LONGMONT — — The big brick building that once served as a now helps the homeless by offering inexpensive housing and ongoing workshops in finance
, originally built by the , is home to about 150 residents from babies to a man in his mid-80s. In the four buildings that make up the Inn Between, there are 68 apartments, ranging from single-room occupancy units to three-bedroom apartments. All but one of the buildings is debt-free, thanks to Boulder County’s tax fund, grants and .
“It’s not just housing; it’s a whole program,” said executive director .
Everyone who lives at the Inn Between, one of the nonprofit organizations that has received funding in the past from ‘ , has been referred by city and state agencies.
Residents, who must abide by a no-excuses policy prohibiting drugs, pay between $60 and $693 a month — the scale varies by income — to live in an apartment for up to two years.
Some of the Inn Between’s are . Oscar Guerra, a student at Front Range Community College, first arrived at the Inn Between in August 2011 when he was still in high school and had no home. Through a student incentive program, he got a free single-resident room.
“Oscar is one of our success stories,” Lovato said.
So is Andrew Salem, 31, a single father. Along with his 5-year-old son Gabriele, Salem moved into the Inn Between last March. Salem, who uses a forearm cane because he was born with spina bifida, is Gabriele’s sole provider.
“Things started falling apart when I went through my divorce in 2010,” Salem said.
Today, Salem and his son live in one of the Inn Between’s apartments. Gabriele attends kindergarten at a nearby elementary school while his father meets with a case worker and attends workshops.
“For me, the connections here at Inn Between, and the resources, are so important,” Salem said.
“And being able to have a place to live. What I’ve found here is the ability to come up with a plan, and learning that , there’s . It’s so easy to feel trapped. Here, I’ve learned I’m not the only one in this situation.”
Currently, he is working to set up a business as an event planner. He helped stage a Halloween party for the Boulder-based . Lovato plans to employ him to organize the Inn Between’s annual fundraiser next year.
Salem’s neighbors include people who once camped under bridges, and people who became homeless when banks foreclosed on their 3,000-square-foot homes.
“You often see the older adults make a stew and share it with the teens, or the teens help the older women color their hair,” Lovato said.
“It becomes like a little family. You should see it here at Thanksgiving. There are people who share Thanksgiving together because they don’t have families. But they have each other.”
Claire Martin: 303-954-1477, cmartin@denverpost.com or twitter.com/byclairemartin
The Inn Between
Address: 250 Kimbark St., Longmont, CO 80501
In operation since: 1993
Number served last year: 250
Staff: 8
Yearly budget: $800,000
Percentage of funds directly given to clients and services: 77 percent
