If you’re striding downtown toward a Cardinals or Blues game and you spot someone curled up with belongings in a stairwell, you may wonder: What does this person need to get off the street for good? The answer, according to years of trial and error all around the country, is that they need—before anything else—their own living space with a door that locks. But that’s probably not sufficient in this case. The so-called “housing-first” model doesn’t mean “housing-only.” Chances are high that a person sleeping outside needs professional help, too, whether they’re dealing with mental illness, addiction, or a disability—and they may need that help indefinitely. Wrapping that person in a combo of (1) a subsidized place to live and (2) optional supports is called “permanent supportive housing.” And St. Louis’ supply of that kind of housing, by many accounts, isn’t meeting demand. This past week, however, after years of work, the supply got a little bigger.
Francie’s Place is at 3600 S. Jefferson, a couple blocks south of Cherokee in the Marine Villa neighborhood. In the run-up to move-in day, I took a tour of the place from Cynthia Duffe, executive director of the nonprofit Gateway Housing First. She first showed me the new studio apartments. There are 15 of them, most on the second and third floor. Each has a kitchenette, bathroom, and living space with heavy, durable furniture from a vendor who crafts pieces specifically for this population. “We went for the homiest package they had,” said Duffe. The air in this 140-year-old building smelled of fresh paint and treated wood.
Then Duffe showed me the ground floor of Francie’s Place. The space used to be a live-music bar called Schaffer’s. It’s been transformed into a large common area and an office for the behavioral-health service provider Places for People, which will have staff on-site 24-7. The office also has a large monitor with feeds from security cameras; guests will need to sign in and out as they come and go…