A $2 million federal grant has been awarded to the Catholic Diocese of Charlotte for the first phase of a Steele Creek apartment community - the latest in a series of affordable housing projects the diocese is developing.

All the apartment communities, including sites in Mooresville and Salisbury, will cater to low-income seniors, disabled adults or both.

The 20-acre Steele Creek project, on South Tryon Street south of Carowinds Boulevard, could eventually include more than 250 apartments, a 100-seat chapel and an adult daycare facility.

Diocese officials aren't sure yet when the entire project will be finished, but the federal dollars enable work to begin in October on the first 13-unit building, to be called Mother Teresa Villa. Construction of the villa should be completed in the fall of 2013, with the diocese providing an additional $500,000 for water and sewer and road work. The city council approved the plan in September, officials said.

Jerry Widelski, director of the Catholic Diocese of Charlotte Housing Corp., said the federal grant is the latest success in an ambitious plan to launch one housing project a year for low-income seniors or disabled adults.

Currently, his office has one project up and running in Mooresville (40 apartments) and a second under construction in Salisbury (18 apartments). It should be finished in September.

Both are for low-income seniors who have some form of income to pay an adjusted rent.

The Steele Creek project is the first to focus entirely on low-income disabled adults, including those with intellectual and/or physical disabilities.

They, too, must have some form of income.

"They are the neediest of the populations we are trying to serve," said Widelski, adding that the corporation was created in 2002 in response to a survey of parishioners throughout the 46-county diocese.

"Affordable housing for seniors and those with special needs was high on the list."

Partnering with the diocese in Mother Teresa Villa will be InReach, a nonprofit that provides residential services for the disabled, including helping them find jobs and homes.

Nearby churches have also proposed outreach programs to help the tenants, said Lori Gougeon of InReach.

Mother Teresa Villa, with its on-site manager, will be a rare haven for the disabled, she said.

"Folks with developmental disabilities are very low-income and can only afford housing in places where they're not safe," said Gougeon. "They're nice and accommodating and get taken advantage of quite a bit. This is an instance where they can live safe."