Bobbie: “The new apartments are a dream come true for me.”

Bobbie Green will likely be the first person to live in the new Smith Williams Apartments in Henderson, Nevada, currently under construction and slated to open in December 2011. The homes are the culmination of efforts by members of her community to overcome the challenges of the growing aging and disabled population in the area.

Smith Williams is an affordable senior housing project conceived by the Community Baptist Church in Henderson. The church undertook the effort to develop new, accessible, affordable housing for many members of its congregation and the lower-income residents of the neighborhood near the church.

The project has been a lifesaver for Green. After she and her husband moved to Nevada to retire, he passed away, leaving her to live on her Social Security benefits and Section 8 housing vouchers.

“I’m disabled so I can’t work,” Green says. “I have to do what I can to survive.”

Helping seniors like Green has been a difficult mission for the church, but Pastor Sam Roberson, his wife Earlene, and the congregation never gave up.

 “Building affordable rental units for seniors has been a dream of mine for so long,” Pastor Roberson says. “It was a challenge, but I’m now so thankful for all the support and assistance I’ve received to make this happen.” 

In collaboration with state and local governments, the church saw their idea become a reality. Land for the project was donated to the church from the City of Henderson, and the Nevada Housing Division’s Low Income Housing Tax Credit program allowed for a $10-million equity investment in the new construction.

“Sister Bobbie” (as the congregation knows her) currently lives in an apartment near the church but says the new apartments, with added benefits like subsidized utilities, will be more affordable for her.

“The new apartments are a dream come true for me,” Green says.

To learn more about the Nevada Housing Division, please visit their website.

For more information on Section 8 programs and Supportive Housing, see our advocacy page.

Left: Bobbie, far left, at the Smith Williams Apartments site with Pastor Sam and Earlene Roberson of Community Baptist Church, who envisioned the project. Right: Pastor Roberson spends lots of time at the construction site, which he considers his "baby."