SSHC RSSL Grand Opening Release

Bette Iacino

303-312-9638

biacino@coloradocoalition.org

View Photos from the Grand Opening

The Stout Street Health Center and Renaissance Stout Street Lofts Now Open

The latest development from the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless combines supportive housing and integrated health care services in one location. The Affordable Care Act makes expansion possible.

DENVER, September 9, 2014—The Colorado Coalition for the Homeless announces the opening of the new Stout Street Health Center and Renaissance Stout Street Lofts. This project increases integrated health care access for up to 18,000 homeless individuals each year while providing supportive housing for 78 formerly homeless households. It is the only development of its kind in the United States.

The 53,192-square-foot Stout Street Health Center replaces the existing Stout Street Clinic; an aging structure that currently lacks adequate space to effectively meet the complex health care needs of an expanding homeless population, many of whom never had access to medical, dental, vision, or mental health care before.

The Health Center introduces a unique model of integrated health care targeted to the needs of homeless patients. It fully integrates patient-centered, trauma-informed medical and mental health care, substance treatment services, dental and vision care, social services, and supportive housing to more fully address the spectrum of problems homeless adults and children bring to their medical providers.

The Health Center is made possible by the expansion of Medicaid eligibility in Colorado under the Affordable Care Act. Prior to the Affordable Care Act, only 15 percent of homeless individuals served by the Coalition were eligible for Medicaid. Today, nearly 70 percent of the Coalition’s patients have been enrolled in Medicaid. The increased payments through Medicaid helped fund the new facility as well as expanded the number of health care providers to serve the unmet need in the community.

“While controversial to some, ‘ObamaCare’ has been a game changer for homeless and low-income individuals and families in Colorado,” said John Parvensky, President of the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless. “It allows us to expand health care and supportive services for homeless families and individuals, while improving their health status and decreasing unnecessary emergency health care costs for the community.”

The Renaissance Stout Street Lofts, funded through the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program, increases the supply of supportive housing, targeted to the most vulnerable families and individuals with ongoing health and mental health needs, which can be addressed through the Health Center and on-site social services.

“We are excited that the new Health Center and Lofts will immediately create a health care home for more than 18,000 individuals experiencing homelessness in Metro Denver, as well as a real home for families and individuals currently living on the streets or in emergency shelters,” said Parvensky. “We are grateful that the community has come together to support this vital resource in the struggle to end homelessness in Colorado.”

The development was designed in accordance with Enterprise Green Communities^® guidelines, utilizing energy efficient and healthy building materials in its structure, and interior and exterior finishes. Water conserving plumbing fixtures, ENERGY STAR^® qualified appliances and energy efficient lighting are featured. This approach ensures energy cost savings in the Health Center and for each housing resident.

The project has created more than 75 construction jobs and will create 70 full-time permanent health care jobs, as well as job continuity for more than 100 current Health Center positions. It is generating more than $70 million in direct and indirect economic activity in Denver and is projected to reduce state and local costs for emergency health care, detox, and municipal fire and safety services by 30 percent annually.

“Stout Street is vitally important for the well-being of Denver’s most vulnerable residents, while at the same time providing much needed jobs and high quality affordable housing”, said Lynn Craghead, Senior Vice President of U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation, which invested the New Markets and affordable housing tax credit equity in the development.

The project employs a complex financing strategy to bring together public and private funding to maximize the benefit to homeless persons. The Coalition’s development team was able to combine New Market Tax Credits (NMTC) and Low Income Housing Tax Credits to leverage more than $35 million dollars to construct the development.

The Health Center is financed by combining NMTC equity with Affordable Care Act capital funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration. NMTC equity was provided by U.S. Bank Community Development Entity and Building America, a subsidiary of the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust.

The Colorado Health Foundation, Anschutz Foundation, Jay & Rose Phillips Family Foundation, Caring for Colorado Foundation, Gates Family Foundation, Hearst Foundations, The Kresge Foundation, and other foundations and individual donors completed the financing package, ensuring the Health Center will operate in a state of the art facility.

The Lofts are financed with a combination of Low Income Housing Tax Credits, private equity investment, HOME Investment Partnerships Program financing from the City and County of Denver and the Colorado Division of Housing, Federal Home Loan Bank funds, and permanent financing through U.S. Bank. This is the 18th affordable housing development constructed and operated by the Coalition.

Since 1985, the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless’ Stout Street Health Center has provided medical and mental health care for more than 100,000 homeless individuals in Metro Denver. For more information, visit www.coloradocoalition.org.

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