ArchCare has opened St. Frances Cabrini Apartments in Eastchester, New York, its second independent, integrated housing development for neurodiverse adults.
ArchCare is the Archdiocese of New York's health care system for older adults and individuals with special needs.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony and blessing took place in early April at Immaculate Conception Church, where ArchCare converted the church's former convent into 10 apartments with common living areas.
"And to think that the sisters used to live here. So we're still using it for something holy and good," Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York, said during a tour of the facility, which he blessed along with its residents.
The project follows the opening in January 2020 of ArchCare at St. Teresa in Staten Island. That facility was ArchCare's first supportive housing community for neurodiverse and neurotypical adults. Neurodiversity encompasses a wide range of atypical patterns of thought or behavior, including conditions like autism.
"Too many neurodiverse adults struggle to find a place to live once they turn 18, and projects like the St. Frances Cabrini Apartments change that," Scott LaRue, president and CEO of ArchCare, said in a statement. "We are creating opportunities for people to live with independence and dignity while staying connected to a supportive community."
He added ArchCare would continue to find new housing solutions like this to help underserved communities.
The $7 million project was supported by a $3.5 million grant from the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation and a $545,522 grant from the Catholic Health Care Foundation of the Archdiocese of New York.