Lockwood House & Elmwood House
|
Many St. Alban’s parishioners are familiar with the name “Lockwood House,” and some people have even been there in connection with the Thanksgiving Day dinners our parish has been providing and serving to the residents for a score or more years.
But have you ever wondered how Lockwood house, and its neighbor Elmwood House began and who is eligible to live there?
In the 1970s and early 1980s, the rector of St. Alban’s Church at
that time — The Rev. John R. Frizzell — recognized the need in the
Northern Virginia area for low cost housing for elderly persons. Working
with the Diocese of Virginia, Fairfax County and with the Department of
housing and Urban Development (HUD) Father Frizzell formed the St.
Alban‘s Housing Corporation as the parent non-profit corporation, and
the Diocese of Virginia loaned that corporation the initial funds needed
to acquire a parcel of property.
By 1985, a multi-story building was built at 500 N. Madison Street in Arlington that would be available to low income elderly people under a HUD program for subsidized housing. This building was named Lockwood house and consists of 100 one-bedroom and efficiency apartments. The average age of the residents is about 72 years old, all have very restricted incomes and most, if not all, are Medicaid-eligible. St. Alban’s Housing Corporation is sponsored by the Diocese of Virginia through the Virginia Diocesan Homes Board of Trustees.
Recognizing that in northern Virginia there was a continuing increase of low income senior citizens who required some form of subsidized housing, in the early 1990s The Rev. Canon John Frizzell initiated another project that resulted in the construction on the Arlington property of a second building, to be known as Elmwood House. This building, completed in 1995, contains 50 one-bedroom apartments.
Lockwood house and Elmwood House are fully occupied and have a 4-to-5
year waiting list, which shows the important role they play in providing
independent living housing for low income seniors in Northern
Virginia. Canon Frizzell served as the first President of the Board of
Directors for the St. Alban’s Housing Corporation, a role now filled by
each subsequent rector of St. Alban’s Episcopal Church. Other St.
Alban’s parishioners frequently serve on that elected board. |
