Posts tagged housing
Boulder County: Teens and adults can apply for summer jobs with Youth Corps
Jan 28th
Boulder County, Colo. – Boulder County residents ages 14-17 can now apply for summer jobs with the Boulder County Youth Corps. Boulder County is also hiring adults to be team leaders. Boulder County is especially in need of female Corps members and leaders.
The deadline to submit youth applications is Friday, March 29. Other positions are open until filled.
The Youth Corps will hire between 160-180 teenagers to work 30 hours per week, Monday through Thursday, from June 10 to July 31 on a variety of community service projects. Team leaders will be employed from May 29 to August 2 to work up to 40 hours per week, Monday through Friday. Projects will include such activities as forest thinning, historic preservation, construction and repair of fencing, trail maintenance, removal of Russian olive trees and noxious weeds, landscaping and replacing light bulbs with compact fluorescents. Youth Corps teams will work in unincorporated Boulder County as well as in cities and towns within Boulder County.
Applicants can apply online at www.bouldercounty.org/youthcorps. Applications can also be picked up at counseling offices in Boulder Valley and St. Vrain Valley schools; city and town personnel offices; most local recreation and youth centers and libraries; and the Boulder County Human Resources Department, 2025 14th St. (Boulder).
This year, Corps members will earn a starting wage of $7.78/hour, with the possibility of earning a $100 bonus at the end of the program based on merit and strong attendance. Teens who have worked for the Corps in past years can earn up to $8.28/hour. In addition, Corps members are eligible for reimbursement for the purchase of work boots and gloves. RTD bus passes for the purpose of traveling to and from centralized work meeting places may be subsidized.
Team Leaders must be high school graduates at least 21 years old with two years of college coursework or more, and Assistant Team Leaders must be high school graduates at least 18 years old, among other qualifications. A list of full qualifications is available online at www.bouldercounty.org/youthcorps. Team Leaders start at $13.50/hour and Assistant Team Leaders at $11.50/hour.
The Youth Corps offers one of the best first job opportunities available in Boulder County. Teams have completed projects such as constructing almost a mile of trail at Walden Ponds Wildlife Habitat, replacing the residential fence at a Boulder County low-income housing development in Louisville, and preserving the McDonald Cabin at Betasso Preserve Open Space.
For more information, visit www.bouldercounty.org/youthcorps or call the Youth Corps office at 303-678-6104.
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Boulder County quickly utilizing housing assistance vouchers for veterans
Nov 9th
Housing assistance staff hopeful success will lead to additional voucher awards
Boulder County, Colo. – After only four months, Boulder County has utilized nearly 70 percent of the federal vouchers it received earlier this year to provide rental assistance to homeless military veterans.
Earlier this year the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced an award of $229,620 to help coordinate housing and other crucial supports for chronically homeless veterans in Boulder County. The assistance is in the form of 25 Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) vouchers which since July have been administered by the Boulder County Department of Housing and Human Services (BCDHHS) in partnership with the VA. As of Veterans Day 2012, 17 of the vouchers have been issued to homeless veterans. Of these, 11 veterans have been fully housed.
“Knowing how many homeless veterans we have here in Boulder County, I’m not surprised by how quickly these vouchers are being utilized,” said Willa Williford, director of BCDHHS’ Housing Division. “But it’s a great feeling to know we’re opening doors for people who really need help.” As of January, the homeless population count was nearly 1,800 individuals in Boulder County. About 10 percent of the county’s homeless are veterans.
Housing Assistance Program Manager Amanda Guthrie noted that the Department of Veterans Affairs has indicated Boulder County’s work with the VASH vouchers thus far has been excellent. “According to their feedback, we’re quite successful in part because we’re philosophically well-aligned to serve this population, making us strong candidates for additional funding in the future,” she said.
BCDHHS is able to link clients to a wide range of services, including food and financial assistance, health coverage, and housing counseling, among others. In addition to rental assistance, the agency has been working closely with the VA to help stabilize the formerly-homeless veterans and support them on a path to self-sufficiency.
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Boulder County to celebrate opening of Josephine Commons, named for a mine owner AND a human rights activist
Oct 11th
Boulder County, Colo. – Just one year after its groundbreaking, project managers, elected officials, and residents will gather on Thursday, Oct. 18 to celebrate the grand opening of Josephine Commons, one of Boulder County’s largest affordable housing developments.
The grand opening celebration will take place from 12:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. on Oct. 18 at Josephine Commons, 455 N. Burlington Ave. in Lafayette. Congressman Jared Polis and the Boulder County Commissioners will be among those who will speak. There will be tours of the buildings and property, and the public is invited to attend.
Planning, construction, and operations of Josephine Commons are being overseen by the Boulder County Housing Authority (BCHA), a division of the county’s Department of Housing and Human Services (BCDHHS). The county received a Certificate of Occupancy in late August for Phase I of the project, and had leased all of the apartments within five days. “The very quick lease-up is certainly a testament to the need for low-income housing in Boulder County,” said Frank Alexander, who is director of both the BCHA and BCDHHS. “It’s heartening to know that this project is helping boost the self-sufficiency and dignity of so many of our seniors.”
Phase I of Josephine Commons features 74 units on 3.4 acres of county-owned land in east Lafayette. This includes 70 apartment-style units in a mid-rise building. The 78,000-square-foot three-story main building also features a library, great room and large commercial kitchen. The project’s Phase II, Aspinwall at Josephine Commons, will feature 72 additional townhomes and duplex units for low-income seniors and families, and will break ground in mid-2013.
Funding for the $17.9 million Phase I of Josephine Commons has come largely from private investors through Low Income Housing Tax Credits arranged by the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority. Significant support also came from Boulder County taxpayers through $400,000 in Worthy Cause funding. And $550,000 in Colorado Home Investment Partnership (HOME) funds were provided by the Colorado Division of Housing. Other business support included a $12 million construction loan from Citibank.
Josephine Commons is named afterone-time owner of the Rocky Mountain Fuel Company, which once ran a coal mine where the development now sits. In the early 1930s, Roche stood out as a champion of workers’ rights, instituting the highest wages in the mining industry, fighting against child labor, and inviting unionization of her mines.
Also significant is the fact that the retired coal mines were used as renewable energy for Josephine Commons. Geothermal wells were drilled to depths of 400 feet, passing through the old mine shafts. Pipes were then installed to feed the heating and cooling systems, a process that greatly reduces the energy required for temperature control in the buildings. The project also features more than 100 kilowatts of rooftop and carport solar panel electricity generation.