The Meyerland Duplexes for Single Mothers

This rendering shows one of 4 charitable duplexes planned to go up in Meyerland that will be set aside for single-mother families. Construction began late last week on property that’s owned St. John’s Presbyterian Church at 5020 W. Bellfort Ave., between Willowbend and S. Post Oak Blvd., just outside the Loop. One of the 8 units will also be home to an on-site caseworker.

***

According to a recent press release from HomeAid, the nonprofit that builds transitional housing for Houston’s homeless, the 4 duplexes are a joint project with Presbyterian Children’s Homes and Services. The 7 families will be screened and assisted here with counseling, education, and employment services.

Renderings: Masa Studio

24 Comment

  • Trolling is gonna be hard for this one. Who’s going to speak out against helping single mothers get back on their feet? Any takers?

  • You underestimate “commonsense”

  • I’ll go first…..needs first floor retail

  • Rick’s Cabaret is the best form of support a single mother can have. Trust me, I support many.

  • Densify: If a non profit wants to raise money to help single mothers, and then build subsidized housing for them, I can’t see anyone that would object. Why would someone?
    .
    I think you’re trying to find controversy where non exists.

  • Come on now, do not mistake strong opinions laced with humor and void of political correctness for trolling.

    Having said that, it all depends how this “screening” and ongoing management pans out. It could turn out into something neighbors will not even notice, or more often then not, into a new episode of Jerry Springer.

  • If this is the place I’m thinking of, I saw a piece on it a month or two ago during some TV news or another…and yes, they did manage to find some neighbors who were willing to pull out the hand-wringing stops and fret for the cameras.

  • Oh…so this is one way situations like this were handled before people looked to govt programs to solve everything. Yes we can! (ducks).

  • NIMBY is as NIMBY does.

  • who won’t want a half way house being build next to their home? all the upstanding fathers coming by to make things right at any time of the day — what could go wrong?!?

    This is clearly not good for the neighborhood, but not sure there is much the neighborhood can do about it.

  • When I bought my first rental property my father, who also owned rental property, told me that when you rent to a single mom it won’t be long before she moves her boyfriend in. And they always did. The one thing a single mom wants is a (another) man in her life.

  • This sounds like a good idea for their website, but it will probably just end up being a trap for well-meaning Presbyterians to endlessly deride and belittle the life choices of the poor mothers who make it past the ‘selection’ process. I imagine “bless your heart” and “poor little thing” to be common phrases in the parlance of that community.

  • i remember reading about this a long time ago. the neighborhood was really against it. they all said it’s a good cause, but they don’t want it next door. it looks like it’s all on church property so not much they can do about it.

  • Will the baby daddies be hanging around like they do at Covenant House?

  • A good lesson for those who want to oppose for-profit development on nearby land: me today, you tomorrow.

  • All of the neighbors around Chapelwood Methodist on Greenbay shot down their plans
    to install a columbarium on their property
    back in the early 2000’s.
    So sometimes the neighbors win.

  • Eep, this thread has a lot more poor/whore bashing than I’d expected. God forbid they live like human beings. Maybe we should have them fight each other for food like commonsense suggested the last time that the poor was discussed. It’s like too much COPS and Jerry Springer have contributed to a sort of Mean World Syndrome where you guys think that all single mothers are welfare-sucking layabouts moving from one abusive man to the next.

  • Hope nobody gets divorced just so they can qualify.

  • @htownproud, a “half way house”? What crimes have these women committed? I reckon if you’ve got a church in your neighborhood and there are never any shady characters around, then the church isn’t doing its job. Shouldn’t churches be in the habit of gathering those lowly sinners near them? Or do they only bring in the right kind of sinners to meet the whims of the neighborhood?

  • As with any home like this – it really depends on how it’s run. Get a good manager, and neighbors won’t even know the place is there. Get a bad manager or one with ulterior motives, and it can be a horrible neighbor.
    .
    We actually almost bought a house that backs up to a similar shelter – Gracewood in Southwest Houston. They’ve been at their location since 2000, and there have never been complaints. At the same time, I’ve heard horror stories from the neighbors of other shelters.

  • Is that like a church version of Section 8?

  • All apartments are terrible if managed well and great if managed badly. With only eight units occupying the same space as the property owner, I figure these will be managed well.

  • Switch what I said about terrible and great. Terrible if managed badly, great if managed well…

    Oy.

  • These are being built 2 blks east of Willowbend along West Bellfort between the 2 churches right next to the big hydro power lines bad choice for these to be built. First major hurricane that comes through and knocks down these tower everyone will be moving and these homes will never be built again