HARTFORD, Conn. -- Laura McCrae said she's raising her three grandkids and son on her own.

“I'm a single grandparent raising mine, so I'm grandma, grandpa, mom and dad,” she said.

But she’s not alone in her efforts. At the Community Renewal Team Inc. complex where she lives, grandfamilies make up the 24 newly constructed townhouses.

Before she moved into the complex, McCrae said she was basically raising her children on the bus she drove. She said she didn’t let them play outside because of safety concerns.

Now, she said, they can run around safely.

“With them being free, I'm less stressed -- way less stressed, believe me,” she said.

The affordable-housing complex takes some burden off the caregivers, financially and emotionally, McCrae said.

The development’s full-time youth activities coordinator runs tutoring programs, for example, and other activities to keep kids and grandparents busy.

McCrae said she takes part in programs offered specifically for grandparents, and with the help of the complex, is heading to college to get her sociology degree.

Plus, she said, her little ones are behaving better in school and getting better grades -- one just made the honor roll.

“I wouldn't trade it for $12 million,” she said.

A group called the Capitol City ryders is organizing an event to help the families on Main Street near the State House in Hartford on Sunday from 2 to 6 p.m.

For more information on the complex, visit the Community Renewal Team Web site.