The gritty heart of the city will feel pretty this summer with the Colfax Works pilot project boosting street cleanup, graffiti removal and even landscaping.
While Colfax, from Grant to Josephine streets, gets its small facelift, the project also will provide employment and supportive services to residents experiencing homelessness. Colfax becomes a literal path toward independence and stability.
The $20,000 pilot project will run June through August, but the Colfax Ave Business Improvement District is considering turning it into a year-round, financially sustainable program, said chair Michelle Valeri.
The city is providing a little extra funding to help connect participants to all the supportive services they need, including case management and life-skills training.
To start, beginning June 4, a small crew with a supervisor will work Colfax and areas between 14th and 16th streets for probably about six hours a day, four days a week.
Courtesy photo.
Project operation falls to Bayaud Enterprises, a 49-year-old nonprofit that runs an array of social programs with the end game of helping people get work and become self-sufficient. Bayaud also operates the successful City Day Works program in parks. It won the Colfax Works bid after an extensive interview process, Valeri said.
“We’re starting out pretty small,” Valeri said about street crew size. “It was important for us to pay these workers a living wage and get them support services. We’re aiming for consistency.”
An advisory committee of city employees and representatives, business and property owners, as well as Bayaud and Open Door Ministries has been meeting since the beginning of 2018 to launch the pilot.
“There’s no silver bullet to end homelessness,” said Scott Kerr, Bayaud’s director of Employment & Opportunity.
That said, low-barrier work opportunities are an important first step, he said.
“It’s amazing how a living wage can transform someone’s life,” Kerr said. “We’re excited to put living wages into people’s hands. The Business Improvement District has been a great, creative partner in this.”
The Colfax Ave Business Improvement District can help link project participants to the vibrant Colfax community of hundreds of businesses and dense residential neighborhoods, Valeri said. The district’s aim is to help people “graduate” into permanent positions with Colfax enterprises.
Jamie Rosenberry, director of Open Door to Success at Open Door Ministries served on the project’s advisory board.
“I’m really amazed to see how something like this can give people a sense of dignity,” said Rosenberry, who serves in part as a job coach at the ministry. “People on the street need to feel they are part of the community.”
Like many urban environments, Colfax also experiences crime and holds populations struggling with mental illness as well as homelessness.
Ron Vaughn, the district’s board secretary, said the board has explored many approaches to mitigating problems over the years.
“We are excited about the Colfax Works project because it will provide an opportunity to those who are motivated to work and who may not be given the chance otherwise,” Vaughn said in a statement. “Though we cannot solve all problems in our neighborhood on our own, we can partner with Bayaud and the city so that our combined abilities are amplified and effective towards a lasting solution.”
You can learn more about the program at colfaxave.com/colfax-works.
