Several homeless military veterans and LGBTQ youth now have a place to call home with the opening of a new supportive housing residence in the University Heights section of the Bronx. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held to celebrate the opening on July 17.

Walton House, located between Walton Avenue and East Burnside Avenue, holds 89 affordable housing apartments that have been leased to 56 military veterans and 33 young adults, 40 percent of whom identify as LGBTQ.

The property is the third residence for veterans managed by the Jericho Project, a non-profit that provides housing and services for the homeless population. The $35.6 million project overseen by the non-profit took four years to build. Its construction partner B&B Urban, and several financial investors like CitiBank and Wells Fargo, helped finance the project.

The ten-story development features a garden area, recreational space, communal kitchen, and library stacks. The building also has a basement area set aside for office space where tenants can meet with on-site case managers, life coaches, peer mentors, and career counselors.

“It’s very healing to have a home where you have services on site,” said Tori Lyon, CEO of Jericho Project. “It’s a great model and has proven to be very effective over many decades now.”

Lyon mentioned that Walton House is developing recreational programming and activities, such as Friday night dinners and various volunteer opportunities, for tenants to bond with one another as a community.

Karen Wharton, a resident at Jericho Project’s Kingsbridge Terrace residence, believes that the organization’s properties help “build up the community” for veterans, erasing the stigma around homeless veterans. Wharton served in the military and was away on duty when Hurricane Sandy hit in 2012. When she returned in 2014, she found her Coney Island home destroyed. By that time, Wharton said she missed the relief period and could find little help from the James J. Peters Veterans Administration Hospital.

“I returned home to a civilian life and ruined home,” said Wharton at the ribbon-cutting for Walton House. “For the first time in my life, I was not self-sufficient.”

But Wharton came across Kingsbridge Terrace one day, deciding to apply for residence after seeing the building’s mural which honors veterans and the armed forces. Her application was approved within three months.

“I didn’t believe it until it happened,” said Wharton. “But Jericho devises that safety net for those who fall through the cracks.”

Walton House is also the first affordable housing development under the city’s 15/15 initiative – a plan to build 15,000 units of supportive housing over the next 15 years.