Volunteers of America Ohio & Indiana recently announced plans to uplift women veterans by building a new affordable housing community to serve their needs. Located at Lee Avenue and E. 105th Street in Cleveland’s Circle North neighborhood, the new multi-family housing community will consist of two buildings containing 12 apartments. Each building will be approximately 3,000 square feet and house five one-bedroom apartments and a two-bedroom suite for women with children.
Rent for the housing community will be subsidized, and residents will have access to parking, laundry, multipurpose space, and transportation to the nearby Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center. The Cuyahoga Land Bank donated the land for the project to the Volunteers of America.
The new veteran-centric affordable housing is being named as a tribute to U.S. Marine Corps Veteran and Cleveland native Judge Sara J. Harper. Judge Harper served as the first-ever female military judge in the history of the Marine Corps Reserve and the first African American woman to graduate from Case Western Reserve University’s School of Law.
“Just a few short years ago, this area was plagued by abandoned buildings and vacant land,” says Gus Frangos, President and General Counsel of the Cuyahoga Land Bank. “The Cuyahoga Land Bank’s strategic assembly of land in this neighborhood led to the development of the Fisher Houses and a beautiful community green space across the street. The Judge Sara J. Harper Village is a terrific complement to these recent projects.”