Renovation of an old community corrections facility on North Nevada Avenue that had been empty for years has enabled SuPEERior Connections to expand its transitional sober-living program to help homeless men and women recover from addiction to substances and move on with their lives.

“We’re working hard to eliminate barriers to recovery and housing options,” said Bethany Boss, assistant director.

That means clients initially are not charged rent if they don’t immediately have a job, she said. Under a structured program, participants work on life skills, including household budgeting and financing, while simultaneously improving their mental and physical health and dealing with trauma and grief, as they advance to becoming independent.

“We’re trying to make it easy and accessible for people seeking treatment and housing to be able to work on their recovery program and not worry about how do I pay for program fees and get a job so I don’t go back into instability,” Boss said.

The nonprofit organization spent upwards of $300,000 on remodeling the campus, which was formerly a motel and now can house 71 men and women in active recovery. There’s new paint, flooring, electrical, plumbing and other upgrades.

Windows were boarded up, and a chain-link fence that surrounded the perimeter didn’t stop thieves from gaining access and ripping out copper wiring and cutting water heaters down to the floor. Both had to be replaced.

The work seemed insurmountable at first, said Kirby Murriel, who owns SuPEERior Connections. “It looked too far gone, but slowly and surely over these last five months we got it in good condition.”

It’s a deja vu of sorts for Murriel, who remembers being there after getting out of prison when it was a halfway house run by ComCor.

“We’ve poured our hearts and souls into renovating it,” Boss said. “This was a building that was abandoned and overlooked. It was so large and in such bad shape.”

Mark J. Wester, executive director of Embrave, formerly ComCor, said Embrave explored options for leasing or using the facilities over the years. During the pandemic, the property became a temporary shelter for homeless families called City Hope.

Embrave owns two properties on North Nevada Avenue. The other functions as a chow hall and group gathering space for SuPEERior Connections’ clients.

“We are thankful that it can be used to fill in gaps in transitional living and meet a community need,” Wester said of the reuse project. “They are responding to both the challenges of homelessness and the need for affordable, dependable housing for clients transitioning back into the community.”

Kimberly Chance, 43, had been addicted to methamphetamine off and on since she was 12, self-medicating as a kid to escape a rough upbringing.

“Honestly, this place is amazing. It’s a blessing,” she said a few days ago while sitting outside her unit at the new center with her dog, Smokey. “It’s been very helpful.”

Chance is just about a month sober, after living on the streets for the past year and a half.

“I tried to get sober so many times, but with this program, I was 10 days sober before I came into it. I wanted to come in clean. That’s the difference,” she said. “I believe this place is a truly God-given place. I didn’t have a solid foundation before. I do now.”

The journey of the property’s resurrection correlates to the program participants, Boss said. “Some people think the people we serve are too far gone. We don’t think so. Everyone has a place here. We don’t discriminate on background, criminal charges, income, history or mental health. We give everyone a fair chance.”

The building even came with people. Transients had bored holes in the walls and made a nest.

“We immediately offered our services and assistance to people who were obviously in need,” Boss said.

Another unique aspect is that couples can stay together while in recovery but are requested to participate in a relationship-skills group, and one dog per person is allowed, Boss said.

“We don’t want them to be forced to choose a relationship or a pet over recovery,” she said. “Often for people that are homeless that already have a dog, it’s their only companion.”

Once clients secure a job, they pay $200 a month in rent if they’re working part-time and $400 a month if they’re employed full-time.

The services are peer-led, meaning by people who are former addicts, and funding comes from Medicaid billings through clinical supervision.

Participants don’t necessarily have to be sober to enter the program; if they’re not sober, they’ll be referred to detox and 30-day in-patient programs in the community, depending on individual needs, Boss said. Afterward, they return to SuPEERior Connections for housing and recovery support.

“We want to make this achievable,” she said. “This is transitional – they’re not meant to be here forever. This is to get their ducks in a row so that when they do have an income and have created stability, they can be prepared to step out into independence seamlessly.”

The average length of stay is up to the individual participant; some are on site for a few months, others a couple of years.

SuPEERior Connections has operated in Colorado Springs since July 2024, when it opened a 20-bed residential recovery center on East Rio Grande and South Nevada Avenue.

Clients for both locations are referred through the El Paso County jail kiosk, by probation officers, from detox centers, after exiting prisons and by walking in off the street, according to Boss.

The organization also is opening a third site in Loveland, which is about a two-hour drive north of Colorado Springs. Between the three facilities, the organization will accommodate 150 homeless men and women.

“There is a dire need in the community. What we’re doing is probably a drop in the bucket,” she said. “We’re trying to make a little difference for the people we can, which is a big difference for the people we are assisting.”

Six months after opening a 50-bed facility last October, Step Springs, also a peer-driven residential recovery program in Colorado Springs but for homeless men only, reported it had served 127 men. More than three-quarters secured full-time, tax-paying jobs in less than 45 days, according to the data.

And 39 clients progressed from living on the streets to reaching the second, third and fourth phases by meeting key recovery goals and stability milestones that move participants from addiction-driven homelessness to sobriety, stability and full-time employment, the organization said.

Many don’t see a way to move out of living in their car or a tent, but officials attribute the organization’s structured program, which requires accountability and provides a community needed to rebuild, as the key to its numbers.