After five years of uncertainty, the La Casa shelter in Columbia Heights now has a definite future in this gentrifying neighborhood.

The plan is to move into a temporary shelter for up to two years, then return to a state-of-the-art facility on its current Irving Street site. Council member Jim Graham confirmed this plan at a recent meeting convened to discuss the future of La Casa.

Construction of the new shelter, a part of the Kenyon Square development at the Columbia Heights Metro Center, is projected to take 18 months to two years from the time La Casa moves.

The La Casa Multicultural Center's 40-bed transitional housing program for men will relocate to 1131 Spring Road, NW. But plans for relocating its 90-bed, low-barrier men's nightly shelter, currently based in trailers at the Irving Street site, remain uncertain. Renovations for the temporary, transitional housing facility are under way and scheduled for completion by summer of 2008.

La Casa's future first became a topic of community dialogue in 2002, when the city designated land around the Columbia Heights Metro Station and adjacent to the center as a choice development site.

The development contract was awarded to Donatelli Development, Inc., for construction of a $60 million mixed-use complex consisting of 153 condominiums, a 75-unit senior housing facility, and 19,000 square feet of ground floor entertainment and retail space.

Although initial discussions at the municipal level had included ideas for La Casa to remain on the site, when the plans were unveiled La Casa was not there.

Dismayed by the apparent washout of the successful program, former and current La Casa residents formed the La Casa Resident Leadership Committee to see what could be done.

With assistance from the outreach staff of Neighbors' Consejo, a nonprofit organization focusing on the needs of the Latino community, committee members, drafted informational materials, spoke with church groups, and made a series of presentations at the Advisory Neighborhood Committee (ANC) and D.C. Council meetings.

"When a group of people are trying to change a multimillion-dollar development plan, they need a common goal," said Robert Pressley, one of the original members of the Leadership Committee.

The advocates said that the center's demise would increase the number of homeless people on the streets as well as deaths from hypothermia, and that the city could not afford to lose the long-term residential transition program, which they said saves nearly $20 in health- and crime-related costs for every dollar spent.

Committee members also contended that closing the center, with no alternative in place, would send a terrible message to Washingtonians about the purposes and results of "urban renewal."

The men secured the support of the two ANC's most affected by the development, 1-A (Columbia Heights) and 1-D (Mt. Pleasant), along with strong backing from Graham and the cooperation of at least 20 churches and other community groups.

In 2004, the city added $6.25 million to the capital budget for reconstruction of the facility. Chris Donatelli, president of the lead developer for the project, enthusiastically endorsed the concept, and the next draft of the site showed a multi-story, state-of-the-art La Casa that would be a local and national model for the continuum of care approach that is successful in returning many homeless people to independent, productive lives.

The planned facility is particularly significant in including the SRO component --inexpensive single-room units with common public areas that will be available to men who successfully complete the six-month residential program.

While the transitional program stresses personal responsibility and includes job counseling and 12-step meetings, the addition of the SRO's addresses the other side of the equation - the extreme scarcity of affordable housing and the difficulty that people in transition have in securing a lease.

The agreement also recognized that the plan required La Casa to relocate temporarily during the construction phase of the project, and La Casa's Leadership Committee turned its attention to the next step, finding a suitable temporary location. Much discussion ensued about the advisability of separating the transitional housing program from the 90-bed overnight shelter, which operates in trailers adjoining the building.

Residents and planners all recognized that finding an appropriate temporary spot and moving would be expensive and difficult.

Two years passed without a clear solution while the D.C. Coalition for the Homeless, the nonprofit that administers La Casa and 14 other homeless programs throughout the city, investigated different possibilities.

Finally, in March of last year, with construction of the Kenyon Square project about to begin, the Coalition announced that a vacant building at 1131 Spring Road, on the grounds of the D.C. Mental Health facility in that block, was available to accept the transition program on a temporary basis. It would not be possible for the site to also accommodate the 90-bed low-barrier part of the La Casa program.

"We are still looking for a suitable site for the overnight shelter component of La Casa's services," Michael Ferrell, director of the D.C. Coalition of the Homeless. "Whether it will be a relocation of the trailers or another solution is uncertain."

While the availability of the large building that was once a Jewish synagogue and most recently a vaccination center as a home for the transition treatment program is good news, the structure needs extensive renovations. That process began a few months ago, and will not be completed until next summer.

Meanwhile, the Kenyon Square complex construction has moved forward around, and now nearly on top of, La Casa.

Despite the difficulties of continuing operations amid a major construction site, a recent visit to La Casa found the interior of building looking much the same as previously - a huge, bright public space lined with neatly made-up single beds and lockers on one side, with large tables on the other. The center also contains a kitchen, bathrooms, and several offices.

Glen Rother, who supervises the 19-member clinical team, seemed unfazed by the commotion. "We had a little flooding in the kitchen, but we've solved that problem," he said. "The construction is loud, but it hasn't affected our core operations."

The mid-April meeting was a mix of about 20 people, some from ANC 1A in Ward 1, where the current La Casa is located and which also borders on Spring Road, where the temporary site is located, and others apparently from ANC 4C, which includes the site of the temporary shelter. Ward 4 currently lacks a council member, pending the special election to replace Adrian Fenty, now mayor.

In contrast to the gatherings of a few years ago, a number of citizens expressed anxiety and displeasure that La Casa would be coming to their neighborhood. Among the complaints was the assertion that there were already too many group facilities of one kind or another in the vicinity. Others felt that it was inappropriate to have a community of recovering alcoholics and addicts located near an elementary school, and some mentioned ongoing problems with a family shelter currently operating in the neighborhood.

Several people complained about homeless people hanging out on the street and drinking. One man wondered if the public drinking in the neighborhood might pose too much of a challenge for those in recovery.

Kate Jesberg, acting director of the D.C. Department of Human Services, expressed concern about the purported problems at the family center and invited attendees to get in touch with her directly to discuss them.

Rother said the La Casa transitional housing program is individualized for each man. Many have substance abuse problems, and La Casa's services are based on the abstinence model; it does not dispense methadone or provide other medical interventions.

"This is a program for people who have made the commitment to change," Rother said. "We have a screening process, and accept only about half our applicants. We are not set up to do detox here, and we have no medical staff. One requirement is that a man cannot have any outstanding warrants against him."

Rother estimated after the meeting that about one-third of the men complete the program through gaining employment, saving, and moving to their own place. Another third leave the program before six months because they have moved back home or found another place. A final third are asked to leave the program because of infractions.

One attendee asked Graham if the temporary relocation was a done deal, or if it could be reconsidered. Graham replied that the city was always open to other options, although it seemed unclear how these plans could be changed at this point. He also noted that a location for the 90-bed low-barrier shelter had not been found, and suggested that the shelter might be broken up into smaller units for church sponsorship. The two La Casa program participants at the meeting spoke eloquently about what they had gained in the program, and their plans as they prepare for independent living.

For the most part, meeting attendees seemed reassured by the discussion. Clearly, many challenges remain for La Casa staff, program participants, and for the community. However, the success and resiliency of this homeless program, as well as the community solidarity supporting it, are hopeful and inspiring.