Quick pop question…
What hourly wage is needed to afford a two-bedroom apartment in Colorado?
Our good friend Meg Brown at Colorado Housing and Finance Authority (CHFA) tells us the answer is…
In this regard, Colorado is an island of expensiveness in the middle of the country – with costs on par with the coasts. (CHFA).
In a nationwide crisis of affordability, our local situation is especially dire. Between 2006 and 2016, metro Denver lost 55,000 units with rents at $850 or less a month, while adding 95,000 units with rents above $1,500 a month. (Denver Post, 2017) We are not building our way to affordability; rents simply keep climbing. Wages have not remotely kept pace, and the pandemic has pushed many into unemployment or underemployment.
“When I was born in 1981, the average home cost was around $47,200,” says local poet and activist Theo Wilson. “Twenty short years later, it was $119,600 in the year 2000. Now (2020), in Denver, the average home price is $442,900. Consider that since the year 2000, the average American wage has only increased from $59,938 to $63,178. The mere $3,000 increase cannot handle that $300,000 housing price gap.” (The Colorado Sun, 2019)
For us at Mile High Ministries, these numbers have faces—the faces of our Joshua Station residents pushed out of housing by market realities. After a family undergoes the trauma of homelessness, the leap required for stable housing in the Denver market is staggering. Imagine your anxiety as a mom or dad wondering how on earth you’ll be able to tuck your kids into bed safely at night.
Personal and family situations are complex, with multiple factors leading people to our doorstep. Those who participate in our program are highly motivated and focused on their own personal goals for healing, education, and employment. Even so, the leap required from living in a car, to our supportive program, to obtaining stable housing in Denver’s market is staggering.
That’s why we’re working so hard, in partnership with your generosity, to build Clara Brown Commons in northeast Denver as a next step in the gap – long term, stable housing that is truly affordable for the families we come alongside. We’re working with architects, experts, and neighbors from the Cole community to create a safe and caring housing community where people can stabilize their lives, expand their economic capacity, and deepen spiritual connectedness.
Hurdles abound. Just this month, new challenges with construction costs are putting wrinkles into our spreadsheets. Our timeline is fixed for groundbreaking in 2022 and opening date in 2023. We need your prayers and encouragement in this phase as we carefully consider cost/benefit for every single feature of the design – on behalf of our future residents.
Around here we never, ever lack for inspiration for gritty determination and joy in our work. We step out our office doors and greet girls, boys, moms, and dads – our neighbors at Joshua Station. Every day they take the next brave step. We have such a sense of them leading the way. It’s a privilege to walk in step with them, learning together what building community means.
In Christ,
Jeff Johnsen
Executive Director
