After years of failing to adequately address the rising number of homeless in Hillsborough County, the County Commission began what might be just the beginning of a new phase today by approving $2.1 million to fund the acquisition and rehabilitation of Villa Seville, a 24-unit affordable housing development located off of Fowler Avenue in the University area of North Tampa.
The deal locks in an agreement between the county and the Tampa Heights-based group Mental Health Care, with the funds coming through federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds and from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The plan was unveiled by Commissioner Sandy Murman, who has been leading a group of public and private individuals over the past year who have come together to do something tangible about the homeless in Hillsborough County.
This article appears in May 3-9, 2012.
