COMMUNITY PROFILE KIMBERLY Support has made the difference. “I love to look forward to doing things – these people helping you.” ORIGINALLY FROM NEW YORK, Kimberly slept on friends’ couches and stayed on the street, all while trying to study for the GED and work on her cosmetology certification. She wants independence and fights to do it on her own. But, unhoused, it was too hard, never knowing where she will sleep or shower or eat and “having to worry about safety, you know.” On the wall of her colorfully decorated tiny house, she has posted pictures of the beautiful two-year-old daughter that she hopes to reunite with, eventually. Children are not allowed in the women’s tiny home village. It’s been rough. She is researching the possibility of acquiring a service dog to help with her anxiety. CREDIT: PAULA BARD CREDIT: PAULA BARD “NOW THEY ARE SLEEPING IN A SAFE, STABLE, BRIGHT, COMMUNITY-BASED ENVIRONMENT WHERE THEIR HEALING JOURNEY CAN BEGIN TOGETHER.” – Cole Chandler, executive director of Colorado Village Collaborative CREDIT: PAULA BARD NEAR I-70 IN NORTH DENVER, the Women’s Village at Clara Brown Commons sits behind a fence in an inconspicuous cluster at 37th Ave. and York St. It includes 14 homes and a common house with a bright, spacious kitchen, bathrooms, and storage. This is Denver’s second tiny home village organized by the Colorado Village Collaborative. Building on their success in housing the unhoused and getting people back on their feet, they plan more tiny home villages in the future. The new Women’s Village offers independent living in separate, private tiny homes, plus community support for formally unhoused women and transgender folks. The University of Denver’s Center for Housing and Homelessness Research began monitoring Denver’s first tiny home village, called Beloved Community Village, back when it opened in 2017. They found that residents were four times more likely to be working or in school. They also reported lower levels of anxiety, depression, and hopelessness. Hannah Fageeh, who has a background working in domestic violence programs at SafeHouse Denver, is the Women’s Village coordinator. She first worked with the Beloved Community Village, which is now situated in the Globeville neighborhood. Fageeh started as a volunteer for Beloved Community and ended her stint there as the village coordinator. Fageeh is excited about all the support they are able to offer the residents at the Women’s Village. This includes a resource navigator for education and employment and a new mental health grant with many choices for individual and group care, both on-site and via telehealth. “We want to see people actually healing and not sticking in survival mode, because I think that’s really the hardest thing – getting out of this survival mode.” Survival mode is understandable. Women coming off the streets often carry a heavy burden of trauma. One resident reported she had been raped four times while she was living on Denver’s streets. Trauma therapy can make all the difference. In both tiny home villages, residents can stay in their new community for a year or more if they need it. They have assistance finding appropriate, attainable, and affordable housing when they are ready to move on. According to Fageeh, some stay at Beloved Community Village for a year. Some people for only three, six, or seven months. Some people stay for a couple of years. Both tiny home communities are flexible with a primary focus on healing and community. The Women’s Village, which is the anchor for a large property at 37th Ave. and York St., is owned by Mile High Ministries. They are expanding ambitiously and aim to build 60 affordable, below-market-rate apartments in the near future. Habitat for Humanity will build affordable homes. Tiny home villages will not solve the crisis of the unhoused in Denver, but they are one humane and successful piece of the puzzle. Tonight, 14 more people in our community are off the streets. They are safe and on the road to healing from the trauma of economic hardship and displacement. They have a second chance. ■ March 2021 DENVER VOICE 9
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