COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) – Gov. Polis announced today that over $25 million will be doled out to various affordable housing programs around the state. A fraction of that will go to “We Fortify,” an organization that oversees a tiny home affordable housing project for at-risk youths in Colorado Springs.
The grant will go towards buying the land to duplicate an already thriving project located in downtown Colorado Springs. The first “village,” a small plot of land in downtown Colorado Springs, holds 16 tiny homes, and each one houses only one youth. The project intends on adding two more in the coming months.
According to Founder and CEO of “We Fortify” Shelly Jensen, the Continuum of Care told them they had about 66 teens who qualified to live inside one of the tiny homes last year. At that time, Jensen said they had one house available.
“We absolutely need another village like this to continue to do the good work that we’re doing,” Jensen said. “This village, as it is right now, in ten years will have served over 100 kids.”