DENVER — A new affordable housing facility in Denver will be the first to receive project-based housing vouchers.
Warren Village aims to help single parents transition from poverty and homelessness into self-sufficiency through affordable housing and wraparound resources. Reba Jones said the organization saved her family after years without direction.
“It’s not just a one-year transformation. It's a long-term transformation in the next three years of your life,” said Jones, a single mother of two.
That's why Jones is so excited about the groundbreaking of Warren Village at Alameda, the organization's third location. The $50.8 million development will include 89 affordable housing units, as well as access to education and supportive services.
It will also include on-site childcare, something Warren Village CEO Ethan Hemming said the area desperately needs.
“It’s almost a childcare desert here. So, we're going to bring that to here,” said Hemming.
The housing project will be the first to receive project-based housing vouchers. Unlike traditional housing vouchers that travel with the tenant, the funds will stay with the facility.
“Our [Department of Housing Stability] team led for the first time in creating a Denver-based voucher program and today launches the first project that uses that Denver-based voucher system,” said Denver Mayor Mike Johnston during a groundbreaking ceremony Wednesday.
The new vouchers will fund 29 units over 20 years, funded with up to $22.7 million from Denver's Homelessness Resolution Fund, according to the city. Residents in the units will not pay more than 30 percent of their income on rent, even if they do not have an income.
City officials hope to expand the new voucher program in the coming years.
"In terms of how it will expand, we have 2,000 supportive housing units in the pipeline, so we'll exceed our goal for the Homelessness Resolution Fund,” said Megan Yonke with Denver's Department of Housing Stability (HOST).
Jones is thrilled to see another facility in the works to help other people like her get to where they need to be.
"Breaking those generational curses and unraveling the chaos of the abuse you've been through, it's possible,” she said.
Warren Village at Alameda is expected to open in December 2024, with applications opening in the spring. The city is providing $3,810,000 to support construction, and $1,777,500 in support services over 15 years.
