Louisa house to offer support to those pining for mental help

By Tasha Kates

Published: June 28, 2008

LOUISA — Nikki Sacra on Tuesday will move into a new house in Louisa with a handful of roommates.

“It’ll be different,” Sacra said. “I’ve been hopping around most of my life.”

Sacra, 20, will be one of the first residents at the Pine Ridge House, a five-bedroom home for people with mental illness. The home at 112 Pine Ridge Drive will allow Sacra to live independently while still getting services from the Region Ten Community Services Board.

The home will be unveiled during a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday.

Michelle Hottinger, the director of Region Ten’s Louisa services, said the idea for the house has been discussed for years.

“When I was a case manager, I was begging for help to find this sort of housing,” Hottinger said. “Each and every time I had to find someone a place to live further away from their families and home community, it really pained me. I’m thrilled we have this opportunity.”

The house was completed in April. Hottinger said it originally was going to house only women or only men, but she said there weren’t enough people of either gender to fill the five bedrooms completely.

To be eligible, residents must have a chronic mental illness, a certain income level and a willingness to receive additional support services from Region Ten. Dominique McLaughlin, a case manager, said the first five residents would be two men and three women between the ages of 20 and 50.

Sacra, who had her interview to move into the house several weeks ago, said she needed help filling out the application. The Louisa resident said she has a disability that slows her thought processes.

“My dad told me I was a late bloomer,” she said.

Sacra and the other Pine Ridge tenants will pay 30 percent of their income toward rent and their utilities. A grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development paid for the building costs and will make up the difference between rent and utility and mortgage payments.

Hottinger said residents would have an individualized Region Ten service plan created for them to teach life skills, such as budgeting and managing interpersonal relationships.

The residents will have access to mental health support services workers, but none of them will live in the house.

“This will be their home,” Hottinger said. “It’s a shared living arrangement, much like a dorm setup or a setup where you’re renting a room and sharing the main area. They will learn skills that will enable them to go on and live even more independently. [Others] may choose to live in this environment for a longer time.”

Sacra said she would be moving out of her boyfriend’s home to live at Pine Ridge. The couple is trying to get a trailer together, which Sacra hopes will happen soon.

Hottinger said the surrounding community has been welcoming to the house.

“Recently, they hosted a shower for the residents of the house,” Hottinger said. “There were about 30 gifts for a kitchen for the residents. That is one of the things that wouldn’t have been covered under the HUD grant.”

Almost everything in the house is ready for the residents, most of whom will move in on Tuesday.

“A mailbox will be officially put up, but we are pretty much ready and set,” McLaughlin said. “We’re excited for our consumers and the community.”