Jericho Village in Wylie is set to offer more than just housing; it’s a lifeline for those like Nia Davis overcoming homelessness and abuse, with affordable rent.
WYLIE, Texas — In a neighborhood in Wylie, a new 38-unit community is preparing to open its doors with a mission that goes far beyond housing.
Jericho Village is a community-based development designed to provide safe, stable, income-based homes for families who have faced homelessness, abuse, and housing instability — along with on-site support services to help them rebuild their lives.
“This is our mission and our ministry. We are giving them an opportunity to change their life. Truly,” said Pastor Janet Collinsworth of Agape, the organization behind the project.
Agape Resource and Assistance Center “provides housing and transitional services to homeless single women, moms and their children that empower them to move from homelessness and crisis to fulfilling, self-sustaining lives,” reads the group’s website.
The village will include up to three bedroom units, as well as studios. Collinsworth emphasizes that Jericho Village is about more than affordability — it’s about attainability.
“[You] make enough to be able to afford a place to live, but that doesn’t guarantee that you are rentable,” she said. Janet is referring to the other barriers to renting that people often do not talk about beyond pricing: bad credit, evictions, and background checks. “If you’ve got an eviction, it’s almost as bad as a felony,” she said.
For women like Nia Davis — whose identity is being protected — Jericho Village represents a chance at stability after surviving homelessness and abuse.
“I didn’t imagine my life like this,” she said. “[There was] psychological, physical, mental, financial, sexual [abuse]. It was all the above.”
The rent at Jericho Village will be income-based, and residents will have access to on-site services designed to provide long-term support. Collinsworth tells WFAA the rent will be based on the area’s median income.
The village is not just for women and children, but fifteen units will be set aside for Agape program graduates and moms, and another twenty units “will be for our [Wylie] workforce: teachers, firefighters, and even our bus drivers.”
“Ninety percent of our women are abuse survivors and trafficking survivors,” said Collinsworth.
The model has even drawn national attention from HUD Secretary Scott Turner, who believes communities like this could serve as a blueprint across the country. Turner attended the location two weeks ago. “It was such a surreal moment,” Janet said.
When asked what a place like Jericho Village would mean for her family, Davis didn’t hesitate.
“Freedom, I can breathe, our zen, our peace. It’s ours,” the single mother said.
Jericho Village is close to receiving its certificates of occupancy, meaning applications may soon open. Davis says she plans to apply for herself and her children.
“They literally saved my life. They are my angels.”
Collinsworth hopes the impact will last for generations. Janet tells WFAA she is waiting for that Christmas moment when all the villagers can congregate and celebrate in the community center.
“That’s when I feel like this has changed lives generationally.”