MACON, Ga. — Construction on downtown Macon's newest affordable housing project started in early 2022. The Macon Housing Authority's CEO, Mike Austin, said they'll be crossing the finishing line soon.
"Thousands of hours of work, $20 million worth of money, and just a lot of blood, sweat and tears have gone into this and it's going to make 82 people very very happy," Austin said.
The new apartments off Walnut Street will give 82 families a chance at affordable housing. But 16 of the units are reserved for Daybreak clients.
Monday afternoon there was a blessing over the new project and all the people they plan to support.
"Everybody comes out of this winners and people who need affordable housing now have a great place to live. And if they work downtown, they're very close to work," Austin said.
$2.25 million was raised for the new Phil and Alice Sheridan Health Center on the property.
Sister Theresa Sullivan, the director of Depaul USA's Daybreak center in Macon, will run the 12-bed medical area of the complex.
"So many times our brothers and sisters who are sick and they're leaving the hospital…they need conditional healthcare just like you and I do," Sullivan said.
Sullivan said the health center has a contract to work with Piedmont Medical Center in Macon. They have exam rooms for nurses and physicians to come check on their patients after leaving the hospital.
"If you're not in a safe place where you can get medication, you can get your therapy, you can connect to your physician to follow up, you don't heal," Sullivan said.
Local leaders, sponsors, future residents and other supporters gathered in front of Daybreak to hear how Depaul USA and the housing authority got this done.
There were representatives from Depaul International including representatives from countries like Croatia and Ukraine.
Chuck Levesque is the CEO of Depaul USA. He said the other Depaul subsidiaries around the world could be inspired by the Macon community.
"Much of the funding is government directed. Here in Macon, it's comes from the citizens and the incredible philanthropic community, and the churches and so it's really inspiring to see a community come together to solve a problem and that's what I hope our European brothers and sisters see that it's a different way of operating," Levesque said.
The grand opening was scheduled for Monday, but they are facing some construction delays. They plan to have the apartments open and occupied in June. The medical respite is scheduled to start providing care in July.