Joyce Malaguti plans to be moved into her subsidized one-bedroom apartment in the former Oak Street elementary school by New Year’s Eve.
To say she is lucky is an understatement. Malaguti, 89, secured one of three small apartments sought by 1,320 seniors and 187 veterans who applied for them.
On Monday, she and her son were unloading boxes in the parking lot of the rehabbed building.
“My heart, it’s a miracle,” Malaguti said.
Her move-in day comes years after the now-controversial project was proposed. After a series of cost overruns the original budget of $475,000 ballooned to $1.2 million.
Malaguti is well-acquainted with the building. She grew up in the neighborhood on Gray Avenue and went to elementary school at Oak Street until fourth grade, in the 1940s. She remembers that there were two classrooms then, each holding two grades.
“It was a wonderful time, and I have happy memories,” Malaguti said.
Her father ran a furniture store on Court Street where Martini’s Bar & Grill is now, she said.
“I’m here, I’m history,” Malaguti said.
Her new neighbor, Eileen Andruk, is disabled.
“It’s the best thing that’s happened,” Andruk, 62, said of landing one of the apartments. “I feel very blessed.”
Andruk said she lost her previous apartment on Water Street when the owner had to sell the building. She moved into the Oak Street building with her cat, Stuey, on Dec. 27.
“I had the most beautiful weekend,” Andruk said. “It’s just like this Christmas miracle.”
She said she pays $616 a month for the one-bedroom apartment. (All three units are one-bedrooms, though they vary in size.)
Tenants pay one third of their income to live in the building.
“We have one tenant that is fully in, and the other one is moving in as we speak, so as of the 1st, two units are occupied, and the third one, we’re working to get a tenant in there as soon as possible,” said Chris Plourde, assistant executive director of the Plymouth Housing Authority.
Plourde said Plymouth seniors get priority for the units, with a special preference for people with disabilities or veterans.
“We’re grateful for the opportunity to bring this to the community and provide housing for these residents that are in need of it,” Plourde said.
Plourde said Plymouth needs more subsidized housing, which is different from affordable housing built by private developers. Those units can be considered affordable if they are rented to people who earn up to 80 percent of the average median income in the Boston metropolitan area.
Subsidized housing, however, is truly affordable, with people paying a third of their income to live there.
“There’s a lot of misconception of the difference between affordable housing and subsidized housing,” Plourde said.
He explained that the housing complexes run by the Plymouth Housing Authority are either subsidized by the state or the federal government.
Rent and maintenance at the Oak Street building will be federally subsidized, though the apartments were built using money from the town’s Community Preservation Fund, as well as a state grant and federal funds the town received under the American Rescue Plan.
The staff at the Plymouth Housing Authority also manages subsidized housing projects in Kingston, Duxbury, and Carver, but each town has its own Housing Authority board that makes all funding decisions.
The Housing Authority is a quasi-governmental organization subsidized by the state and federal governments and fully separate from the town government.
“I’m very excited,” Malaguti said. “It’s going to be safe. I’ll feel very safe here, back home.”
Fred Thys can be reached at fred@plymouthindependent.org