Construction will begin this month on facilities that will serve the county's homeless population.
The site at 600 East Gude Drive in Rockville had housed three shelters, a trailer that served as an overflow facility for one of the shelters and administrative offices.
The new project will feature an addition to the men's emergency shelter run by Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless since 2000 and a new building that will house the Chase Partnership House run by Community Ministries of Rockville and a Safe Haven shelter run by the Coalition for the Homeless, said Sharan London, executive director of the Coalition for the Homeless.
Beyond beds, London said, the new building will feature offices for coalition staff, two dining rooms, two life skills kitchens, a computer lab, conference rooms, lounges and, medical examination rooms.
Residents of the Chase Partnership House, a transitional shelter for 36 men, and Safe Haven, which provides transitional housing and services to mentally ill homeless adults, have been relocated during construction to Gaithersburg and another site in Rockville, London said.
London said the old facilities were old and outdated.
"We're excited about the additional space we'll have at the men's emergency shelter and the services we'll be able to provide," she said.
The addition, slated for completion within four months, is being built by Home Builders Care Foundation , a charitable foundation of the Maryland-National Capital Building Industry Association based in Silver Spring.
John Maneval, deputy director for multifamily housing at the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, said the new building will be 14,520 square feet and cost approximately $3.8 million. He said the project is being funded by Montgomery County, but added the state will provide a $600,000 grant.
The new building is expected to be completed in February.
"It's going to be a huge improvement over what was there," he said.
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Click here to download the current PDF fact sheet on this project.
About Maryland-National Capital Building Industry Association
Established in 1954 as an affiliate of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), the Maryland-National Capital Building Industry Association (MNCBIA) is a regional non-profit trade organization representing the interests of more than 730 companies and more than 18,000 individuals in the building and development industry operating in Calvert, Charles, Montgomery, Prince George's and St. Mary's counties in Maryland and the city of Washington, D.C. ). It is additionally affiliated with the Maryland State Builders Association (MSBA). For more information, visit the organization's website www.mncbia.org.
About Home Builders Care Foundation
Founded in 1984 as Operation Tom Sawyer, the Home Builders Care Foundation (HBCF) is a 501 (c) (3) organization and the primary community outreach program of MNCBIA. The mission of HBCF is, utilizing the specialized building construction skills of the building industry, to work collaboratively with existing community service providers, such as other non-profit agencies and governmental agencies serving the homeless and at-risk populations, to complete shelter-related projects. For more information about Home Builders Care, visit www.hbcf.org.
