The Brighton Housing Authority of Brighton, Colorado had a simple, but crucial goal when they began planning for the Windmill Ranch apartment structure: reduce local homelessness and housing insecurity.
The four buildings (each three stories tall) house 96 apartments with two or three bedrooms each.
The project cost $21 million overall, and Grow America provided $7.3 million. Now, the development is able to provide affordable housing at 30-60% area median income (AMI).
Luz Rodriguez, now a resident of Windmill Ranch, was struggling to pay her rent after her ex broke her jaw and was incarcerated. Raising three boys, she turned to the Brighton Housing Authority for assistance in her time of need.
The BHA provided her with a housing voucher, gas money, clothes for her kids, and even helped her to enroll her sons in a weekly tutoring program. Some of these benefits were first made available during the Covid-19 pandemic, but have since continued.
“People like me and my boys need a lot of help,” Rodriguez said. “I believe I owe my life to them for helping me out. I feel safe and comfortable now, thank God.”
Housing was a big help to the Rodriguez family. But the BHA understands that families need more than that.
“Education, health, transportation — all are connected with people’s ability to maintain housing,” said Debra Bristol, executive director of the Brighton Housing Authority. “We’re not just providing a subsidy; we’re saying education and health play just as much of a role in making sure that somebody’s housing is secure.”
If you’re able to have stable housing, and food security, then your focus can be more on education
Debra Bristol
Executive Director of the Brighton Housing Authority
Twenty miles outside of Denver, the Windmill Ranch is an example of the state’s housing authorities stepping up to help people in their communities at a time when Colorado is working to improve its housing, food deserts, and aid for children.
Windmill Ranch’s garden-style apartments are designed for families, with 1, 2, and 3-bedroom options, and have energy efficient appliances. The solar panels on the roof, fitness center, community space, and free wifi provide the residents with additional amenities that may have been out of their reach before. It was also built within easy walking distance of shops and transit links to downtown Denver and the Denver International Airport.
“If you’re able to have stable housing, and food security, then your focus can be more on education,” said Bristol. “You’re looking to the future. When a child has the ability to see what is possible, it is an experience that I think helps from that multi-generational aspect.”
The goal is to provide housing and other resources so that residents are safe, provided for, and able to pass their standards of living on to the next generation. And the efforts of the Brighton Housing Authority, along with the help of Grow America, will do just that.
From the ground
