In October, a delegation from Greeley and Evans took a field trip to Denver to tour Arroyo Village, one of the newest affordable housing communities in the area and one of the only that includes affordable housing apartments, a permanent supportive housing facility and shelter for people experiencing homelessness in Denver. Located southwest of Colfax and Federal, next to both Paco Sanchez Park and a light rail station, this $31M project was completed last year and is now fully operational. Representatives from High Plains Housing Development Corporation, United Way Weld County, the City of Greeley and City of Evans all came along for the tour to examine this as a potential model for Greeley-Evans to consider.
Arroyo Village opened in 2019 and is the result of a unique partnership between Denver based affordable housing nonprofit Rocky Mountain Communities and The Delores Project, a nonprofit that provides shelter and services for individuals experiencing homelessness.
The complex features 130 units designed to help reduce and prevent homelessness while providing affordable housing options in a community with ever-increasing rents. Of the 130 units, 95 units are family housing and 35 units are permanent supportive housing for individuals transitioning out of homelessness, while the shelter operated by The Delores Project includes 60 beds for individuals experiencing barriers to housing
The housing community features one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments for families and individuals who earn up to 50% of the area median income, or about $40,000 annually for a family of four.
The building was created with the mission of Rocky Mountain Communities in mind – to build brighter futures by investing in resident focused affordable housing and services, empowering individuals and families to thrive. Aspects of the community were built to support residents and enrich their lives to help them work their way through affordable housing into traditional housing. Some of the typical resident service programs include, but are not limited to: after-school programming, senior services, counseling, arts and crafts, computer lab access, workforce training, mentoring and financial services. However, we believe that resident services produce better outcomes when residents are fully engaged in the process of determining the programs offered based on their needs. A proper and thorough assessment will be the next step prior to implementing on-site resident services at Arroyo Village.