Polis approves $470,000 to go towards affordable tiny home project in Colorado Springs

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) - Gov. Polis announced today that over $25 million will be doled out to various affordable housing programs around the state. A fraction of that will go to "We Fortify," an organization that oversees a tiny home affordable housing project for at-risk youths in Colorado Springs.

That money is coming from Proposition 123, voted into place in November 2022.

The grant will go towards buying the land to duplicate an already thriving project located in downtown Colorado Springs. The first "village," a small plot of land in downtown Colorado Springs, holds 16 tiny homes, and each one houses only one youth. The project intends on adding two more in the coming months.

According to Founder and CEO of "We Fortify" Shelly Jensen, the Continuum of Care told them they had about 66 teens who qualified to live inside one of the tiny homes last year. At that time, Jensen said they had one house available.

"We absolutely need another village like this to continue to do the good work that we're doing," Jensen said. "This village, as it is right now, in ten years will have served over 100 kids."

Each home comes fully furnished and costs about $600 a month in rent. The community is wholistic, also offering group therapy sessions, community living, life skills development and food resources for youth between the ages of 18 and 25.

Jensen says she started researching a solution to the cycle of poverty she was observing in her community in 2017. After meeting privately with donors, researchers and city leaders, she came up with this idea.

"We had two young adults move out early. One is finishing her degree in psychology. She's able to live on her own. She feels secure where she is, safe and secure within herself and can self-regulate. She's moved past a lot of the things that happened to her," Jensen said, touting an example of the project's success.

Now, they're expanding.

The new property will be bought with the grant, the first time the project will own the property they use. After they buy that land, they'll need to raise another $2.7 million to get the second "village" to the finish line.

"To this community's credit, there are a lot of people who care about this, and we have been extremely humbled to have raised $2.35 million for this village, and we're just hoping to do it again," Jensen said.

To help fundraise for this project, click here.