DoLA Grants $4.3M for Affordable Housing in Colorado: Includes Ft Lyon

Denver, CO – October 28, 2019 – The Colorado Department of Local Affairs’ (DOLA) Division of Housing (DOH) has awarded $4.3M through the Colorado State Housing Board in October to address Colorado’s affordable housing needs, and has won a national award for serving people who are homeless.

DOLA granted The Rivermaze Cooperative and Thistle Communities $600,000 to purchase the Maverick and Poplar Mobile Home Communities in Cañon City, and transition 35 lots into resident-owned properties. They will also conduct improvements to sewers, electrical panels, trees and fresh water supply.

Cañon City is a popular tourist destination, yet its population has a poverty rate of 17 percent. The Maverick and Poplar mobile home communities provide nearby access to schools, grocery stores and hospitals. Officials of Fremont County, where Cañon City is located, said they support the infrastructure improvements along with the lot purchases, to conserve these communities as resident-controlled.

DOLA also approved $3.7M for the Boulder County Housing Authority to assist with the Coffman Street project located in the central business district of Longmont. This mixed-use development will consist of 73 permanently affordable apartments for households between 30 and 60 percent of area median income (AMI).

Office space will be included at Coffman Street, for Boulder County Housing and Human Services to offer skills and training to residents with lower incomes. The intent of this project is to satisfy affordable housing needs in communities most heavily impacted by the 2013 floods, which devastated many homes and businesses in the area.

Finally, the Council of State Community Development Agencies (COSCDA) awarded DOH the 2019 Sterling Achievement Award for Homelessness for the work at the Fort Lyon Supportive Residential Community in Las Animas, Colorado.

Colorado Coalition for the Homeless partners with DOLA to operate Fort Lyon, which is a former correctional facility, that aids people in recovery from substance abuse and homelessness, finds long-term housing and supports reintegration into their community of choice.

“Colorado continues to have affordable and attainable housing needs and through robust funding mechanisms and programs such as these we meet people where they are,” said DOLA Executive Director Rick Garcia. “Housing investments address the diverse and complex housing needs in our state.”

For more information on monthly Housing Board grant approvals, visit www.colorado.gov/dola/housing