Brown gives tour of old mansion planned for helping homeless

Anthony Brown looked around the property at 81 Sturges Ave. and liked what he saw.

"This is going to be nice. It just feels good," he said Wednesday afternoon.

Brown led a tour of the old mansion that he is planning to convert into a transitional care program designed to reintegrate homeless people back into the community.

About 15 people, including Mansfield City Councilman Aurelio Diaz and former Lexington Mayor Gene Parkison, joined Brown and his business partner, Brandon Miner, for a tour of the house.

Brown was homeless for 23 years and addicted to drugs for part of that time. After getting his life back, he wrote a book called "From Park Bench to Park Avenue," with proceeds going to refurbish the mansion.

The Steubenville native tried to buy an abandoned house in his hometown, where his homeless brother had been staying.

That endeavor fell through, but Brown found the mansion on Sturges Avenue online and bought it — sight unseen — for $32,000 in 2020.

He calls it Brown Manor.

"My passion is helping people, passing on what was freely passed on to me," Brown said.

Visiting this week from his home in California, Brown said he has fallen in love with Mansfield.

"It's small. It's quiet," he said. "The personality of the people — everybody's nice."

California man felt drawn to Mansfield

Brown said he felt God led him here.

"I love this city," he said. "I want to buy another house so bad. It's killing me."

He said Mansfield is a community, which is what he feels is needed to make change.

The city's homeless problem has become more evident in the last year. Parkison is the chairman of the Richland County Homeless Coalition.

"It's a definite need," he said. "It has definitely been there over the years, but until it hit downtown with a vengeance, people didn't see the homeless need."

Diaz, who lives downtown, agreed, saying the issue has been prevalent since early 2021.

Prior to the tour, he told Brown he remembered the house.

"This was a venue I used to play at back in the day," Diaz said. "It was a little underground place."

Brown said the house will be "perfect for what we're doing."

Since he is in California, Brown has needed help with the project. That's where Miner came in.

Miner stepped up when he learned of Brown's ambitious idea. The News Journal featured Brown in an August 2020 story. Miner, a local man who works in the construction industry, read the story and reached out to Brown.

Miner has been volunteering his time to get Brown Manor ready to match the owner's goal.

"Brandon Miner, who I have developed a friendship with, is a hero," Brown told the News Journal for a December 2021 story. "Before the article, he was a total stranger to me, and he took the time out of his life to help oversee this project."

Miner said he got involved "because I think it's good for the community."

Of the mansion, he said it's been "cleaned out pretty good."

Volunteers needed to help with rehab of mansion

There is still a long way to go, however, and finding volunteers has been difficult.

Anyone who wants to volunteer to help with the rehab work can reach Miner at 440-667-2700 or brandonminer55@gmail.com.

"It depends on how we get funding," Brown said of future progress on the project. "We do have a nest egg."

While giving the tour, Brown said he hopes to end the cycle of homelessness. He wants to collaborate with Harmony House, the local shelter.

"People that are homeless, it's not that they're bad people," he said. "They've just lost their coping mechanisms."

Brown added he wants to help such people change their behavior. His vision includes aiding the homeless in finding employment.

"We're not into giving handouts. We're giving hand-ups," Brown said.

He told the people taking the tour that he will not fill the house with homeless people for long periods of time. The idea is to get them back on their feet.

"Once you can pay rent consistently here, you can pay someone else rent," Brown said.

Brown started similar program in California

Brown knows what he's doing. In 2002, he became founder and director of a group called C.A.R.E. (Coordinating and Assisting Recovering Environments).

It is designed to help people with mental health or substance abuse issues.

"The program inside the house will be called the C.A.R.E. program, which is a replication of the program that I have out here (in California)," Brown said.

Brown is a registered nurse and is studying to be a nurse practitioner. He expects to complete his degree in 2023.

Brown has not committed to moving to Mansfield but plans to keep a close eye on the Sturges Avenue project.

"I'm hoping I can get back at least twice a year to see this place develop," he said.

He said if the project is a success, other communities will copy it.

"We're going to change the world, starting here in Mansfield," Brown said.

mcaudill@gannett.com

419-521-7219

Twitter: @MNJCaudill

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Sturges Avenue house to be used for transitional housing for homeless