HomeAid Colorado Gives Colorado’s At-Risk Youth a Place to Call Home
DENVER-(Business Wire)-September 24, 2009 - More than 3,500 children under the age of 18 were counted as homeless during Denver’s 2009 Point-in-Time study. Most were in families, but more than 700 of them were unaccompanied children, living in a shelter or on the street without an adult. Their reasons for being homeless vary, but they all share a common need for a structured, home-like environment. To help address the needs of this vulnerable population, HomeAid Colorado, a non-profit organization that builds quality homes for the temporarily homeless, worked with Colorado’s homebuilders and the Third Way Center to build the Lowry Treatment Campus, specifically designed to house and treat mentally-ill and other at-risk youth.
The campus’ four homes will house 32 children ranging from 13 to 18 years old who are in need of a home along with intensive diagnostics, treatment and education services. A dedication and reception ceremony for the new homes will take place at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009, at the Lowry campus, 9100 E. Lowry Blvd.
The Lowry Treatment Campus was completed with ongoing support from HomeAid Colorado, the home building industry, and generous donors of the Third Way Center, a non-profit that provides at-risk youth with a continuum of services, such as residential mental health treatment, foster care, education and life skills development. HomeAid Colorado identified the campus’ construction team and was involved with the project supervision and general construction.
“We’re excited to see this project come to fruition and see the hard work and collaboration pay off with a facility that helps Colorado’s most susceptible homeless population—at-risk youth,” said Laura Brayman, HomeAid Colorado’s executive director. “The Lowry campus serves as a model for youth treatment programs nationwide, and we are proud to be a part of this project.”
The 21,000 sq. ft. campus spans over 1.8 acres and is the only treatment facility of its kind in the state of Colorado. The property’s four houses—Hope Place, Sprout House, LARRK House and Mae’s Place—boast classrooms, a neuropsychologist, cutting-edge diagnostics services, and calming private gardens. A basketball court is also located in the Lowry campus’ central courtyard to help promote healthy living practices.
“We are thrilled to see how well the residents at our Lowry Treatment Campus are adapting to their new homes,” said Tami Lack, Third Way Center’s director of development. “Many of the children living here were raised by the child welfare system and have never had an actual ‘home’ to call their own. It is amazing to see how our facilities have already enabled these at-risk youth to overcome many of their challenges and grow right before our eyes.”
HomeAid Colorado works directly with Colorado’s homebuilders and non-profit care providers to professionally build dignified housing for the state’s transitionally homeless. Every HomeAid structure gives homeless men, women and children a stable place to rebuild their lives. And once people are able to move on to permanent housing, HomeAid homes continue to serve other homeless individuals and families year after year. Over the next year, HomeAid Colorado is working with the Volunteers of America, Colorado Homeless Families and Boys Hope Girls Hope to construct other housing developments for Colorado’s transitionally homeless.
Please contact Abby Lurie at 303-394-2366 if you plan to send a reporter, photographer or camera crew to the Lowry Treatment Campus dedication and reception. For more information on HomeAid Colorado, visit www.hacolo.org. For more information on Third Way Center, visit www.thirdwaycenter.org.
About HomeAid
HomeAid Colorado connects non-profit care providers with professional homebuilders to construct dignified housing for the transitionally homeless. HomeAid Colorado projects total 30 housing units for homeless families and troubled youth, adding more than 200 beds and donating more than $2.3 million dollars in in-kind labor, materials and services from the homebuilding industry to help partner care providers serve the homeless. For more information about HomeAid Colorado, visit www.hacolo.org or call 303-691-0104.
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