The Garfield Elementary School Building had been vacant for years and was structurally unstable when it was purchased by Peter and Paul Community Services.

Their goal was to combine healthy social environments; private and permanent apartments; and accessible program spaces for people who are chronically homeless in a single location.

The project also needed to hold the office headquarters for the not-for-profit.

Funding for the project included a combination of private donations, grants, Historic Tax Credits and participation from the Affordable Housing Commission and the Missouri Housing Development Commission.

Twenty five permanent residents and a dozen employees now live and work at Garfield Commons. The building also serves as the home for programs that serve people who are or have been homeless; programs like the street soccer club Saint Louis Roadies, and the Community CollabARTive program which partners local artists as art instructors to staff and clients of Peter and Paul Community Services.

The building is structurally sound and thoroughly reutilized from the original school gymnasium to a new street soccer field and a mediation garden.

Through an adaptive reuse of the historic building, an open approach to community involvement and application of Inclusive Design to all of the spaces, the Garfield Commons is a model for combatting homelessness in the City of St. Louis.