About 65% of people experiencing chronic homelessness will screen positive for a brain injury, according to the Brain Injury Alliance of Colorado.
The disability presents another level of difficulty for someone trying to find work, housing and staying housed.
So when an opportunity to use city-owned land to build income-restricted and supportive housing specifically for those experiencing homelessness with an acquired brain injury or related disability came up, the Alliance, the city and multiple partners jumped on it.
On Wednesday, community partners celebrated the opening of the Valor on the Fax, a 72-unit complex located on a once empty lot at 7900 E. Colfax Ave.
"One of the things we already knew is that providing housing to people experiencing chronic homelessness and related disabilities to brain injury is that finding housing is really challenging," said Kate Kerkmans, Alliance CEO. "One of the problems we don't hear about is keeping people housed is also a great challenge in our community...Our hope is that by combining these trauma-informed elements, trauma-informed care and really specifically trained staff, we can keep people housed longer, maybe even permanently."
Valor has a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom units for households earning up to 30% of the area median income. For a single person, that's a yearly income of up to $24,650.
Apart from being affordable, Valor was designed with its residents' past traumas in mind. Brothers Redevelopment built the complex and President Jeff Martinez said the thoughtful design was a collaborative effort with Alliance and East Colfax community members.
The exterior features rounded corners, colorful archways and the aesthetic is similar on the inside, providing residents with a therapeutic living environment.
"Valor is a housing community with trauma-informed design," Martinez said. "Its architectural features and materials have been designed to minimize the triggering symptoms for individuals struggling with the lingering physical effects of a brain injury and uses colors, lighting and other elements to make the residents who call Valor home feel more comfortable."
The Alliance is offering on-site supportive services like resource navigation, job training, and recreational and wellness activities to all residents. The first floor will be a commercial space managed by Brothers.
The project was funded by the Colorado Housing & Finance Authority, Colorado Division of Housing, and Denver Housing Authority. The Department of Housing Stability provided $1,440,000 toward the $23.6 million project.
HOST is also subsidizing the supportive services offered at Valor for a 15-year period through a $1 million contract.
According to HOST, "a total of 1,870 affordable units that have received city financing are currently under construction at 31 sites throughout Denver. An additional 599 income-restricted units are in the planning stage."
At a ribbon cutting ceremony Wednesday, Monica Martinez spoke about the importance of adding more affordable housing to the East Colfax corridor and neighborhood.
Martinez is the executive director of the Fax Partnership, a nonprofit focused on improving East Colfax via affordable housing, improving transit and supporting local businesses on the community's terms.
Martinez said the Fax did a survey of East Colfax residents in 2020 and found that 50% of the 370 or so people who responded were renters and 50% were housing-burdened. She added that over 75% of respondents wanted to stay in the neighborhood for the long term.
"A lot of changes have happened and there's still so much threat of displacement here," Martinez said. [The results] were the marching orders for our organization to work, to build more housing here so people can stay here and benefit from the future investment...We need to get to work to preserve East Colfax for this community."
Martinez welcomed Valor and all the partners to the East Colfax Cultural District with some swag bags. The District is self-designated and will work to amplify community voices and let visitors know that East Colfax is a place of creativity and culture.
Down the block from Valor, the Fax is busy working on building its own affordable housing project on East Colfax.
Last year, the Fax purchased two motels, The Westerner and Sand & Sage, with the intention of redeveloping the site to host affordable housing in the future.
On Monday, City Council made that future redevelopment easier when they approved a rezoning request that would allow The Westerner and Sand & Sage Motels to be redeveloped into five-story buildings.
Martinez said the goal will be to redevelop both sites into income-restricted housing. But the nonprofit has some time to think about how to utilize the space.
Currently, the motels are renting out rooms at low cost and being used for temporary shelter. In September, the Fax will lease the property to Volunteers of America Colorado.
VoAC owns the Aristocrat Motor Hotel, now the Volunteers of America Family Motel, on West Colfax and they are currently working on redeveloping the property to provide additional rooms and resources for families needing housing assistance.
Those plans, however, require closing the motel and moving out its current residents. But thanks to VoAC and The Fax's partnership, those residents will be able to stay at The Westerner and Sand & Sage until renovations are completed.
There's also a billboard on the property that's leased out until 2028, giving the Fax plenty of time to build a complex that supports the neighborhood.
"We have quite a ways off before we can redevelop but we have a large building that we have to design and we're having preliminary conversations with the library about a potential library site on the ground floor of this location," Martinez said. "Because of the billboard we now have the time we need to put together a formative redevelopment plan with housing above a community service space like a library...When you redevelop you have an opportunity to create something transformative for the community."
