By Emily Burleigh

The city of Lake Charles announced Tuesday its plan to build a new senior housing development in the north part of the city.

“It came to the city’s attention several months ago that we had some federal funds and autonomy on how we can use those funds to support certain housing initiatives,” Mayor Nic Hunter said. “We launched a search to find a good partner for this project.”

Through this search, the city found partnership in the Calcasieu Council on Aging, LeFleur Industries and an honorable cause.

“The city has a commitment to find and contribute to attainable housing for all of our residents, especially our seniors,” Hunter said. “LeFleur Industries and CCOA will seek to leverage the city’s investment and provide, ultimately, 24 additional housing units that will be available for seniors.”

Hunter said the city is proposing to use $1.4 million in one-time federal home ARP funds to build Whispering Hope II senior living complex. Public hearings and council meetings will be held to approve this project before construction can begin.

“We have advanced this project far enough along to where we wanted to let the public know about it,” he said. “This project will serve a population that is currently at the center of our nation’s housing affordability and attainability challenges. The city of Lake Charles is such a loving community, and we care about all of our residents. So, having affordable quality and attainable housing for our seniors is very important.”

The need for affordable housing has also been exemplified by the effects of recent hurricanes.

District 2 Police Juror Mike Smith said he believes developments like Whispering Hope II are a primary step to recovery.

“The first thing is housing, especially affordable housing,” he said. “This is definitely going to be affordable to all the seniors in the area.This is a dynamite project for the area to grow.”

State Sen. Jeremy Stein showed his support for this project.

“We look forward to continuing to do more projects like this throughout Calcasieu Parish.”

CCOA Chief Executive Officer Jacqueline Green noted the importance of affordable housing and senior care in the community during the wake of COVID-19 and natural disasters.

“The transition was hard on them. They need a safe, accountable place to live where they can have services that we provide through the council,” she said. “We can help them to revitalize their living arrangements from the effects of the hurricane, or just because they are aging.”

Demand for low-income senior housing developments are high, Green said.

“We have identified several seniors in the community who have not come back home because they do not have anywhere to live.”

Green said there are more than 100 seniors on the waiting list for this facility.

“It is very important to get our seniors back to their homes, back to where they’re raised, back where they’re reared,” she explained. “When they are still in the community that they were raised in, where they are familiar, it provides a much better aging experience for that senior, and we want to help facilitate that.”

The proposed housing will encourage independent living.

“It’s so much more than just a living arrangement,” Green said. “It’s a life change for the person who is aging and doesn’t have family members or anyone to be here to be with them.”

When complete, the development will have aids on staff to provide care and companionship to residents.

“This is just one project of many that we are working on in North Lake Charles. Every time we have a reinvestment back in the community, it’s typically a good thing,” Hunter said. “This project will not solve North Lake Charles, but this is a good project for what North Lake Charles needs. It’s a good step forward. This is a positive day for Lake Charles, and a positive day for North Lake Charles.”

According to Public Information Officer Katie Harrington, the next steps for the proposed project will be for the city’s Community Development Department to host public hearings as required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. These hearings are expected to take place within the next 30 to 45 days.