There is a dire need for more housing facilities in the US. The houses available are very expensive and it is leading to increasing homelessness.
A study showed that Denver, Colorado has about 5,755 homeless people. So, as soon as John Parvensky got to know that the Quality Inn and Suites is up for sale he decided to buy it.
Parvensky is the head of the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless (CCH) which has been running since 1985. He bought the hotel for $8.4 million through various state and private funds.
He renovated the building and called it Fusion Studios. It is the 17th building opened by the organization for this cause in the last 30 years. Fusion Studios has 139 micro-apartments that are to accommodate homeless people or people from shelters.
Renters can secure vouchers from both the city and state to make sure that less than 30% of their income is given as rent. The floor and room planning has been done according to the circumstances of people and not luxury. Twenty-eight rooms are to be kept for convicts who committed low-level crimes and are now awaiting trial. Ten rooms are for those homeless who frequently visit Denver Health’s emergency rooms.
Another twenty-five rooms are set aside for people who are looking to move on to affordable permanent housing.
Each such room has a bed, desk, chair, dresser, television, and some other furniture. There is a pantry inside the building for providing food to the apartment dwellers. They’re also applying for funding from the City Council to offer support services.
Gov. Polis attended the opening ceremony of the Fusion Studios and said that this proves we can build affordable houses only if we get creative. He added that tenants of these apartments will include working people, some of whom have multiple jobs.
Britta Fisher called them practical instant houses. The head of the housing department of Denver also said that they are looking forward to making more such affordable housing options in Denver.
The companies that are providing support to Denver are also its partners in the social impact bond program under Denver’s pilot project. It aims at reducing the cost spent on arresting the homeless and taking care of them in the emergency rooms.
Denver is to use the data made available by the police to identify frequent prisoners and provide them with a house, food, medical facilities, and legal support.
Let’s hope that more such houses are built and made available to homeless people in the future.
Sources:
a) goodnewsnetwork.org
b) themindunleashed.com
c) denverite.com
