Norwich — The nonprofit housing developer hired to convert the former St. Mary Star of the Sea School on Huntington Street in New London into affordable apartments will break ground on the project this summer, a Diocese of Norwich official said Sunday.

Construction is on track to begin in July or August, and the 30 apartments are expected to be ready for leasing by January 2018, according to Peter Harding, the diocese’s director of housing development.

Harding displayed an architect’s rendering of the diocese’s progress on its development efforts at its annual Diocesan Ministry Fair honoring the donors to the diocese’s annual appeal to support its ministries.

Diocese officials announced their plan to repurpose the vacant or underused buildings it owns in 2013, pledging to reuse the buildings, such as the 120-year-old St. Mary building, to help house homeless people.

Last year the Connection Fund Inc., a nonprofit, affordable housing developer based in Middletown, won a state grant worth up to $2.75 million to rehabilitate and convert the former St. Mary school building, which closed in 2012.

A portion of the apartments will be reserved for people who are chronically homeless or who are at risk of homelessness, Harding said Sunday.

The units are expected to employ on-site staff during normal business hours and a property manager and case manager on call. The Connection Fund will build and manage the housing units, and St. Mary Church will act as the landlord for the development.

The diocese is also working to develop housing in empty parish school buildings in Jewett City and Putnam, he said.

The diocese has been hosting the event annually as a way to thank donors and showcase the work of its 22 ministries across southeastern Connecticut, which receive more than $3 million in donations from the diocese’s parishes each year.

All of the donations go to the 22 ministries honored at Sunday’s event, said Angela Arnold, the executive director of the Catholic Foundation, which awards grants on behalf of the diocese.

The Most Rev. Michael Cote, bishop of Norwich, spoke at Sunday’s event, which drew donors from across the state.

“It's so good to see this grow every year,” Cote told the audience. “I’m grateful to each and every one of you for your presence and what you do to support these very important ministries.”

Cote also presented two ministry leaders, Jillian Corbin and Ron Krom, the executive directors of the St. Vincent dePaul Place soup kitchen and food pantries in Norwich and Middletown, with the Patrici-Anne Award for Distinguished Service to the diocese.

The award signified “an expression of our affection for you,” Cote told the two soup kitchen directors.

“Your legacies are a caring sprit, proven leadership … unrelenting zeal and unyielding love for your brothers and sisters who live in poverty,” he told them. “Very well done.”

m.shanahan@theday.com