(CBS DETROIT) - It's a hardship Naterren Ward says she knows all too well.

"I remember when I was like 17, crying on my sister's couch, like, 'oh my gosh, I really want to be on my own,' and I just celebrated my 20th birthday and I cried on my birthday because I was in my own house doing everything by myself, on my own," Ward said. 

She was once a teen struggling with permanent housing until she joined Alternatives For Girls.

"I never thought I would make it out," Ward said. "I didn't think at 20 I would be standing here." 

The organization broke ground Monday on a new facility on Burt Road and Grand River.

The Maya Angelou Village will house girls and women, survivors of teen pregnancy, violence and homelessness. 

"I'm a child that's came from being molested, sexually assaulted," Ward said. "I've been in domestic violence situations, and I never thought I would make it out. I'm even a survivor of suicide."

The $17.3 million project will feature 45 affordable units,10 will be offered at 30% of the area's average median income, and 12 at 50%.

The remaining 23 units' monthly rates will be available at $450 for a one-bedroom, $540 for a two-bedroom and $624 for a three-bedroom apartment.

"We're talking about rents that are within a range that allows those making between $19,000 – $32,000 a year an opportunity to live right here in Detroit and not one or two only, but families and that's what we're missing in these situations when we talk about affordable housing," said Detroit City Council President Pro-Tem James Tate.

The Maya Angelou Village is scheduled to open early next year.