Meet Mr. Bronstein

Robert Bronstein, now 70, did his best to stay out of trouble growing up. 

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Born and raised in Chicago, he grew up surrounded with the love and support of a single mother and older brother. Reflecting on his childhood, Mr. Bronstein recalls his love of playing baseball. “I often sat on the bench,” he offers, laughing. “But on one of the few occasions I got to play, I hit it over the fence and the coach went silent. He let me play a little more after that.”  

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Decades later, under difficult circumstances, Mr. Bronstein went through a period without a home. He lived in a shelter for eight months before being referred to Mercy Housing Lakefront, where he found a home at Carlton Apartments. 

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It was a challenging time he doesn’t like to talk much about. “There are many ups and downs in life. I am older so most of that is behind me, but if you are young, you have still got a lot ahead of you.” 

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Mercy Housing Lakefront recently undertook a year-long rehabilitation to update and preserve the 68 homes at the Carlton, which was completed in August.
 
Mr. Bronstein says he appreciates the warm, friendly atmosphere at Carlton Apartments, where he has lived for the past 23 years. The presence of an onsite case manager has helped to address his day-to-day needs, including getting help with accessing his Social Security benefits, and he particularly enjoys the new computer center.

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On the updates, Mr. Bronstein summed it up perfectly, “The apartment building is not an apartment building. It is a community.”