TOLEDO, Ohio —
Lucas Metropolitan Housing received a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's Capital Fund Emergency Safety and Security Program to improve safety and security.
When LMH's Vice President of Public Safety, Jim Gross, applied for the grant, which is capped at $250,000, he planned on improving multiple properties.
"When I started looking at some of the issues like at Vistula Manor and concentrated on correcting those issues or addressing those issues, it started adding up very quickly," Gross explained.
LMH received $200,000. All of it will be going towards improvements at Vistula Manor.
"Over the past year, two years, there's been a significant increase in the crimes and types of crimes in the area," Gross said.
Vistula Manor has recently experienced an increase in trespassing and violence, Gross said. He believes it could be because of where the property is located.
"Part of it is there's a lot more traffic there because you've got the TARTA bus hub."
Vistula Manor residents have also recognized an increase in issues.
"There's a lot of unknown traffic coming through. People coming through the doors with the bus stop out there and homeless people sleeping in the hallways," Michael Barner, who has lived at Vistula Manor since 2008 said. "Yeah, we need more security."
While Michael feels safe living there, he knows some of his neighbors don’t.
"It has gotten a little better, you know? But it's still rugged around here in this whole area," Barner said.
As part of the improvements, the building will receive more secure doors, which will also be equipped with alarms, upgraded lighting systems, clearer cameras and a brand new call box entry system.
Gross believes these changes will be a success.
"Transient traffic that gets into the building should be decreased drastically. It should make the building more secure," Gross said. "It'll make the property more secure because there will be better lighting on areas of the properties that are kind of dark now."
Barner is optimistic, too.
"This will be beneficial. It's much needed," Barner said.
These upcoming improvements will be in addition to other recent improvements that were made to some of Vistula Manor's cameras through another grant.
LMH is currently speaking with vendors to get the project started. The funds must be used within a year.