Proposed Affordable Housing Complex to Serve Foster Children Aging Out

By Jeff Todd

February 25, 2019 at 9:27 pm

Jeff Todd joined the CBS4 team in 2011 in the Mountain Newsroom. Since 2015 he’s been working across the Front Range in the Denver headquarters.

ADAMS COUNTY, Colorado (CBS4) – Adams County is once again pushing forward with a large affordable housing complex, and a portion of it will benefit an underserved population. Van Tilburg, Banvard & Soderbergh, AIA (VTBS Architects) have designed plans calling for 12 units to be set aside to help young adults who have aged out of foster care.

“Our goal is to try to empower people who need help to stay up, get on their feet and stay on their feet. And that allows us to move forward and help others,” said Adams County Commissioner Steve O’Dorisio. “We found the best way to maximize this asset was to invest it in affordable housing and our community.”

The old Child and Family Services Center isn’t used anymore.  It will be renovated along with new construction to make 116 one, two, and three bedroom affordable units.

“We want to make sure people who grow up and live in this community can stay in this community,” said O’Dorisio.  “We owe it to our kids in this community to help them get a fresh start and a good start as they enter into the world.”

“There’s such a great need, unfortunately, when kids age out of foster care,” said Peter LiFari, the Executive Director of Unison Housing Partner.  “Understanding that need we partnered with child and family services, we thought it was the right thing to do, a need, and we can fill it.

Final approval and groundbreaking could take place later in 2019.  The first tenants could move in early in 2021.

“When you first get out of the system the last thing you want to be stressing about is if you’re going to have enough money to pay rent,” said Brennon Rowe, who aged out in 2014 and has been struggling with adequate housing ever since. “If that had been an option when I was in foster care, I would have jumped all over it and done anything to get into that program.”

Rowe used to go to appointments and classes at the Child and Family Services Center.  He’s excited to see it change and give other kids aging out the safety net they lose right now.

“For a gentleman or woman to know that they have a safe place to live, and a clean place to live, but they don’t have to worry about all their other expenditures. That’s amazing,” he said.