{"id":6871,"date":"2017-01-01T15:39:16","date_gmt":"2017-01-01T22:39:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vtbs.com\/dev\/?p=6871"},"modified":"2019-09-17T15:50:27","modified_gmt":"2019-09-17T22:50:27","slug":"proposed-affordable-housing-complex-to-serve-foster-children-aging-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vtbs.com\/dev\/proposed-affordable-housing-complex-to-serve-foster-children-aging-out\/","title":{"rendered":"Proposed Affordable Housing Complex to Serve Foster Children Aging Out"},"content":{"rendered":"

Proposed Affordable Housing Complex to Serve Foster Children Aging Out<\/h1>\n

By Jeff Todd<\/a><\/p>\n

February 25, 2019 at 9:27 pm<\/p>\n

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.<\/em><\/i><\/p>\n

ADAMS COUNTY, Colorado (CBS4) \u2013 <\/strong>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.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur 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,\u201d said Adams County Commissioner Steve O\u2019Dorisio. \u201cWe found the best way to maximize this asset was to invest it in affordable housing and our community.\u201d<\/p>\n

The old Child and Family Services Center isn\u2019t used anymore. \u00a0It will be renovated along with new construction to make 116 one, two, and three bedroom affordable units.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to make sure people who grow up and live in this community can stay in this community,\u201d said O\u2019Dorisio. \u00a0\u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s such a great need, unfortunately, when kids age out of foster care,\u201d said Peter LiFari, the Executive Director of Unison Housing Partner<\/a>. \u00a0\u201cUnderstanding 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.<\/p>\n

Final approval and groundbreaking could take place later in 2019.\u00a0 The first tenants could move in early in 2021.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you first get out of the system the last thing you want to be stressing about is if you\u2019re going to have enough money to pay rent,\u201d said Brennon Rowe, who aged out in 2014 and has been struggling with adequate housing ever since. \u201cIf 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rowe used to go to appointments and classes at the Child and Family Services Center. \u00a0He\u2019s excited to see it change and give other kids aging out the safety net they lose right now.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor a gentleman or woman to know that they have a safe place to live, and a clean place to live, but they don\u2019t have to worry about all their other expenditures. That\u2019s amazing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n