HCSHQ_102021

October 2021 — Health Care & Senior Housing Quarterly — Page 21 www.crej.com SENIOR HOUSING — TRENDS real estate assets to build community capital, has launched the region’s first Workforce Housing Fund, a collabo- ration between the city of Colorado Springs, regional foundations and local developers. HomeCOS: Housing Our Future, the city’s affordable and attainable hous- ing plan, establishes a goal of produc- ing on average 1,000 new affordable units each year. The Workforce Hous- ing Fund will partner with the city on supporting that goal by focusing on development of workforce housing through a three-tiered approach to include coordinating private, public and charitable sector funding; sup- porting predevelopment planning for workforce housing projects; and capacity building for local organiza- tions to capture state and federal funds. PPREF has convened funders who have contributed a minimum of $25,000 into a pooled giving fund and will facilitate a funding cycle with the goal to disburse funds annually to a proposed workforce housing project in the Pikes Peak region. At the PRREF, we believe it is only when the public, private and philan- thropic sectors work together that systematic change occurs. This alli- ance identifies priorities, visualizes possibilities and earmarks resources together in one collective vision. By pooling the team’s expertise, we can address one of our community’s most critical needs – accessible hous- ing. “The Workforce Housing Fund is a great example of an innovative strat- egy to keep our affordable housing pipeline full and going strong,” said Steve Posey, community development division manager, city of Colorado Springs. “It is particularly meaning- ful to our local nonprofits as they expand their missions from service delivery into housing.” The Workforce Housing Fund named its first partner, Silver Key Senior Services, in July. The nonprofit is preparing to apply to the Colorado Housing and Finance Authority for low-income housing tax credits to help fund construction of senior liv- ing faciliy and was awarded a $50,000 predevelopment loan from the Work- force Housing Fund for consultation on the application. Silver Key plans to build the new 50- to 60-unit apartment complex in southeast Colorado Springs. It purchased the site and the office building in 2015 for about $2 million. Denver-based MGL Partners, a multi- family, senior workforce and afford- able housing developer, has been selected to develop the new senior living facility. Construction will begin next spring. An estimated 70% of the units would be reserved for seniors who have an income of 30% or less of Col- orado Springs’ median, which would amount to about $19,500 annually. The remaining apartments would be leased to renters who earn between 40% and 60% of the area’s median household income. The location, adjacent to the non- profit’s headquarters, will enable Silver Key to easily provide other services for tenants, such as meals, a food pantry, transportation, legal aid, mental health assistance, a thrift store and other resources. “Solving for the affordable housing crisis is a community lift. In addition to federal, state and regional public funding, we are leaning on the pri- vate and philanthropic sector to meet this growing challenge, especially for seniors,” said Jason DeaBueno, president and CEO, Silver Key Senior Services. “We can’t go it alone. We must work collaboratively to address the need.” The Workforce Housing Fund is looking to name its second partner project early next year and hopes to grow the fund to double its partner- ships in 2022. s sclark@ppref.org Continued from Page 15 recruit frontline caregiving staff for the foreseeable future. In Colorado, the state Board of Health recently required that all health care workers across the state receive the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of October, which should help to discourage workers from leaving nursing care positions for other care settings but may not discourage them from leaving for non-health care industries. The data has shown that the vaccine is safe and highly effective at preventing serious disease, hospitalization and death from COVID-19. As of Sept. 30, 65.5% of Coloradans (nearly 3.8 mil- lion people) had received at least one dose. Even in the best of times wages and benefits are significant operating expenses – typically reaching up to 60% of overall expenses for a senior housing property. Since the begin- ning of the pandemic, many opera- tors have endured the added costs of employee turnover, agency staffing and overtime pay. Considering the losses of revenue associated with a pandemic-related decline in occu- pancy rates to historically low levels and myriad unplanned expenses, including ongoing costs for sanitation and infection mitigation, and sig- nificantly elevated insurance premi- ums, net operating income has been acutely pressured for many operators and their capital partners. And while considered highly effective by respondents to NIC’s Executive Survey Insights, Colorado operators shouldn’t rely solely on ever-increasing pay and benefits to attract and retain staff. Some things operators can focus on in addition to wages include utilizing technolo- gies that improve staff scheduling and task efficiencies; recruiting staff from other sectors such as hospital- ity and retail; developing compelling career paths; marketing to, recruit- ing and training staff to foster com- pany loyalty and commitment; and creating an engaging culture and work environment that nurtures relationships between staff and resi- dents. Just as the labor challenges in senior housing and care didn’t begin with the pandemic, the pressures on staffing levels and wages will not end when the pandemic is in the rearview mirror. This is a national issue brought on by broad demo- graphic trends as well as the effects of the pandemic on the labor force, and the specific challenges faced by care staff for senior housing and care operators. s lpeck@nic.org Peck Continued from Page 16 For the past 35 years, SMPS Colorado has come together with the industry’s marketing elite to provide the premier forum for education and networking in the architectural, engineering, and construction communities. MEMBERSHIP EVENT CONFERENCE SMPS Southwest Regional Conference October 27 th — 29 th Loews Ventana Canyon Resort November 3 rd | 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. Location to be Announced November 10 th | 1:15 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. Virtual Event PROGRAMS EVENT K-12 Virtual Roundtable Current & Prospective Member Mixer and Sponsorship Showcase This year’s conference focuses on positive actions, lessons learned from the past year, and ways to adapt moving forward. Converge encapsulates this theme with the logo giving a nod to The Four Corners monument – the physical point of the four states meeting. READY TO LEARN MORE?