APARTMENTS OFFER ROOM TO RECOVER

Building Opens Today To Help Addicts Heal

An apartment building for homeless drug addicts and alcoholics who are on
the road to recovery opens its doors on Canal Street today, and Janice
Turner knows firsthand how important it will be for the 71 people it will
serve.

Turner, 47, landed in a similar complex four months ago, after struggling
with drugs and alcohol.

"It's the best place I've been in," she said. The rules, no drinking or
using drugs, are strictly enforced, which is good for people like her "who
are trying to get our lives straight," she said.

Officials from Volunteers of America, which spearheaded the $2.7 million
project, and other agencies said they hope the new complex will help fill a
gap in local services. The apartments each include a bed, table and chair,
wash basin and refrigerator and freezer. The kitchens and bathrooms on the
building's two floors are shared. The apartments were carved out of a
former car dealership at 1801 Canal St.

The bulk of the money for the project came from federal tax credits for
low-income housing, said Jane Buras, VOA's vice president for finance. Her
agency became a conduit, applying for the credits and passing them to the
Banc One Community Development Corp., which is affiliated with Bank One, in
exchange for money, she said.

VOA opened a similar site at 3901 Tulane Ave. five years ago, and that is
where Turner has been living and expects to stay for some time.

Both complexes are old buildings that VOA purchased and renovated to
provide permanent housing for people who have been sober for at least six
months. Some residents are referred to VOA by jails or other agencies;
others walk in off the street seeking shelter.

The new complex will operate like the first one, with residents paying 30
percent of their monthly gross income. That money will go toward operating
expenses, said Jack Boudreaux, director of the Tulane complex. Many
homeless people have a regular source of income, such as checks from the
Veterans Administration or federal disability payments, he said. If men or
women interested in moving into the complexes have no money, however, he
said, "they won't necessarily be turned away." Nonprofit organizations
offer help with the first month's rent, he said. And the agencies say there
is a demand for such housing. Boudreaux said the Tulane complex has housed
about 350 people since it opened. Some of the residents have moved on to
life on their own. The complex is always full, and the recovery rate is
about 75 percent, which is high, he said. Turner said she owes some of her
success to the Tulane complex. Born in New Orleans, she returned to the
city from California in 1998 to care for her ailing mother and "just broke
down" after her death.

Turner began hanging out with the wrong crowd, drinking too much beer and
sometimes using drugs, she said. She ended up homeless, staying overnight
with friends or out on the streets, and she was jailed briefly in Orleans
Parish Prison for possession of crack cocaine, she said. Eventually, she
entered a rehabilitation program called Project Return and heard about the
Tulane complex.

She has taken advantage of programs offered at the complex to help motivate
people to recover. Outside of the complex, she has started training in
culinary arts and hopes to be working soon in that field.

"I feel comfortable here. I feel safe," Turner said.

Kevin Waters, house manager for the new complex, was a counselor at the
Tulane site. He said many residents recovered and reconciled with their
spouses, while older people who had been on the streets and separated from
their children were sometimes able to forge new relationships with them.

Waters said he expects some of the same happy scenes to be repeated at the
Canal site. Visits from relatives and friends are encouraged and considered
part of the healing process, he said. Participation in a 12-step program is
required.

Mentally ill homeless people are accepted at the complexes, Waters said.
They are referred to mental health clinics or to other help, when necessary.

Peg Reese, director of the nonprofit organization UNITY for the Homeless,
which coordinates area services for the homeless, said the complexes
provide what every homeless person needs, affordable permanent housing.
Furthermore, many of the approximately 5,000 homeless people in the city
are either addicted or mentally ill, she said, and the VOA program provides
services to deal with both problems.

Reese is talking with VOA officials about the possibility of opening a
third complex.

The people served in the program "get off the streets and stay out of
trouble, and that's what everybody wants," she said.

The new complex's ribbon-cutting ceremony will be at 9:30 a.m. today at
1801 Canal St.