PSS/WSF GrandParent Family Apartments

Building

Date Opened

May 25, 2005

Residential Units

IMMEDIATE VACANCIES! Press here APPLICATIONS 50 independent apartments for grandparents raising grandchildren (or other elders raising young relatives)

Development Partners

Architect: Goshow Architects
General Contractor: Frank Corigliano Contractor
Major Funders: NYS Housing Trust Fund, NYS Homes and Community Renewal, NYC Housing Authority, Community Preservation Corporation, National Equity Fund, Bronx Borough President Office (Adolfo Carrión), U.S. Department of Commerce (courtesy of the Honorable José Serrano, Member of Congress), Bronx Overall Economic Development Corp., Presbyterian Women of the Presbyterian Church USA, Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, and Rutgers Presbyterian Church

Rental Subsidy

NYC Housing Authority

Services Funding

Service Partner: Presbyterian Senior Services NYC Department of Youth and Community Development, and NYC Department For The Aging

Building History

GrandParent Family Apartments is a collaborative project among Presbyterian Senior Services (PSS), West Side Federation For Senior and Supportive Housing, Inc.(WSFSSH), and New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). GrandParent Family Apartments provides housing and supportive services to 50 families of elders (usually grandparents) who are raising a much younger generation (usually their grandchildren). Presbyterian Senior Services began to address the needs its senior center participants who were raising their grandchildren by developing support groups for the elders and services for the children. It quickly became apparent that one of the most crucial needs for these families was housing—supportive housing to meet the complex needs these families face. David Taylor and PSS approached Laura Jervis and WSFSSH for consultation about housing development. Soon the two agencies were working together to create a new kind of housing that would make supportive housing for grandparents raising grandchildren a reality. One of PSS’ senior centers is located in a NYCHA senior housing building in the Bronx which had a NYCHA-owned vacant lot next door. NYCHA joined the project in order to be able to adequately address the needs of residents of senior buildings who had become responsible for raising their grandchildren or great-nieces or great-nephews. A model building for a model program was designed and built on that once empty NYCHA lot at the corner of Prospect Avenue and 163rd Street in the Morrisania neighborhood of the Bronx. Elders and children were active participants in the design of the building. The building includes a ground floor activity center and garden, apartments with emergency cords in bedrooms and grab bars in the bathrooms, and 24 hour staff and support. PSS-WSF GrandParent Family Apartments opened May 25, 2005. PSS provides social services including family services, services specifically for elders, and an active after-school program for children. WSFSSH provides the housing and housing management services. NYCHA provided the land for the building and provides a yearly operating subsidy for the building.