Construction began yesterday on the new Downtown Rady Center, a 200,000-square-foot campus dedicated to helping move people from homelessness to housing.
The center will connect people with shelter, housing and supportive services to help address barriers to housing. It will include more than 200 housing opportunities, a health clinic, case management, food assistance and other services. Construction is expected to last at the downtown site through 2028, when the campus is slated to open.
Billionaire philanthropists Ernest and Evelyn Rady teamed up with the Salvation Army and Wakeland Housing to make the project happen, raising more than $130 million altogether. The goal is to make the Rady Center part of a comprehensive continuum of care, with the Salvation Army and Wakeland Housing joining forces to expand homelessness services throughout the region.
During Monday’s groundbreaking ceremony, Rady said he was motivated by the sight of people sleeping on the sidewalk.
“I said, ‘You know, we’re not lying on the sidewalk, we’re blessed, we should help those people,’” Rady said.