Scott Denny inside his new apartment at Winter Landing, a new affordable housing complex for people over 62 and people with disabilities, in Portland on Friday. Denny lost his apartment in Portland after a roommate moved out and he could no longer afford it. He was set up with a caseworker who helped him move into the Winter Landing building. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer

Scott Denny spent most of this fall in Portland’s homeless shelter.

But a few weeks ago, the 63-year-old moved into his own apartment in Winter Landing, a new affordable housing development in the West End.

The development has 52 units for people ages 62 and up or who are disabled. The building next door, the Equinox, has 43 affordable housing units available for low-income families.

Both Winter Landing and the Equinox are part of the Mercy Hospital renovation that was mostly completed last fall. The project aimed to create a campus of market-rate, affordable and workforce units all on one large parcel of land and was a combined effort by Redfern, New Heights, Portland Housing Authority and Community Housing of Maine. There is a large courtyard on the property shared by all the buildings.

Winter Landing, a new affordable housing complex for people over 62 and people with disabilities in Portland, seen Friday, Nov. 22. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer

Denny is one of 19 people who moved from the city’s homeless shelter into the new development over the last few weeks.

In October, after losing his housing, living in his car for a month, and eventually crashing it, Denny said, he went to the shelter. He had never been homeless before. He went to college, was married, raised four kids and worked for more than a decade managing a drug store in Vermont.

Going to the shelter felt strange, he said. He felt like he’d lost his independence.

“When you have control of your life, things go pretty smooth, but when you lose that control it’s tough. Things get bad quick,” he said.

After two months of living at the shelter, Denny said his caseworker told him about Winter Landing. He doesn’t have a Section 8 housing voucher and can’t get one because the federal government put a freeze on the program in July when it ran out of allocated funds. He is retired but collects $1,575 a month in Social Security. His rent at Winter Landing is $1,122 a month and he has to pay for electricity and internet, but he decided to try and make it work.

Denny said he felt nervous at first about living on such a tight budget but moving into his own place felt like regaining some control over his life.

“Moving here feels like getting some independence back, and some quiet and calm,” he said.

Denny said his case manager comes by regularly with a box of food and helps him out with budgeting.

Joshua Ruitto, Portland’s director of housing and community services, said that type of support for residents is crucial.

“I’ve seen people fail when they have nobody to fall back on or reach out to. Having that support system in place when somebody moves in is crucial,” he said.

Winter Landing had 15 units reserved for people coming directly from the city shelter.

Cullen Ryan, the executive director at Community Housing of Maine, outside of Winter Landing, a new affordable housing complex for people over 62 and people with disabilities in Portland, on Friday. Brianna Soukup/Staff Photographer

The development also has 15 project-based housing choice vouchers available for disabled people – so instead of individuals having to apply for those vouchers, they were automatically offered them when they leased their apartments if they met the criteria. Because those vouchers were designated for the project before the voucher freeze went into effect, they could still be used, according to Cullen Ryan, executive director of Community Housing of Maine, an affordable housing developer in Portland.

For those 15 initial spots, Ruitto and others looked for people who had been in shelter for 180 days and were disabled or 62 and older. Staff made a list of everyone who fit that criteria, then went around and talked to them, trying to identify who didn’t have a housing plan yet.

By late October, they had a group of 13 people who all signed leases on the same day. The city supplied them with furniture and helped them move in, according to Ruitto.

So far, 20 people exiting homelessness have moved in since the development opened in October, 19 from the shelter and one from the city’s Housing Opportunities for People in Encampments (HOPE) program.

Almost all of the units, 46 of the 52, have been leased, said Ryan. He expects the remaining six to be leased by the end of the year.

“People will never know who is who within the building and I think that’s the most important feature,” said Ryan. “Nobody ever needs to think of any of the people living in these buildings as homeless because they are housed and they’re a part of the neighborhood now.”

Ryan said he saw people break down in tears when moving in.

“Housing is transformative. I have seen people looking 10 years younger after finding housing. Having a stable place to sleep at night changes your life,” he said.

Several units at the nearby Equinox are reserved for families coming from the family shelter. Mike Guthrie, Portland’s family shelter director, said he expects those families to move in over the next few weeks.

Ryan said he also hopes to lease several units at the Equinox to people participating in the McAuley Residence program, a transitional housing program for women recovering from substance use disorder.