a Place for everyone

Homeward Pikes Peak and the Colorado Springs Fire Department (CSFD) have worked together for several years providing street outreach to individuals experiencing homelessness. This episode explores when CSFD began doing street outreach and their unique role in our community. More information about the CSFD Community and Public Health Division can be found at https://coloradosprings.gov/fire-department/page/community-and-public-health-cares. Additional questions about their work can be through email with the Director: Steven M. Johnson, Steven.Johnson@coloradosprings.gov

a Place for everyone is produced by Homeward Pikes Peak. We empower individuals and families to access stable housing, incre...

A small but mighty organization is doing critical advocacy and organizing work of low-income residents who are renters in our community. Host Beth Roalstad sits down with Max Kronstadt and Will Smith of the COS Pro Housing Partnership. Through their efforts, tenants are using their voice to organize for better living conditions and for vital community services. The group uses grassroots organizing and social justice ideals to advance the rights of our community members.

COS Pro Housing Partnership: https://cosphp.org/

a Place for everyone is produced by Homeward Pikes Peak. We empower individuals and f...

Pikes Peak Housing Network’s mission is to foster innovative and collaborative solutions that advance housing affordability, access and production in the Pikes Peak Region. Executive Director Jill Gaebler shares data and details about her work. Jill is a former member of the Colorado Springs City Council where she served two terms. Prior to that, Jill worked for Greccio Housing and served in the Us Air Force. Jill is also a former board member of Homeward Pikes Peak.

Website: https://pphousingnetwork.org/

State of Housing Report:  https://pphousingnetwork.org/resources.html

a Place for every...

How does behavioral health contribute to homelessness, and how does Homeward Pikes Peak help people facing this obstacle? Homelessness is quite complex – often multiple contributing factors such as the cost of living, the cost of housing in our community, and then the complexities of broken family relationships, compounded by mental health and substance misuse by people. When someone has untreated mental health issues or substance use turns into misuse and addiction it has a negative impact on everything – housing, employment, and overall health. Homeward Pikes Peak has an outpatient treatment clinic and today we speak to its director Katie Edelson...

The Place offers housing, a drop-in center, and supportive services for youth up to age 24 years old. CEO Becky Treece shares details about The Place. Their mission is to empower Colorado youth to break the cycle of homelessness and forge supportive relationships and have self-sufficient, successful lives.

The Place website - https://theplacecos.org/  

Telephone - (719) 338-9257

a Place for everyone is produced by Homeward Pikes Peak. We empower individuals and families to access stable housing, increase mental health, increase recovery and achieve economic stability.  Learn more at http://homewardpp.org/. You can reac...

Learn about valuable housing resources for working families provided by Greccio Housing. Homeward Pikes Peak Executive Director Beth Roalstad sits down for this conversation with Lee Patke, Executive Director of Greccio Housing. Greccio's mission is to provide stable, safe, and affordable housing, to offer resources for residents to achieve stability, and to promote solutions to the affordable housing needs of our community. 

Greccio currently serves over 1,000 residents per year through properties across Colorado Springs. Beyond providing affordable housing to lower their cost of living, they offer access to a variety of services, guidance, community events, educational workshops, a...

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 Partnershiphttps://downtowncs.com/

Downtown Ventureshttps://downtowncs.com/ventures/

Arts...

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 pr...

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...

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 outs...

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.

Today’s library is not just about books anymore, it is a vital hub where community, people, art, and technology intersect. John Spears, Chief Librarian and CEO of the Pikes Peak Library District, joins host Beth Roalstad to discuss how the Pikes Peak Library District is carrying out a new form of community library.

What is most interesting to Homeward Pikes Peak is that our library has had a social worker on staff for about three years. This staff person is considered a subject matter expert on the needs of the library guests who experience homelessness. There is...

Today on this episode of - A Place for Everyone. we will tackle the issue of substance use in our community. The frequency or how often it occurs and where can someone get help when they are ready.

My guests are colleagues from Diversus Health. Amanda Smith, Director, Substance Use Disorders and Case Management and E.J. RICKEY, MCG, Vice-President of Marketing and Communication Strategy | Diversus Health. Diversus Health recently changed its name recently from AspenPointe.

Diversus Health offers health care services focusing on counseling, psychiatry, addictions, and crisis intervention. Navigating the way to the...

Peaceful Household’s Mission is To improve the health, social-emotional and economic outcomes for children and families by providing the foundation, leadership and education to build and sustain a trauma responsive community.  More information about this organization can be found at https://www.peacefulhouseholds.org/.

Our Guest today is Kathy Orr, Executive Director of Peaceful Households; a Registered Nurse, Master Trainer of ACES and a community leader and advocate regarding reducing trauma experienced by young children and their families.

Homeward Pikes Peak brings you A Place for Everyone two times per month...

The Pheonix Colorado Springs is part of a national movement that offers a free sober active community to individuals who have suffered from a substance use disorder and to those who choose a sober life.  Using a peer support model, The Phoenix helps members heal and rebuild their lives while also striving to eliminate the stigma around recovery.  You can find more information about the programs and find a gym and a community near you on their website click here.

 Today's guest, Dan Hugill is a coach, peer recovery coach and advocate for individuals in recovery and tho...

This interview with Dr. Tatiana Bailey will examine what we know through research about individuals who experience homelessness in Colorado Springs – how do we define the problem and what are common characteristics?   In 2017, HPP began working on program evaluation to better understand the challenges our clients face and which interventions work well.  Data collection continued in 2018 and results were published in 2019. 

Tatiana Bailey has her Master's in economics and her doctorate in public health, both from the University of Michigan. In the health care arena, Dr. Bailey has focused on programs that aim to increase access and qualit...

A PLACE for Everyone, the Pikes Peak region’s podcast about housing, homelessness, resiliency, and recovery.  The podcast is brought to you by Homeward Pikes Peak.  Our mission is to support individuals to achieve their full potential in recovery from substance abuse and to exit homelessness and move towards permanent housing.

Today's interview is with Shawna Kemppainen, the CEO of The Place, a former affiliate of Urban Peak.  The Place ignites the potential in youth to exit homelessness and create self-determined, fulfilled lives.  This organization is about 20 years old and has played a critical role in serving youth –...

Food, financial and medical assistance top the list of critical services Westside CARES provides “neighbors” in need. CEO Kristy Milligan shares her perspective and information about her programs and community needs with host Beth Roalstad.

The conversation addresses the power of compassion and equalizing in developing relationships with neighbors experiencing homelessness. Milligan discusses the acute trauma that often leads people to homelessness, and how finding relationship and solidarity as well as addressing profound issues of economic injustice in our city is necessary to solve the issue. She and Beth also discuss gentrification, Housing First models, the importance of m...

What does home mean to you? What is the connection between homelessness and housing stability? A person would need to work 73 hours a week at minimum wage to afford a one-bedroom apartment in Colorado Springs.

Who are the homeless, how did they get here, and what do they need? This inaugural episode of the podcast defines the problem of homelessness for our community – central El Paso County and Colorado Springs.

Executive Director Beth Roalstad invites two Homeward Pikes Peak staff members into the studio for a conversation defining homelessness, providing some surprising data, and dispelling so...