Fannie Mae Foundation

F I F T E E N T H
ALETHEIA HOUSE
A N N I V E R S A R Y
Birmingham, Alabama
2 0 0 4
Aletheia House, one of Alabama’s leading substance abuse programs, got into
the housing development business 10
years ago because homeless graduates of
its residential treatment program needed
housing. Avondale Gardens is the organization’s first project that is not limited
to serving residents with special needs,
although at least 15 percent of the
homes at Avondale Gardens are set aside
for formerly homeless people who are
recovering from mental illness or substance abuse.
Formerly homeless tenants qualify for
rent subsidies through the Shelter Plus
Care System, a U.S. Department of
C E L E B R A T I N G
E X C E L L E N C E
I N
Housing and Urban Development–sponsored program for persons living with
disabilities. The remaining units are
available to residents with incomes of up
to 60 percent of the area median income.
The scattered-site development uses two
types of architecture: larger buildings of
one-bedroom units on a busy four-lane
road; and a duplex, a quadruplex, and six
triplexes that look like single-family
homes on a quiet residential street.
Aletheia House hired a design consultant,
in addition to the architect, to ensure
that the design of the project was appropriate and attractive to the existing
neighborhood. The high-quality design
helped turn neighborhood opponents of
affordable homes into advocates and has
drawn the attention of private developers
to the Avondale neighborhood.
Avondale Gardens used low-income tax
credits that were syndicated by the
Enterprise Social Investment Corporation,
debt provided by the Alabama Multifamily Loan Consortium and Amsouth
Bank, and grants from the City of
Birmingham and the Federal Home
Loan Bank of Atlanta. Aletheia House
and its co-developer, the Charter
Companies of Auburn, Ala., also invested
a percentage of their developer fees in
the project.
Building on the success of Avondale
Gardens, Aletheia House hopes to spin
off a subsidiary to continue developing
homes that working families can afford.
Through persistence and skilled leadership, Aletheia House has shown the way
to provide high-quality rental homes in
a challenging environment.
A F F O R D A B L E
H O U S I N G
A W A R D E E
Built on patiently assembled parcels of
vacant or abandoned land, Avondale
Gardens both blends into and lifts its
surroundings. Set in a historic but struggling inner-city neighborhood, Avondale
Gardens brings 64 attractive one-, two-,
and three-bedroom rental units to a metropolitan area with a critical shortage of
affordable homes.
R E N T A L
AVONDALE GARDENS
A F F O R D A B L E
Fa n n i e Ma e Fo u n d a t i o n
A W A R D E E
R E N T A L
A F F O R D A B L E
ALETHEIA HOUSE
IN 1988, TO COMMEMORATE
FANNIE MAE’S 50TH ANNIVERSARY, the Fannie Mae Foundation
announced the Awards of Excellence
S P O N S O R I N G O R G A N I Z AT I O N
Program, which seeks to encourage
Aletheia House focuses on empowering
Birmingham’s poor, especially those who
struggle with addiction. Its programs
include substance abuse treatment and
prevention, employment and training,
transitional and permanent homes, and
transportation.
and recognize nonprofit organiza-
Each year, Aletheia House gets more
than 5,000 calls from low-income individuals seeking substance abuse treatment. It operates a 66-bed residential
substance abuse treatment program for
men and a 32-bed treatment program
for women, including women who are
pregnant or postpartum.
The organization is the Birmingham
area’s largest provider of transitional
homes, with 175 units for individuals
and 33 units for families. The employment and training program offers job
readiness training, job placement help,
and job retention/promotion services
for recovering substance abusers and
ex-prisoners.
FUNDING FOR
AV O N D A L E G A R D E N S
•
•
•
•
•
Low-Income Housing Tax Credits
syndicated by the Enterprise Social
Investment Corporation
Amsouth Bank construction funding
Alabama Multifamily Loan
Consortium debt
City of Birmingham grant
Federal Home Loan Bank of
Atlanta grant
tions working to develop and
maintain housing for low-income
Americans. The program also is
intended to encourage more corporations and foundations to be
involved as funding and investment
partners. The Awards were renamed
•
•
Deferred developer fees
Housing Enterprise of Central
Alabama permanent financing
in honor of David O. Maxwell, who
retired in 1991 after 10 years of
service as chairman and chief executive officer of Fannie Mae and the
ALETHEIA HOUSE’S OTHER
Fannie Mae Foundation.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
FOR THE 15TH ANNIVERSARY
•
•
•
Aletheia House offers culinary arts
training for addicted homeless veterans and clerical training for mothers
who have lost custody of their children because of drug addiction.
The organization provides daily transportation for more than 150 lowincome workers.
Aletheia House runs a free summer
day camp for children living in government-subsidized homes that teaches
positive alternatives to substance abuse
and violence.
OF THE MAXWELL AWARDS
PROGRAM, the Foundation is
awarding $50,000 to each selected
nonprofit organization.
THE FANNIE MAE
FOUNDATION creates affordable
homeownership and housing
opportunities through innovative
partnerships and initiatives that build
healthy, vibrant communities across
the United States. The Foundation is
specially committed to improving the
BOARD LEADERSHIP
quality of life for the people of its
President: Rena Ramsey, Amsouth Bank
Immediate Past President: Victoria Poole
Moore, health care consultant
Vice President: Chris Kramer, Brasfield &
Gorrie Construction
Treasurer: Scott Colson, City of
Birmingham Office of the Mayor
Secretary: Hon. Quitman Mitchell, former mayor of the City of Bessemer
hometown, Washington, D.C., and
to enhancing the livability of the
city’s neighborhoods. Headquartered
in Washington, D.C., the Foundation
is a private, nonprofit organization
whose sole source of support is
Fannie Mae, and has regional offices
in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas,
Pasadena, and Philadelphia.
S TA F F L E A D E R S H I P
Executive Director: Chris Retan
C O N TA C T I N F O R M AT I O N
Aletheia House
P.O. Box 1514
Birmingham, AL 35204
Phone: (205) 324-6502
Fax: (205) 324-7810
E-mail: Chris_Retan@yahoo.com
4000 Wisconsin Avenue, NW
North Tower, Suite One
Washington, DC 20016-2804
(202) 274-8000
www.fanniemaefoundation.org
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