They Call Me Momma:
Relatives Raising Children

Part 9

Aired November 19, 2001

A recent study shows that nearly half of kinship caregivers in northeast Ohio had annual incomes of less than $15,000. Among the challenges facing these non-biological parents is the ability to keep a roof over their heads. Now however, there is a plan to build a special kinship community right here in Cleveland. Our series on kinship care, "They Call Me Momma," returns this week and as 90.3 WCPN®'s Renita Jablonski reports, a local organization is working to make that community a reality.

Renita Jablonski–63-year-old Mamie Swain has been living in the Harvard-Lee neighborhood in Cleveland for nearly 30 years. She's been caring for her grandchildren on and off for the last 10 years. Swain says she knows her situation is better than that of other kinship caregivers. She owns her four-bedroom home and for the most part, has everything she needs to provide a warm and safe home for her grandchildren.

Mamie Swain–Right now I only have one grandchild with me, Shante, she's 13-years-old, she lives here and before that I had my other daughter's two children practically when they were born, taking care of them and they're back with their mother now.

RJ–In a study by the Urban Child Research Center at CSU, almost 75% of grandparents surveyed ranked financial assistance with housing costs as a prime concern. Stephanie Fallcreek is the Executive Director of Fairhill Center, a non-profit agency that addresses the needs of senior citizens. She says often relatives become parents again after they've already made residential re-locations that are not suitable for young children.

Stephanie Fallcreek–The size may be too small, the location may not be user friendly to schools, and to recreational and social activities.

RJ–Fairhill Center is often referred to as "one-stop shopping of seniors." The campus, which used to be an old marine hospital and later a psychiatric facility, houses dozens of services and organizations catering to older adults. It's also home to several intergenerational programs. Walking across the campus, Fallcreek stops in front of a large building that was once used for residential treatment. The abandoned brick structure has a grand presence but needs a lot of work.

SF–This could be an apartment building. It's about almost 15,000 square feet and we would hope that it would be renovated into predominantly two-bedroom apartments for relatively small kinship care families. Now the ideal thing about this setting is, is that it's in a great neighborhood and it's on a campus that provides lots of green space, walking room and there are four elementary schools within two blocks.

RJ–Fairhill's plan for "Kinship Village" is modeled after "GrandFamilies House" located in Boston. It's the first public housing in the United States specifically designed for the needs of low-income grandparents raising grandchildren. Stephanie Chacker is with Boston Aging Concerns-Young and Old United, the group that owns and runs the complex. She says GrandFamilies accommodates special housing and social needs for both seniors and youth.

Stephanie Chacker–The Grandfamilies House has architectural features that you would find in senior housing which would include an elevator, wheelchair ramps, grab bars in the bathrooms, child-proof safety features such as windows that children can't, with screens that are child-proof, electrical outlets that are child-proof, we have a playground.

RJ–GrandFamilies House has been in operation for three years and Chacker says so far the project has proved to be very successful. To be eligible to live in the apartment building, the kinship caregiver must be at least 50 years old. Most residents pay for their rent through a special Grandfamiles Section 8 program developed between the city of Boston and the state of Massachusetts. Chacker says another requirement is that the parents of the children being raised in Grandfamilies may not be part of the household.

SC–The grandparents have to have either legal custody of the grandchildren or they have to have been raising the grandchildren for the last two years or since birth. So if they do not have legal custody, they do have some sort of permanent custody arrangement. There needs to be a missing generation so it's for grandparents as well as great-aunts and great uncles.

RJ–Stephanie Fallcreek says she's confident a Cleveland-version of this housing innovation would work just as well. She also hopes to work with Cleveland landlords who would be willing to offer rent discounts to kinship caregivers. She says the idea is not only to have one building dedicated to caregivers, but to integrate them into the nearby community as well.

SF–We really want to look at figuring out how to get market value for the housing but to do that in a way that makes it accessible to a wide range of grandparents of different income.

RJ–Mamie Swain says she thinks Kinship Village is a great idea and says she has many friends that would benefit from such a set-up.

MS–And in a facility of that type, you know, you have people looking out for you. I guess everybody would probably be in the same financial situation where you wouldn't feel uncomfortable.

RJ–Fallcreek says if all goes well, the renovation to construct Kinship Village will happen within two years. Fairhill will kick-off a $2 million capital campaign to fund the project next year. In Cleveland, Renita Jablonski, 90.3 WCPN® News.