Nonprofit partners with apartment association to help Coloradans find jobs and housing
A national nonprofit that partners with housing providers in cities across the country is teaming up with the Colorado Apartment Association in an attempt to solve homelessness. It works to help people like Hownisha Reed find stability.
"It was very, a very scary time. I was really terrified. Honestly," Reed said.
Reed was graduating from college as a global pandemic was igniting.
"I was doing interviews, I was doing applications, and nothing was really coming out of it," she said.
Adding to her struggle finding work, her time in a youth transitional housing program outside of Colorado was about to expire, raising concerns about where she would live.
"What do I do if this doesn't work out, you know? Like, of course, you have family, but sometimes you can't live with your family, so you know, that's what I was doing. I was going from place to place," Reed added.
That's when Entryway stepped in. They train and mentor people to fill open positions on site for a fair wage and the apartment owners provide discounted housing for the first year.
They are now launching their program in Colorado.
"We found out about this through our members, and we are excited to partner with entryway this is going to provide jobs and discounted housing for people who need it both," said Destiny Bossert, the governmental affairs manager for the Colorado Apartment Association.
Their members, she says, are currently navigating a workforce shortage.
With tens of thousands of new apartments coming to the market in the next year, they're in desperate need of help.
"We have the leasing agents and property managers and then we have the maintenance, maintenance techs maintenance supervisors those are the two biggest pipelines that we need to fill," Bossert said.
For Reed, the program led to a job as a supportive services coordinator, a role that, more than a year later, has helped her find stability.
"It definitely opens up more opportunities to you and gives you the confidence to go after those opportunities," Reed said.
The program is now accepting applications as well as looking for volunteers to help with resume building and interview coaching.
For more information, visit entrywaytalent.org/denver/.