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Colorado hotel converted to affordable housing allows disabled adults to live independently

Colorado hotel converted to affordable housing allows disabled adults to live independently
Colorado hotel converted to affordable housing allows disabled adults to live independently 02:59

"The Unity on Park" officially opens this week in Castle Rock. A former La Quinta hotel has been converted into affordable housing for adults with disabilities.

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  "The Unity on Park" officially opens this week in Castle Rock. CBS

It's a partnership between Douglas County and Wellspring Community, a nonprofit that provides disabled adults day programs and work opportunities. Now they're expanding to offer those adults a way to live independently that they wouldn't have otherwise.

"I've been kind of chomping at the bit, really, to finally move out and have my own place to set up how I want to," said Carl DeGolier, a 31-year-old on the autism spectrum.

DeGolier was the very first resident to move into The Unity on Park.

"Here's my place," DeGolier said.

He previously lived in a host home, so this is his first time living on his own.

"I just moved, so I still have a few boxes here and there," DeGolier said. "I'm trying to figure out where to place stuff."

Twenty-five-year-old Damon Bunch wasn't far behind.

"This is my apartment. I call it the Walt Disney suite," said Bunch, who deals with intellectual disabilities.

Bunch moved out of his parents' house, and knew exactly how to decorate his new home.

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 The Unity on Park CBS

"The bathroom is also Disney-themed. I have Mickey toilet cover," Bunch said.

"It's overwhelming to see them experience this joy and excitement," said Wellspring Executive Director Nicole DeVries. "There have been lots of tears, lots of shouts, lots of hugs over it."

DeVries says The Unity is the first place of its kind in Douglas County.

"Everybody has this desire to leave their parents' home. We all had that when we were growing up, and that is no different if you have a disability," DeVries said. "To be able to set their own schedule, to decide when they get up and what they're gonna have for breakfast, and how they're gonna decorate their apartment on their own, that is a sense of independence that everybody wants. But for people with IDD, that is something that very few can attain."

The converted hotel contains 42 affordable housing units, 20 are reserved for adults with disabilities.

Wellspring staff live on-site and are on call if residents need help. During the day, more staff come to offer community programs, residential services, and life coaching.

"Cooking, cleaning, doing their laundry, all those things that everybody needs to learn how to do," DeVries said.

The sense of community and the opportunity to make friends is also valuable.

"We all wanna live with people that are like us. We want to live with our friends, so it's very neat to see the participants in our program live here together with people that they know and feel like they belong," DeVries said.

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  The Unity on Park is a converted hotel for adults living with disabilities.  CBS

The Unity is within walking distance from downtown Castle Rock and next door to Wellspring, where many residents participate in day programs.

"I just thought I'd be living with my parents for the rest of my life," Bunch said. "I would be in very dark places where I would come close to committing suicide because I never felt like I belonged."

The ability to live on their own is life-changing for the two men.

"It's a wonderful opportunity to be able to live in a place like this," said DeGolier. "So I don't feel as if I'm trying to live up to someone else's expectations, so I can kinda see what my own expectations are. I kinda wanna see what it's like and maybe figure out more about myself because I don't know that much about myself."

"It makes me feel really excited because I never thought I would have that, but now that I do, it makes me feel really proud of myself," Bunch said. He adds that his first few nights on his own were challenging, but he's glad he's being pushed outside his comfort zone.

According to Wellspring, the total project cost was around $10 million. The state of Colorado and Douglas County are contributing $4 million, with the town of Castle Rock providing a $650,000 fee waiver, and Developmental Pathways contributing $500,000. The remainder was taken out in a loan that will be repaid through residents' rent payments.

Residents began moving into The Unity on Park the first week of December. Thursday, Douglas County commissioners will hold a ribbon-cutting for the development.

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