A new affordable housing development is up and running in Springfield. The nonprofit The Kitchen Inc. will cut the ribbon on Maplewood Villas during an event Tuesday August 29th.
Maplewood is the fourth development from The Kitchen in the last decade, following the trend of the housing first model of addressing housing instability which has moved many organizations towards developing more permanent housing options. Kitchen CEO Meleah Spencer said affordable housing is a pillar of The Kitchen’s mission. “We are obviously housing and helping and sheltering folks who are experiencing homelessness,” Spencer said, “but our vision is a community without homelessness, and we believe one of the ways to get there is to have more affordable housing to prevent homelessness to begin with.”
Maplewood Villas has 11 units set aside for homeless veterans and is the first Kitchen housing complex designed for the 55+ age group. Spencer said there is too little affordable housing in the community, and when the Kitchen first started planning Maplewood, they knew there’d been an uptick in homelessness in older adults. She said rising rents can be hard to manage on a fixed income.
The need is apparent. The 44-unit development began leasing in June and is already fully leased up. Spencer said that is typical of The Kitchen’s affordable housing developments.
Those interested in learning more about Maplewood can call the development at 417-590-4277. Anyone experiencing housing insecurity can reach out to The Kitchen at 417-837-1500. Those living in Greene, Christian, and Webster counties can also contact One Door at 417-225-7499.