A place to call home

~Cape's new low-income housing complex is a godsend for many elderly and disabled people.

If Bill and Carol Schmitt hadn't found low-income apartment housing in Cape Girardeau, they would likely still be in the Cairo, Ill., home they left five years ago to be closer to the medical treatment Bill Schmitt needs for his damaged lungs and cancers.

The Schmitts were among the first tenants to move into West Court Manor last week after Cape Girardeau building inspectors gave occupancy permits to the 48-unit complex on South West End Boulevard. They moved from another low-income complex, Rose Brook, off Linden Lane, operated by MACO Management of Clarkton, Mo., a company that has developed 225 apartment complexes across the state with the support of the Missouri Housing Development Commission.

Asked how they would be living if they didn't have the $390 a month, two-bedroom apartment, the Schmitts don't hesitate. Staying in Cairo would have meant paying enormous utility rates and heavy property taxes. A comparable apartment elsewhere in Cape Girardeau could cost them $600 a month, Bill Schmitt said. "If I had to pay $600 a month, I'd starve to death."

Bill Schmitt has been using oxygen to assist his breathing for nearly three years. With the costs of health insurance and medications, he said, he and his wife of 50 years can't afford much more. As for their new apartment, the former operators of Mac's Barbecue in Cairo said they couldn't be happier.

West Court Manor is a 48-unit apartment complex for low-income senior citizens. (Aaron Eisenhauer)

"We love it," Martha Schmitt said. "It is the best. Nobody could ask for a finer place."

West Court Manor was approved for tax credit support in December 2005. MACO sells the tax credits, $494,200 a year for 10 years, to finance the construction of the simply designed, 1,113 square-foot units. Each apartment has a washer and dryer, and each has two bathrooms, one with a walk-in shower for people who cannot climb over the side of a bathtub.

Janet Milam, who supervises the management of 22 MACO apartment complexes in Cape Gir?ardeau, Scott, Bollinger, Stoddard and Mississippi counties, said that without the tax credits, the company couldn't afford to offer the apartments to the low-income tenants. "It allows the rent to remain affordable," she said.

Of the 48 apartments, 44 had signed leases by Friday, said Carol Mouser, local manager for the West Court apartments, the Rose Brook complex and the Heritage Manor apartments at Linden Lane and South West End Boulevard. The other four apartments are assigned, but the final paperwork is not complete.

The apartments accept senior citizens and disabled tenants. The annual income limit for single people seeking apartments is $23,700 and for couples the limit is $27,060. There are 22 applicants on MACO's waiting list, Mouser said. The company has asked the commission for additional tax credits to construct another 36 apartments adjacent to the new development.

The most gratifying part of the job, Mouser said, is moving the tenants into their new apartments. For many, it is the first time they have ever moved into a brand new abode. "I moved one gentleman in, and he said that in his last apartment he couldn't even walk into the kitchen because of the roaches," Mouser said.

Finding tenants isn't a problem, she said. Many signed leases without ever seeing the apartments, she said.

"One lady, she actually hugged me and held on to me and sobbed," Mouser said. "Another woman got down on her knees and kissed the floor of her new apartment."

Her experiences since joining MACO's staff in 2001 have shown her how much people appreciate the chance for a reasonably priced place to live, Mouser said. "It has just been eye-opening," she said.

The tax credits have a 10-year life, but little changes when the tax credits expire, Milam said. The company has a complex in Miner, Mo., where the tax credits have ended, she said, "and the only difference I have noticed is that I don't have to do the paperwork any more."

MACO is committed to expanding West Court Manor, whether the tax credits are approved this year or in the future, said Jason Maddox, a manager with the company. The complex is just what the company expected. "We are very pleased with the way they turned out," he said.

The chance for a moderately priced place to live is a chance for a new start for some. Sadie Davis, who has disabilities she did not want to discuss, said she had been essentially homeless until the new apartment became available. She was staying with friends, moving when she wore out her welcome.

"I was really happy this morning to wake up in my own place," Davis said. "I was lucky to get this."

rkeller@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 126