Apartments open for chronically homeless in Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs city officials and Springs Rescue Mission gathered for the grand opening of a first-of-its-kind, $15 million apartment complex to house the homeless.
The Greenway Flats, located on Las Vegas Street, provides long-term housing to 65 “chronically homeless” adults. That means they’ve been homeless over a year, or more than four times in the last three years.
Chris Jenkins from Nor’wood Development, which assisted in the project, said 75 percent of the funding came from low-income housing tax credit. He said the remainder was covered by the city’s available housing funding, the county, and a number of grants.
The residents who now live in the Greenway Flats were hand-picked through a rigorous selection process by Ross Property Management, according to Jenkins. However, they didn’t have to be sober to get in. The facility follows the Housing First initiative, which provides addicts access to housing and then focuses on treatment.
The residents we spoke say they’re still trying to grasp the situation. “I couldn’t believe it. I didn’t sleep for 3 days,” said Marshall Law, who has found himself homeless off and on for nearly 30 years. He says it’s been a battle of run-ins with law enforcement and drug addiction: “I’ve been sober for 10 months. It’s been a rough road. But, I got off probation June 12th – the first time I’ve completed anything since I was 14.” Law says now, he has a fresh start. “Words can’t describe it, I can feel good about who I am.”
Some residents pay up to a few hundred dollars for rent, but other formerly homeless people won’t have to pay anything while they get back on their feet.
Springs Rescue Mission says its goal is to create an entire campus so that the homeless people of Colorado Springs have a clear path from the streets to housing. The organization is set to start construction on a new 200-seat cafeteria for the homeless in the same area next month.
