UPDATE 3-23-23 SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WNDU) – Calls are growing louder to save Portage Manor.
St. Joseph County Commissioners approved a resolution Tuesday night to look for other ways to fund the facility moving forward. Since the county will not continue funding it, private developers could take over ownership.
The council and commissioners said they will now delay a vote for 60 days, which will give private developers time to come up with viable plans.
“The people have spoken and we have listened. So, I’ve tasked the council, led by Mark Catanzarite, to have a 60-day window to explore all the options and have weekly meetings, report back to us, make them available to the public so everybody can weigh in. So, hopefully we can find a decision that somebody will take that over, which that would be the best case scenario,” said St. Joseph County Commissioner Derek Dieter.
St. Joe County Attorney Mike Misch said it would cost roughly $40 million for a new building and the transition phase but said this is not feasible.
Photo from HealthyPlace.Com
(3-10-23) I posted a blog earlier this week about the probable closing of Portage Manor in South Bend, Indiana, and the fate of its 101 residents with disabilities and serious mental illnesses.
Portage Manor is a local story but what is happening there is part of a larger story being played out nationally as communities struggle to find adequate housing while being pressured to close group homes.
Joseph Dits, a talented and fair-minded reporter at the South Bend Tribune has published an excellent article describing the complexity of keeping Portage Manor open or shuttering it, including the county’s financial options. Local mental health officials are worried that residents living in the facility will not receive adequate care once the home is shuttered despite promises by officials. St. Joseph County Commission President Carl Baxmeyer is quoted by Reporter Dits promising the county “will ensure that each resident is housed and settled somewhere.” Matt Costello, who runs the local Disability Rights group, counters: “What I don’t think the commissioners realize is how hard it is to place people.” Many require 24/7 care. A local mental health service provider is quoted saying if the Manor closes, the community can absorb only 10 residents, adding there are “very few places that provide the level of care they need.”
All of this is playing out while developers push to buy the land and historic preservationists ask the county to pay for restorations. County commissioners voted 2 to 1 to close Portage Manor. The county council will vote next Tuesday without any apparent plan for the future of Portage Manor residents.
Back in 2014, I wrote an OPED for The Washington Post warning that closing group homes without first creating meaningful community services would end tragically. South Bend officials are now facing that reality.
(Has your community closed down group homes? Tell me about it on my Facebook page.)
Pete Earley: Sending the mentally ill from group homes to an uncertain future.
First published in The Washington October 30, 2014