Mercy Housing Mountain Plains (MHMP), Native American Housing Circle, and Denver Indian Health & Family Services (DIHFS) are collaborating to develop an innovative affordable housing community co-located with an 18,000 sq. ft. Primary Healthcare Center. This development will combine 94 permanent supportive homes for individuals and families experiencing homelessness, 96 affordable apartments for families with low incomes, and a new health clinic owned and operated by DIHFS. The clinic will provide culturally appropriate healthcare for Native American and Alaskan Native communities as well as providing primary healthcare services to the broader neighborhood.  The new clinic will allow DIHFS to greatly expand its mission and capacity to serve the growing Native population in the Denver metro area and community-based healthcare open to all.

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In addition to the healthcare services offered on-site, MHMP is partnering with Native American Housing Circle and WellPower to provide resident services and case management. These organizations will help bring additional support to residents, complementing the existing services Mercy Housing offers.  By integrating housing with essential services, this development aims to create a stable and supportive environment where residents can thrive. 

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The Denver Housing Authority purchased the property as part of the D3 Supportive Housing Land Acquisition Program, which is designed to accelerate the development of affordable housing units over the next 5 years by leveraging a portion of the city's affordable housing funds. Through the D3 Program, at least 40% of units must be operated as Supportive Housing or housing for residents earning below 30% of the Area Median Income and the project must be restricted as affordable in perpetuity.

• According to the 2022 Point in Time Count, American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) individuals made up 6.3% of homeless people in the Denver Metro area (432 total), while making up only 1.4% of the region’s overall population. That means that this population is overrepresented 4.5x among the metro homeless population.

• The AI/AN population in the Denver Metro area doubled between 2010 and 2020, which amounts to a growth rate that is roughly 6 times that of the overall population increase.

• At the same time, the region’s AI/AN adult population is far more likely than the general population to be living in poverty without a high school education. 17.9% of the region’s AIAN population do not have a high school diploma, which is more than double the share of the overall population (8.5%). The share of AI/AN people living in poverty is 14.1%, compared to 9.2% of the overall population.