The Neighborhood has officially purchased the former McKinley School Building.
The Neighborhood is a non-profit comprised of the Manitowoc Warming Shelter, Hope House, and The Haven which looks to provide transitional housing for those who need it most.
The hope for the McKinley School building is to create approximately 30 affordable transitional apartments on the second and third levels.
Pastor Matt Sauer, Director of the Warming Shelter, was on a recent episode of WOMT’s After Further Review, where he said community support for The Neighborhood has been strong.
“It is clear over the 10 years The Haven has been open, Hope House has been operating in different forms longer than that, the Warming Shelter has been open for two seasons, it is clear that Manitowoc is a community that cares,” he told host John Jagemann. “They want to make a difference.”
However, the big ambitions of The Neighborhood do come at a price. Sauer also stated the non-profit will have to raise between $8 million and $10 million to make this dream a reality.
“I’m not able to do that financially, none of our board members has that financial wherewithal,” Saur noted. “But we as a community, do.”
This amount of money will go to renovating, updating, and transforming Mickinley School into livable apartments for those struggling with homelessness.
This will also include turning the first floor into retail space as well.
Pastor Sauer also finished by thanking the community for its continued support of The Neighborhood and thus supporting the effort to ensure no one in Manitowoc is without a place to call home.
You can hear the full interview by going to SeehaferPodcasts.com.
