Colorado Springs Community Partners Transform School Into Shelter for Homeless Families

By Debbie Kelley | The Gazette

Children’s laughter again will fill the hallways of an old elementary school in the Hillside neighborhood that closed nine years ago, but the kids won’t be in classes, they’ll be right at home with their parents.

Helen Hunt Elementary School at 601 S. Institute St. is now Hunt Family Housing, a 24-unit transitional apartment complex for parents and children exiting homelessness.

“We think this will have a significant impact on reducing family homelessness in our community,” Andy Barton, CEO of Catholic Charities of Central Colorado, said at a grand opening and ribbon-cutting event Wednesday.

The annual count of the homeless population in El Paso County that was released last month showed 62 children through age 17 living in emergency shelters on one night in January and two children unsheltered on the streets.

The first tenants — two dads with their kids, one living in their car, the other outside — will move in on Monday, Barton said.

Resident families must qualify as “extremely low income” under federal government definitions and earn a household income of 30% or less of the area median income. That’s $30,400 or less annually for a family of three, for example. They’ll pay 30% of earnings in rent. If they have no income, they won’t pay anything.

Divided into four studio apartments, seven two-bedrooms, one one-bedroom and one three-bedroom units, the renovated building will help about 60 adults and children annually and 120 people every three years, officials estimate.

From the get-go, Barton said residents will have at least three experts from Catholic Charities by their side to help them return to a stable lifestyle: a caseworker, a behavioral health therapist and a specialist in early childhood and family education.

Catholic Charities already offers those and other services such as free baby supplies at the Hunt campus for 150 to 200 homeless or vulnerable families a month. The operations, along with a coffee shop, will continue to be located there.

Inside and out, the $9 million “adaptive reuse” project retained some historical elements and character of the original 1902 school building, said Mark Tremmel, principal architect and founder of Tremmel Design Group Architecture in Colorado Springs.

For example, one apartment’s dining area includes the arch that once topped a raised performance stage, with the words “Helen Hunt Children’s Theater.”

And the focal point in the apartment occupying the former principal’s office on the top floor is a lustrous Van Briggle Pottery fireplace.

The views of Pikes Peak also drew comments during Wednesday’s unveiling, which about 200 people attended.

“Talk about historic,” one attendee said while looking at an old photo of the gymnasium and the stage and comparing it to what she was seeing. “Oh, how fun,” said another.

“Awesome,” “beautiful” and “amazing” also could be heard from those getting their first look at the work by Colarelli Construction.

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