STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

Teri Beck beamed as eight men and women in hard hats turned dirt on a new future for those needing safe affordable housing.

“This is a dream I’ve had for years,” said Beck, the shelter manager for The Advocates, which helps victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence. “Every year I do censuses for national networks and they always ask what our needs are. And I always put down transitional housing.”

The new facility that will be built on River Street next to a professional office complex is part of a $5 million building project that will provide 18 studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom units with capacity for at least 36 women, children and pets.

It will also provide 4,500-square feet of on-site client and program support services and a community meeting room or gathering space for 25 people.  There also will be open space, play yards and a community garden on site.

"People can't move forward without a safe, stable affordable place to live. Providing housing provides a place for people to step forward," said Tricia Swartling, who heads up The Advocates.

The exterior of the new will be made of phenolic resins, or recycled plastic, said Architect J.J. Rumpeltes.

“It looks like expensive wood,” he said. "But The Advocates will never have to touch the building again. They have other things to be doing with their money and time, rather than worry about painting or other maintenance.”

The interior will also feature environmentally sensitive materials, such as rooftop solar and radiant heating. A rooftop atrium will allow light to filter through the building to the ground floor.

Rumpeltes grew up in Hailey, his Austrian great-grandfather having helped those who determined where to situate the ski resort that would eventually become known as Sun Valley Resort. His grandparents owned the Golden Rule and his mother, the Hearthstone Restaurant.

He was jazzed about adding a community resource like The Advocates' building to his portfolio, especially since his wife Joannie serves on the Advocates board.

“It’s an unusual lot—25 feet wide by 45 feet long. But I’m confident it will look real nice,” said Rumpeltes, whose multi-use project at Myrtle and Main streets is expected to finish up in the next three weeks.

Swartling said The Advocates had to hand out hotel vouchers to clients needing housing when she began volunteering with the nonprofit organization 26 years ago. The organization still has 16 people waiting for accommodations, even with the shelter and a four-unit transitional living space that The Advocates opened two years ago.

The new project will increase existing accommodations fourfold.

“We’ve got more money we need to raise but we’ll get there,” she said. “We’ve raised enough to break ground, which is awesome.”

Mitzi Mecham, who runs Music 'n Me, described how The Advocates had helped when her family took in a boy.

"I walked in and couldn't believe all the services. Everyone was there to make sure this boy succeeded," she said.

The three-story 12,158-square-foot building at 217 S. River St., which boasts two floors of apartments, a laundry facility and ground floor office space, is phase one.

Phase two will include a two-story, 5,496-square-foot building at an undisclosed location that will include apartments, a laundry, kitchenettes and outdoor green space.

"In a very philanthropic community this is a very significant project," said Art Dahl, a board member with The Advocates. Not only does it address needs for The Advocates but it addresses another significant problem in this valley, which is affordable housing."