James Mikell says he's ready to get back into the workforce.

"I'm about to run up and down the block and pound the pavement," he said. "This place helped me out a lot to get the things I got so far."

He was living in hotels and shelters after Hurricane Sandy wrecked his home, but he says his life began turning around in July, after he was admitted to the Reaching New Heights residence in the Bronx, and began receiving job training there.

"It gave me the courage to want to get back into doing this and helped me build up my dignity to go back out there, because at one time, I had reached a low," Mikell said.

The Landing Road building opened last year, combining a 200-bed shelter with 135 apartments, mostly studios.

People in the shelter are eligible to move into one of the subsidized apartments if they are employed but have a low income, no more than $25,585 a year for a studio.

The program is part of Mayor Bill de Blasio's Turning the Tide effort to reduce the record homeless population. The nonprofit Bowery Residents Committee operates it.

"Where are you going to find an apartment in New York City that's your own for $500 a month? The answer: here," said Muzzy Rozenblatt, CEO and president of Bowert Residents Committee. "Actually, it's $470 a month."

The roof is lined with solar panels to keep energy costs down.

But it's not just housing. Reaching New Heights offers mental health and substance abuse services, as well as job training.

The goal of this shelter is to help people get back on their feet as quickly as possible. The program president says a key part of that is helping them find housing that’s permanent and that they can afford.

The program's CEO says providing a clear pipeline to permanent housing and a job is a game-changer.

[[Sot Muzzy Rosenblatt CEO, Pres BRC]]

“If we can get more people going out, we can get more people moving in. And we can actually shrink the size of the shelter system which is actually what turning the tide all is about. Not having a bigger shelter system but having a better shelter system.”

[[Track]]

However...such facilities cost money: Reaching New Heights cost 45 million dollars to build.

But Mikell says it's helping him get back on his feet.