A group of CC alumni are doing amazing work in affordable housing for the Denver Metro area.
On August 30, 2023, a collection of Tigers from across graduation years came together at the groundbreaking for a third site of Warren Village, a Denver area non-profit that does work around unhoused low-income single parent families, helping to stabilize and empower them toward self-sufficiency. Present at the event was Ethan Hemming ’92, Warren Village’s Executive Director, and U.S. Congressperson Diana Degette ’79 and Lauren Watel ’07, who both spoke due to their relative support of procuring funds for the project, and others. DeGette captioned the project “CC alumni coming together to address affordable housing solutions.”
This third Warren Village campus is a product of the collaboration of funding from many different levels. It has received federal support thanks to advocacy from Rep. DeGette and her District Outreach Representative, Joe Wood ’11. There has also been private philanthropic contributions, including The Schlessman Family Foundation, where Watel serves as president.
“It’s so fun to come across and work with alumni in so many different capacities,” says Watel. “It’s even better when it’s for such a great cause.”
Warren Village is an organization that serves unhoused and unstably-housed low-income single-parent families in the Denver area. They provide these families with the space and resources to achieve economic mobility and navigate and disrupt systems of poverty. The organization utilizes a two-generation approach to empower both parents and their children through life skills classes, a high-quality Early Learning Center, education and career support, and resource navigation. Once completed, the new campus will be Colorado’s first-ever intentional supportive housing for single-parent families. It will also significantly increase the availability of four-star-quality childcare in a community that is considered a “childcare desert.”
“I have honestly found this to be the most rewarding part of my career so far,” says Hemming. “It’s challenging, but it’s also just so heartfelt, so connected to people who really are trying hard to do something different.”
With its new campus, Warren Village will leverage its expertise providing safe and affordable housing, education, and wraparound support for parents. The project will provide much needed, family-focused affordable housing in Denver. The new campus will include 89 residential units as well as community gardens and outdoor gathering spaces that will allow for connections to existing neighbors, including the Women’s Bean Project.
“One of the things that I think distinguishes Warren Village is our history with partners working really well in a collaborative environment,” says Hemming. “We don’t see this as a competition. We can all bring our model to bear. We have people on site all the time helping our residents. This third campus is going to be a significant step forward in doing that.”
The projected window for the opening of the new campus is October to December of 2024. The new housing will be filled with residents from multiple sources, including references from local organizations and a waitlist maintained by the state’s housing authority.
“Wherever there is need, wherever folks are suffering, they will hopefully hear about us and get into that queue,” says Hemming.
When asked what his goal is for the new space, Hemming says that he’s very excited about all the future possibilities. “Number one is our quality. What do we offer the community? What do we offer to residents? How do we assess quality? How do we stick to quality? How do we improve? There’s no growth without quality. We have a new strategic framework and this is our biggest replication. We don’t want to grow for growth sake. We want to grow because there’s numbers. My vision is quality as number one and meeting the demand in the community is number two.”
It’s difficult to ignore the fact that there are so many CC alumni involved with this project and Warren Village in general.
“I think it’s the higher power of Colorado College. It’s everywhere,” says Hemming. “It’s just a beautiful thing because of what CC stands for. I think Warren Village is a perfect example of it. CC is generous. It makes grants available. It has scholarships. I relied on all those and was welcomed into this huge network of beautiful, caring people. We all want the same thing; to question everything, to read, to debate. But ultimately everybody there wants to give back. Do something better.”
Hemming encourages anyone who’s interested to get involved. Learn more about Warren Village by checking out their website or, if you’re in the area, stop by for a visit.
“I think what CC trained me to do was to be in it for the journey,” says Hemming. “It is about the process and it’s about constant challenge, constantly trying to do something better and more meaningful. That’s what I remember from my experience there and what I’ve taken into my life and this work.”