BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) – A new senior living neighborhood is bringing community, safety and comfort to North Baton Rouge.
“Thank God I’m here in this beautiful neighborhood,” resident Mylinda Smith said.
Today was the grand opening of Hollywood Heights and Acres Community. It offers 90 units to people aged 55 years and older. It’s not just a place to stay, it’s a community where neighbors look out for each other.
“It truly is coming and providing safe, clean housing for the community. But also comes in and you can tell, it is a community,” Rob Coats, President and CEO of The Banyan Foundation, said.The Banyan Foundation, a non-profit based in Alabama, and Partners Southeast, a local affordable housing developer, as well as several other groups and organizations came together to bring this all to seniors in North Baton Rouge.
“We’re talking about an area that’s been disinvested over a course of decades. So, any time you have the ability to bring tens of millions of dollars to a community, that’s something that should be considered,” J. Wesley Daniels, Jr., CEO of Partners Southeast, said.
With the ribbon cutting set for Valentine’s Day, the love for a new community and new beginnings was in the air.
“We love our seniors. They are our generational factors that really aid us in our development. So any time we have the ability to really service our seniors, our most vulnerable population, we couldn’t ask for a better day,” Daniels said.The neighbors love it too.
“And I love it, love it, love it, beautiful,” Smith said.
Smith moved into her new home here a year and a half ago. While driving around, she saw the community and instantly fell in love. Compared to her previous home, she says this one is “50 thousand times percent better. Better, better, better. Living arrangement, everything, the community, everything. Very safe, everything is very good over here.”
And for the developers and partners, it’s an ongoing mission to keep that feeling alive.“People are so accustomed to developers coming in and leaving, and so we have a stigma that is put on us until we prove them wrong,” Coats said. “They want to make sure we’re going to be here; they were telling us we want to make sure this is our home for a long time. So with that and with the communication and collaboration, it turned out to be something that everybody can be proud of.”
Rent at Hollywood Heights and Acres is a tax credit based on your income. While they are almost at full capacity, if you are over 55 years old and are interested in living here, applications for the waitlist are open.
