A new development has opened to serve the housing and health care needs of people experiencing homelessness in Denver.
The Renaissance Legacy Lofts and Stout Street Recuperative Care Center will meet the immediate health care needs for 500 people experiencing homelessness annually through medical respite and recuperative care, while also providing 98 units of affordable and supportive housing.
The development is the latest to be built by the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless.
The recuperative care center fills a significant gap in services for people who are healthy enough to leave the hospital but do not have homes to assist them in recovering safely. By late 2022, the Recuperative Care Center will provide 75 medical respite beds for people experiencing homelessness who, if housed, would be discharged to home but who cannot be safely discharged to the streets, nor to shelters, which are not equipped to deal with medical needs.
Recuperative care will be provided for about 30 to 45 days, depending on the needs of the client. Individuals will be referred by a medical facility. In addition to medical assistance for acute conditions, clients will also be provided with the opportunity to receive additional care and ongoing integrated health care at the adjacent Stout Street Health Center.
“The desperation of those experiencing homelessness as well as those serving them in shelters and hospitals that really had no place for them to go made a strong case for the development of this integrated housing and health building,” said Coalition president and CEO John Parvensky.
The recent grand opening was also a time to recognize the longtime leader, who recently announced his pending retirement after 37 years at the helm of the organization.
The Stout Street Recuperative Care Center will be named after Parvensky, announced Coalition board chair Joel Neckers and former board chair T.R. Reid.
Mayor Michael B. Hancock also presented a proclamation declaring Oct. 6 “John Parvensky Day” in Colorado and awarded him with the city coin, the highest honor for people who make extraordinary differences in the Denver community. “No one has done more for our city and for the people of our state than you have,” the mayor added.
Lasting Housing
Occupying floors four through nine of the new building, Renaissance Legacy Lofts is the 21st property developed by the Coalition to provide permanent supportive housing. The Lofts features 81 one-bedroom apartments and 17 studio apartments with full bathrooms and kitchens, a business center, on-site case management and counseling services, and other amenities.
The homes are dedicated in part to house people who are “high utilizers” of emergency rooms and expensive hospital care. As a result, the development is expected to reduce the public costs of providing health care and other services.
The approximately $46.5 million project was funded using a complex structure and a variety of sources.The project received direct funding from the city and county of Denver and the Colorado Division of Housing. The Recuperative Care Center utilizes New Markets Tax Credits (NMTCs) provided by the Corporation for Supportive Housing and Colorado Growth and Revitalization Fund. The Northern Trust Co. is the NMTC tax credit investor. A number of foundations and private donors also contributed generously to the center. The housing is financed through dual 9% low-income housing tax credits (LIHTCs) and 4% LIHTC and private-activity bond allocations from the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority. The LIHTC investor is Enterprise Housing Credit Investments. Construction and permanent loans were provided by FirstBank. The Federal Home Loan Bank of Topeka, in collaboration with First Bank, provided funding through its Affordable Housing Program.
