NAMI (National Alliance for Mental Illness) Gulf Coast recognized an essential need to provide affordable housing for those in our community who are struggling with mental illness. These individuals are often taken advantage of, forced by circumstances to live in substandard dwellings, and are periodically evicted because of their precarious financial situations. Anxiety and homelessness exacerbate their difficulties, and ironically, fuel the very stereotypes that discourage otherwise compassionate people from renting to those with a chronic mental illness. Is this a big problem in our community? Statistics indicate that one in five families in Texas has a family member afflicted with a mental illness, and that an afflicted family member has an 80% probability of being jailed or hospitalized at the public’s expense when not living where they feel safe. Westover Cove, Inc. is a non-profit foundation, founded in 2003 by a group of volunteer members of NAMI.

Westover Cove Apartments, our first project, is a H.U.D. 811, fifteen (15) unit apartment complex located in Alvin, Texas. It took a little over two years to raise the money, develop the plans, and complete the build out. Although officially opened in August, 2005, a waiting list developed long before the opening confirming the existing need of safe affordable housing for people suffering from mental illness. Along with providing a safe and affordable housing habitat, we provide the following services for our tenants:
• Weekly shopping for groceries and other personal items
• Transportation as needed to Alvin Community College (Special life skill classes)
• Transportation as needed to Gulf Coast Center for meds
• Transportation as needed for doctor visits
• Monthly group social functions

Additional resources we hope to add in the future include Occupational Therapy and Counseling services.
For more information about Westover Cove Apartments, please contact the Community Director at (281) 756-8877.

You can help Westover Cove’s development plans by making a tax deductible contribution to: Westover Cove, Attn.: Father Bob Flick, Treasurer, 2200 Mustang Rd., Alvin, TX 77511.