In the city of Broomfield, the community is remarkably close to one another and certain individuals come together to solve issues. For one issue, those individuals are a part of the Broomfield City Council and religious clergy who teamed up and discussed one important issue: the housing needs of the homelessness right here in Broomfield.

They partners extensive research on homelessness and housing needs, so they created the idea of The Anchor house — a home for emancipated youth. This home will be located right next door to The Lutheran Church Of Hope and that is near Kohl Elementary. Mrs. Zack, who is a member of The Anchor House project, said they hired a specific architect to ensure the home would fit into the shape and sizes of the homes surrounding it.

This home gives support to the homeless and emancipated youth to go on and pursue an extremely successful life without the hardship of homelessness. But, for our community, it will be a great resource to share with teens so that they may take that next big step. Mrs. Zack said, “In a broader sense […] we’re building a small project for a specific group and moving them on and doing it with some funding from donated land from a church, and we’re hoping this idea catches on and more of these are built across the nation.”

For those who will be staying in The Anchor House, they will be governed by the Lutheran Family Services Rocky Mountain who have worked with many foster children. For the teens and young adults, there will be furniture, pots and pans, cutlery, and blankets provided within the house. Once they graduate from the program, they will be able to take all these items with them to their first apartment.

The criteria for teens and young adults who want to live in this house are individuals who are 18-21, have a job, and are in school or are working towards some type of accommodation of education. They also have to work with counselors from the Lutheran Family Services, complete an application process, maintain a drug-free environment, and follow the rules of how people get along.

What helped jump start this project were the main contributors: the Lutheran Church Of Hope who donated the land, Lutheran Family Services Rocky Mountain that will help those in the home, and Habitat For Humanity Flatirons that helped with the construction. For the finances, the main contributors were Thrivent (that kickstarted the fundraising), The City and County of Broomfield (who also helped with fundraising), Colorado Health Foundation (who helped with donations), and the community supporters who donated to the home.

Overall, this was a strongly supported project with a great deal of discussion and planning; nonetheless, there were a few people worried about how it was going be run — if it was gonna be safe for the young adults and community. However, the support has been amazing and this is a need that can be met really well in Broomfield.

But, due to COVID-19, supply lines for materials have been disrupted, so the organizing group for this project is estimating that it will be completed by 2021.

Here is a link to donate to The Anchor House and or if you would like to look more into this project: https://www.anchorhouseco.org/donate