Cloverleaf Apartments give a home after life on the street

VIRGINIA BEACH

Mendez Alexander Sr. stayed up until 3 a.m. his first night at the Cloverleaf Apartments.

Doing nothing. Taking in the quiet.

For years, finding a bed in a shelter with 40-some other men was the best he could hope for. It beat sleeping outside.

"I haven't had anything like this, not since I was 17 years old," said Alexander, 56, who came to the area four years ago from Massachusetts.

Cloverleaf, which provides apartments for homeless single people, had its grand opening Thursday. The 60-unit complex is the second such regional effort. Though it's in Virginia Beach, on the site of an old skating rink on South Military Highway, Cloverleaf is a collaboration by the Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk and Portsmouth.

Like the Gosnold Apartments in Norfolk, the $7.2 million complex was built by Virginia Supportive Housing, a nonprofit agency, using federal money, private grants and funding from the four cities. Virginia Beach contributed the most, $1.3 million, so 42 of the 60 rooms are reserved for its homeless.

The residents pay 30 percent of their income, a minimum of $50. The cities provide rental help for the remainder. Among other things, residents receive help finding jobs and dealing with substance abuse and mental health issues.

"I prayed to God each and every day to get me where I am today," said Michelle Lemon, 38, who moved into Cloverleaf about a week ago.

She's reveling in being able to cook again; her cupboards and fridge are full, and the smells of barbecued chicken and broccoli fill her apartment. For Thanksgiving, she wants to host her three children, and plans ham, stuffing and homemade macaroni and cheese.

She's already trying to figure out where to get the extra chairs. Her 347-square-foot unit came with only one, and a matching kitchen table.

An Adopt-a-Room program furnishes the rooms in Cloverleaf. A $3,200 donation buys kitchen appliances and cabinets, a bed, a dresser, a kitchen table and one chair - and a plaque on the door bearing the name of the donor.

Almost everything is donated; a needs list provided by complex managers includes kitchen basics, twin sheet sets, blankets, pillows, towels.

Lemon pointed out the new comforter on her bed. She'd like to hang pictures to match it, "but I don't want to mess up the walls," she said

A third regional complex has just been announced, on a vacant property near the Swanson Homes public housing neighborhood in Portsmouth. The Portsmouth Redevelopment and Housing Authority will sell the land to Virginia Supportive Housing for $10.

Kathy Warren, development director for Portsmouth's housing authority, said funding will be simil ar to Cloverleaf's.

"These supportive housing programs are the first in the nation to be regional," said Mary Aab, regional support services manager for Virginia Supportive Housing. "We had no blueprint."

Aab said Cloverleaf - up to 20 residents now - is coming along well.

"They are developing their own little communities," she said of residents.

In addition to a home, Alexander said he's rediscovered the comfort of a routine.

In the evening, he studies his Bible. In the morning, he puts on a pot of coffee, then walks to the store to get his morning paper. He comes back to read the scores. In the afternoon, he goes for another walk.

Soon, he hopes to find a job, caddying golf as he did when he was a younger man. He's got a mix-matched set of clubs propped in the corner of his closet.

"This is where I want to be," he said.

Pilot writer Janie Bryant contributed to this report.

John Warren, (757) 222-5114, john.warren@pilotonline.com