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SCHENECTADY
Mission proud of transitional housing
Rehabbed homes foster sense of community
BY MICHAEL LAMENDOLA Gazette Reporter

    City Mission of Schenectady has taken on a new role.
    Not only is the Christian-based ministry still rebuilding lives shattered by drugs and alcohol, but it is now rebuilding neighborhoods.
    For the past three years, it has been buying or leasing large apartments and townhouses along Lafayette Street between Hamilton and Smith streets, fi xing them up and renting them out to men and women who have graduated from City Mission’s recovery and training program.
    City Mission has spent approximately $1.2 million since 2006 creating 23 apartments that serve as transitional housing, said Executive Director Michael Saccocio. The money came from donations, he said.
    Transitional housing is temporary and allows City Mission graduates time to adjust from participating in a highly structured recovery program to living on their own. They are required to work and have to move out after about two years, although extensions may be granted. There is a waiting list for the housing, which is a block away from City Mission.
    There are currently 30 people, including approximately five of them children, living in the apartments. They pay a program fee, rather than rent, to City Mission. The fees offset operating costs so the program breaks even, Saccocio said.
    In the process of creating the transitional housing, City Mission has revitalized the block-long neighborhood, bringing a sense of community to it, Saccocio said.
    Resident Linda Banks, 56, has lived in one of the apartments since 2006. She is a recovering heroin addict and alcoholic who came to City Mission for help in 2001.
    The neighborhood’s environment supports her Christian beliefs, Banks said: “It has helped me change inside as a person. This place reminds me of [Jesus’] love and kindness. I feel safe here. It’s a nice place.”
    Resident Mike Bisaillon, 46, who moved into a transitional apartment in November 2008, said the............>>>>....................>>>>...............http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....amp;EntityId=Ar00902