said. “Yes, we worship God and we are truly sincere about that, but also putting feet with our prayers, and being able to make an impact.”
It took more than those two organizations to help Hope Project come to life, project leaders said Monday.
Justice Matters, a local nonprofit collaborative of faith groups of which Ninth Street Missionary Baptist Church is a member, helped the project come to life. The city supported the project with $300,000 from its affordable housing trust fund.
“I want to thank the organization, Family Promise, for being so great and stepping out there and doing the work,” said Monte Soukup, a member of the city’s Affordable Housing Advisory Board. “Because it’s easy to talk about these problems. It’s hard to step into the space and actually do the work.”
In March, Lawrence-Douglas County Planning Commission members voted unanimously to recommend approving four items related to the project. The city received dozens of public comment letters from the community, almost all supporting the project.
“I think this is only the beginning of great things,” Galbreath said. “And so we’re looking forward, we believe the best is yet to come. So we’re thankful. We’re thankful for this opportunity.”
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Cuyler Dunn (he/him), a contributor to The Lawrence Times since April 2022, is a student at the University of Kansas School of Journalism. He is a graduate of Lawrence High School where he was the editor-in-chief of the school’s newspaper, The Budget, and was named the 2022 Kansas High School Journalist of the Year. Read his complete bio here. Read more of his work for the Times here.
