Promise Fulfilled

ECHO Housing offers permanent supportive housing for disabled homeless.

Six years in the making, the Promise Home meets a critical housing need.

The ECHO Housing project on Read Street opened July 16. CEO Savannah Wood and COO Erik Tilkemeier oversaw the development of the two-story building with 27 one-bedroom permanent supportive housing for chronically homeless people with verified disabilities.

Donations covered the costs of not just construction โ€” carried out by architect Adam Green and ARC Construction โ€” but also furnishings, security system installation for the building, and necessary technology.

โ€œWhen youโ€™re housing individuals experiencing chronic homelessness, there is the understanding that they most often move in with nothing but what they can carry,โ€ Wood says.

The Indiana Housing & Community Development Authority Housing Trust Fund and the City of Evansville are major sources of financing for the Promise Home. A capital campaign filled funding gaps as costs swelled to more than $3 million. Key sponsors included Old National, German American, and Fifth Third banks, Deaconess Heath System, West Side Nut Club, Seal Corp USA, and the JD Sheth Foundation. United Way of Southwestern Indiana also facilitated a $308,322 capital grant from Indiana United Ways to complete the project.

Photo of ECHO Promise Home apartment by Zach Straw

Evansville homeless organization Aurora spearheads the coordinated entry process based on need. Each person must have proof of chronic homelessness and medical documentation of a disability. Current residents started moving in with the new year and will receive rent and utilities assistance. Working closely with case managers and resident assistants, residents achieve stable income, and once that happens, rent becomes 30 percent of a residentโ€™s monthly gross income while ECHO continues to pay utilities.

โ€œThe goal is for them not to stay in permanent supportive housing forever unless necessary. Supportive housing gives them a safe, secure opportunity to reintegrate into the community. … For many of those we serve, they have been alone or felt isolated for years. … We work to change that,โ€ Wood says.

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Maggie Valenti
Maggie Valenti
Maggie Valenti joined Tucker Publishing Group in September 2022 as a staff writer. She graduated from Gettysburg College in 2020 with a bachelors degree in English. A Connecticut native, Maggie has ridden horses for 15 years and has hunt seat competition experience on the East Coast.

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