A place to call home
Homeless veterans find free, permanent shelter at affordable housing complex
Rodney Jubalee, a 56-yearold Army veteran, estimates he’s spent 2½ years living on the streets.
A combination of drug and alcohol use and a criminal record, underscored by psychological troubles, rendered Jubalee intermittently homeless between 2013 and 2017.
On Nov. 1, he was the first person to move into the 40 West Residences at 5830 W. Colfax Ave. in Lakewood. After four years, Jubalee finally had a place to call home — and so did 24 other previously homeless veterans.
40 West provides affordable housing for low-income families and homeless vets. Lakewood-based nonprofit Archway Housing & Services drew up initial plans for the fourstory, 60-unit facility in 2012.
But the project was stalled for almost three years while waiting for funding from the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority, which was heavily preoccupied with the 2013 Front Range floods at the
time. In 2015, the process picked up speed again after CHFA granted $11 million of the $15 million needed for construction. The remainder of the funding was made up in grants and donations from the city of Lakewood and a variety of local organizations. The building was ready to welcome tenants in October.
The complex has six two-bedroom units and 54 one-bedroom units, 25 of which are set aside for veterans sent to 40 West by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
A partnership with the VA enables 40 West to house the vets at no cost through HUDVASH vouchers — a collaborative effort between the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing program.
Thirty-four apartments welcome low-income families and individuals, who can apply for residency just as they would at other apartment complexes. One unit is reserved for the property manager. 40 West is not temporary or transitional housing — residents can stay as long as needed.
While Archway CEO Joyce Alms-Ransford has been with the organization for 20 years, she’s been fighting to end Denver’s homelessness for more than 36. She previously worked with the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless and Denver Housing Authority.
Archway has seven other sites serving low-income families in the Denver metro area. The way Alms-Ransford sees it, sometimes people just need a helping hand.
“Everybody’s a good person, and they need the breaks to make sure they can have a great life,” she said.
40 West was exactly the break Jubalee says he needed. “I’ve been trying to (get off the streets) for four years, and 40 West was the one that gave me an opportunity,” he said. “The program that they have is so beautiful. I just can’t thank them enough for what they’re doing for us.”
40 West not only provides the veterans with a home, but also other resources to help them achieve self-sufficiency, including resume workshops, access to a VA caseworker, a food bank and recreational activities.
“With most homeless folks you want to have some service connection to them to help them in any way possible,” Alms-Ransford said. “The VA meets with the veterans twice a month to see how they are doing.”
When the selected veterans moved into 5830 W. Colfax, their apartments were furnished courtesy of the Lakewood Elks and gift baskets were filled with household goods worth $200.
Jubalee knows the perks don’t fully pave the way to a more stable life.
“It’s all up to you. It starts with you. You’ve got a team of people who will help you… But if you don’t take that first step, it ain’t gonna happen,” he said.
It’s been a long road that’s included mandatory appointments, assessments, classes and abstinence, Jubalee said. But now, he has a home, a job and a lot of hope for his future.
“If a guy like me, Rodney Jubalee, can do it, anybody out there can step up and do it,” he said.
Archway Housing plans to demolish other abandoned buildings on the property to create more affordable housing and provide a means to better other futures.