CCH and City of Denver Transform Quality Inn into Housing for Homeless Veterans
By Robert Davis
CDHS and community partners breaking ground for the Veterans Renaissance Apartments. Credit: Colorado Dept of Human Services
Stroll down any street in the Denver metro area, and you’re likely to see a homeless veteran asking for help.
Come rain or shine, some pace the sidewalks asking for a simple prayer. Others perch at intersections and offer a gentle smile in exchange for a little assistance.
Now, with a little help from the City of Denver, Colorado Coalition for the Homeless is helping to answer some of these prayers by opening the Veterans Renaissance Apartments at Fitzsimons. The 60-unit apartment complex located near the Aurora VA Medical Hospital is dedicated to housing homeless veterans and helping them find services to transition out of homelessness.
“We are honored to be able to provide 60 additional units of supportive affordable housing for our Veterans in Colorado,” said John Parvensky, president and CEO of the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless.
“For those who have served our country, it is shameful that this country doesn’t always provide them stable housing options when they return. CCH’s mission is to provide lasting solutions for all people experiencing homelessness, and having the chance to serve our veterans is another opportunity to fulfill our mission.”
The complex, located on the Anschutz Campus on the south side of the Veterans Community Living Center at Fitzsimons, is slated to be completed by the end of 2020. It features 56 one-bedroom units and four two-bedroom units, all of which include full kitchens and bathrooms, case management personnel, a computer lab, a community kitchen, and a medical exam room for residents.
On a single night in January, volunteers counted more than 600 homeless veterans on the streets of Denver, according to the 2019 Point in Time count. This is a 10 percent increase from 2018.
In Aurora, 42 individuals identified as homeless veterans. That number has doubled since 2018.
These trends can’t be considered inside of a vacuum either. A growing number of people in Colorado are facing housing instability, some of whom, wind up facing homelessness.
The state’s homeless population reached its lowest mark in 2013. when just over 9,700 individuals identified themselves as homeless, according to date from the National Alliance to End Homelessness. Since then, the population has slowly crept up to nearly 11,000. This has forced Denver to get creative in finding ways to get people off of the streets.
“I think [this project] is a creative way for us to get more housing resources online in less than half the time it would take to build the same the number of units,” said Cathy Alderman, executive director for Colorado Coalition for the Homeless. “It also provides options for people who might need a shorter-term housing option while they resolve their long term housing goals.” ■