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Odyssey House Breaks Ground on Housing Program

By Fred Scaglione
Published in New York Nonprofit Press
July 20, 2007

Odyssey House celebrated the groundbreaking yesterday for a $12.6 million, 50-unit, permanent housing facility with supportive services at 123 East 123rd Street, between Lexington and Park Avenues. The building will provide a supportive, independent living environment for individuals who have overcome many life challenges, including mental health problems and drug, alcohol and/or significant medical conditions.

“We are grateful to our partners in state and city government (New York State Office of Mental Health for capital and operational funding, and New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development for the land) and the many community leaders who are supporting this new project,” said Peter Provet, Odyssey House’s President and CEO. “It really is a fine example of community partnerships working together to provide services for a neglected – but high-need – population.”

Joining Odyssey House for the groundbreaking were NYS Senator Bill Perkins; NYC Councilwoman Melissa Mark-Viverito; Caren Abate, Assistant Housing Director, NYS OMH; and Tim O’Hanlon, Assistant Commissioner, Special Needs Housing, NYC HPD; as well as other State and City officials.

“It’s going to be a beautiful new modern building that blends in with its neighbors and is in keeping with Harlem’s fine architectural heritage,” said Provet. “The architects have designed the building to bring in as much natural light as possible. Each floor will have a glass-fronted lounge, and the rear of the building has a two-story glass atrium that looks out onto a sunken courtyard leading to a common garden with a large, tree-shaded open space.” The building, which is expected to be completed in approximately 18 months, was designed by Urban Architectural Initiatives.

The program will have a staff contingent of 16 full-time employees including clinical case managers, administrators, food service workers and maintenance positions.

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Odyssey House Starts Construction on Housing Project for SPMI

Published in Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly
July 23, 2007

Last week Odyssey House broke ground on a supportive housing project for people with serious and persistent mental illness (SPMI).

This project is notable because Odyssey House is a therapeutic community originally focused on treating substance use disorders.

The project has received full operational and capitol funding from the New York State Office of Mental Health, under a competitive grant.

The capital budget is $12.6 million, and the operational budget is $900,000 annually, said Odyssey House president Peter Provet, Ph.D., who calls the entire project a "story of success in collaboration." In addition, Odyssey House will receive a $4.9 million low income tax credit, a process by which a nonprofit that builds housing for low-income people can get additional funding.

Help also came from the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, which gave Odyssey House a parcel of land in New York City's East Harlem area.

While Odyssey House is a substance abuse agency, it does have funding for various Office of Mental Health projects, including the Harbor, a 50-bed treatment program for people with long histories of homelessness, chronic addiction, and SPMI.

"The Office of Mental Health selected us because of our experience working with mental illness," said Provet. "Some of the people admitted will also have a history of abusing alcohol and drugs." But the main focus is supportive, community-based, long-term housing for people coming out of state psychiatric institutions.

Provet said addiction treatment providers need to look at mental health funding sources with a view toward teamwork. "More and more you're going to see that states are recognizing the need for the substance abuse and mental health systems to work collaboratively," he told ADAW. "This is unquestionably a fortunate trend."

In New York, the need for housing is a common theme in both systems. And for Odyssey House's project, there is much more than just housing, said Provet. "There will be wraparound services, with 16 full-time, on-site staff who provide administrative management, food services and maintenance services, case management, and linking of individuals to necessary medical and other services." But each individual will be able to lead an "independent life," he said.

People with SPMI would not be a good fit for Odyssey House's therapeutic community, said Provet. "They would not receive optimal care there."

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