a Place for everyone Beth Hall Roalstad at Homeward Pikes Peak

Why a surge in downtown housing isn’t causing costs to drop, plus the story behind a new affordable live/work space for artists. Host Beth Roalstad discusses these issues with Susan Edmondson, President and CEO of Downtown Partnership.
Susan explains the structure and activities of the Downtown Partnership, and she provides details about an exciting project to break ground in early 2023 – Artspace, an affordable live/work space for artists with rent priced for artisans earning up to 60% of average median income.
Downtown Partnership
https://downtowncs.com/
Downtown Ventures
https://downtowncs.com/ventures/
Artspace
https://www.artspace.org/
 
a Place for everyone, and Studio 809 Podcasts, appreciate the generous support of Gold Hill Mesa
https://www.goldhillmesa.com/


Homeward Pikes Peak brings you a Place for everyone with interviews on different dimensions of substance abuse, homelessness, and housing.
Homeward Pikes Peak
https://www.homewardpikespeak.org
719-473-5557

Matthew Ayres, CEO of Dream Centers, joins host Beth Roalstad to share how the Dream Centers and Mary’s Home serve women of low income in our community and provides women and families with services ranging from health care to housing.  They also discuss resources for men, and the longtime collaboration between Dream Center and Homeward Pikes Peak.
 
LINKS:
Dream Centers
https://www.dreamcenters.com/
 

Learn how Springs Recovery Connection is helping individuals enter recovery and build skills to stay sober, thrive as adults and be active in our community. Trudy Hodges, CEO of Springs Recovery Connection, discusses the growth of her organization, its dreams for the community and how important being involved with others in Recovery contributes to  lifelong  sobriety. Trudy and host Beth Roalstad (executive director of Homeward Pikes Peak) compare notes on this vital work that engages both organizations.
Recovery community organizations (RCOs) are the heart and soul of the recovery movement. In the last ten years, RCOs have proliferated throughout the US. They are demonstrating leadership in their towns, cities and states as well as on the national landscape. They have become major hubs for recovery-focused policy advocacy activities, carrying out recovery-focused community education and outreach programs, and becoming players in systems change initiatives. Many are also providing peer-based recovery support services. RCOs share a recovery vision, authenticity of voice and are independent, serving as a bridge between diverse communities of recovery, the addiction treatment community, governmental agencies, the criminal justice system, the larger network of health and human services providers and systems and the broader recovery support resources of the extended community. 
 
MORE INFO:
Springs Recovery Connection
https://srchope.org/   
(719) 465-2295.  
New Recovery Community
985 W. Fillmore St.
Faces & Voices of Recovery
https://www.facesandvoicesofrecovery.org/

 a Place for everyone, and Studio 809 Podcasts, appreciate the generous support of Gold Hill Mesa
https://www.goldhillmesa.com/

Homeward Pikes Peak brings you a Place for Everyone with interviews on different dimensions of substance abuse, homelessness, and housing. Homeward Pikes Peak provides re-entry housing for men and women who have had a history of substance abuse and are at risk of becoming homeless. Learn more at our website.
https://homewardpp.org/

Help for children experiencing abuse is discussed, since April is child abuse prevention month. Host Beth Roalstad notes there’s an intersection between families facing multiple barriers or facing homelessness, and child abuse. Stacie Kwitek Russell, executive director of El Paso County’s Department of Human Service discusses the issues with Beth. 
They are joined by El Paso County Public Information Specialist Kristina Iodice. 
LINKS:
DHS helped to create Family Treatment Drug Court: https://www.courts.state.co.us/Administration/Custom.cfm?Unit=prbsolcrt&Page_ID=448
El Paso County Department of Human Services
https://humanservices.elpasoco.com/
Additional resources to receive training on the prevention of child abuse and neglect.
https://www.peacefulhouseholds.org/
Homeward Pikes Peak
https://www.homewardpikespeak.org
719-473-5557

a Place for everyone, and Studio 809 Podcasts, appreciate the generous support of Gold Hill Mesa
https://www.goldhillmesa.com/
and the support of the MeadowGrass Music Festival 2022, coming up this Memorial Day weekend.
https://rockymountainhighway.org/index.php/information/
 
Homeward Pikes Peak brings you a Place for Everyone with interviews on different dimensions of substance abuse, homelessness, and housing.

We speak with a dynamic leader who not only knows how hard the transition is from prison to community at a community level, he knows it from a personal level. too. After serving 20 years in a Colorado prison for what was deemed a “hate crime,” Howie Close is now a leader in a movement to improve the pathway for men and women as they exit prison and return to our communities.
Howie leads the Woodmen Valley Chapel Prison Ministry https://woodmenvalley.org/prison.
This is a dynamic team of over 160 volunteers who work inside and outside of prisons around the state of Colorado. It is part of a statewide and national movement. Not only does it bring spiritual support to inmates, but it also assists in building life skills, setting up employment success and locating housing when these folks return to our cities and towns across the state.
More information about how organizations can become involved with the Colorado Dept. of Corrections:
https://cdoc.colorado.gov/about/community-engagement
Homeward Pikes Peak provides re-entry housing for men and women who have had a history of substance abuse and are at risk of becoming homeless. Learn more at https://www.homewardpp.org
Homeward Pikes Peak brings you a Place for Everyone with interviews on different dimensions of substance abuse, homelessness, and housing.

What are the top affordable housing issues and what is being done to address these in Colorado Springs? It’s a hot issue and means different things to different people. We discuss it all in this conversation with three area affordable housing leaders. 
Randy and BJ Scott are two of the founders of the Affordable Housing Collaborative, an advocacy organization that seeks to be a hub of information and lead efforts to increase affordable housing in El Paso County. Barb Van Hoy is a Policy Analyst in the Community Development Division of the City of Colorado Springs.
Randy Scott has been a corporate leader in Colorado Springs and led a capacity building and strategic planning nonprofit organization that supported the leadership and strategic initiatives of other nonprofit organizations in our community.
BJ Scott retired from her role as CEO of Peak Vista Community Health Centers a few years ago after dedicating twenty years to the health and welfare of some of our community’s most vulnerable members. 
As a policy analyst with the City's Community Development Division, Barb supports public policy and impact analysis, along with public engagement for the programs supported by entitlement grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The Community Development Division allocates about $5 million annually in federal formula block grants through the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program, HOME Investment Partnerships (HOME) Program, and the Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) Program.  The Division is managing an additional $41 million through recent federal COVID relief and stimulus packages to prevent, prepare for and respond to coronavirus impacts.
LINKS:
Affordable Housing Collaborative Information Hub
https://affordablehousingelpasoco.org/
City of Colorado Springs Community Development Division
https://coloradosprings.gov/communitydevelopment 
City plan for Housing
https://coloradosprings.gov/homecos
Homeward Pikes Peak
www.homewardpp.org
Hope Never Ends Event for HPP
https://www.flipcause.com/secure/cause_pdetails/MTIyNjMz
Homeward Pikes Peak brings you a Place for Everyone with interviews on different dimensions of substance abuse, homelessness, and housing.  For more information visit our website http://www.homewardpp.org or contact the organization.