SOUTH BEND — Before moving into Washington-Dunbar Homes in 2018, Victoria Bedford and her two children were living in a third-floor, two-bedroom unit in Mishawaka.
Bedford remembers climbing the partially enclosed concrete steps in the winter, often carrying groceries and worrying that her children, ages 2 and 4, would disturb neighbors with their sometimes “loud or rowdy” play.
By contrast, their two-story townhouse today has three bedrooms, a basement, a washer and dryer and ground-floor access. Her $600 monthly rent is only $20 more than what she had been paying.
“I can honestly say when I come here I feel like I’m at home," Bedford said, "versus the other apartment I was at, it didn’t feel like home.”
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Bedford, 32, who is single and works in patient admitting at a hospital, is eligible to live at Washington-Dunbar because her income falls between 30% and 60% of the city’s median household income of $40,265. She feels fortunate to live in what’s known as “affordable housing,” meaning rent is subsidized in some way by public or philanthropic dollars.