Project Recovery

The City of Boulder’s role in Project Recovery is to provide resources for the purchase of a property, within the City of Boulder, that will provide stable housing to clients accessing treatment at a separate facility.

Evidence shows that people can more successfully address other problems (i.e., employment, mental health, addiction) once they are stably housed. The city, in partnership with Homeless Solutions for Boulder County (HSBC), supports unhoused community members by leveraging a tapestry of services to help people in exiting homelessness.

All operations of the home will be managed by Tribe Recovery Homes (Tribe), which received a grant from Boulder County to operate the recovery homes created through this program. Tribe manages similar group homes in Denver and Aurora.

Substance use and addiction are serious national issues impacting communities across the United States, including Boulder. The city is committed to supporting our local government partners and nonprofit organizations as they work to provide treatment options for addiction. Residential programs have been shown to be a successful approach for those recovering from substance use.

City and county partners, in conjunction with Tribe Recovery Homes, are currently in the process of securing a location for the first recovery home in the City of Boulder. Additional homes will be secured throughout Boulder County as the project moves forward.

To protect the individuals who are participating in substance use treatment and utilizing the recovery homes, in addition to legal requirements around protecting the personal information of patients, the location of the homes will not be disclosed to the public.

A recovery home is considered a “group home” use under the city’s land use code (Title 9, B.R.C. 1981). Group home uses are allowed in all residential, mixed use, and downtown zone districts, and most business zone districts, with staff-level conditional use review (Table 6-1, “Use Table”, B.R.C. 1982).

Applications to establish a group home are reviewed as part of an Administrative Review application, which is submitted to the Planning and Development Services Department. The conditional use application must meet specific use standards set forth in Section 9-6-3(k) of the land use code, including parking and separation requirements. A determination on the application is a criteria-based decision. The city is obligated to approve the application if an application meets the criteria for group homes. It is important to note that the city’s regulations for group homes were written in compliance with the Fair Housing Act. The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of handicap, including a mental or physical impairment like alcoholism or drug addiction.

The funds that the city is contributing toward the acquisition of a home will come from the Affordable Housing Fund.

Boulder City Council has been aware of this project since 2019 and the funds earmarked to support this project were recommended by the Affordable Housing Technical Review Group (TRG). TRG is a community advisory group appointed by the city manager that makes recommendations to the city on awarding affordable housing funds. Based the on zoning regulations described above, there are no community engagement requirements for this project.

It is important to note that the city’s regulations for group homes were written in compliance with the Fair Housing Act. The Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of handicap, including a mental or physical impairment like alcoholism or drug addiction.

This group home will facilitate the movement of formerly homelessness persons into permanent housing and the home will provide recovery services in a structured environment. The property will be deed restricted in perpetuity and therefore affordable for future generations to use as affordable housing. This housing type fits in the city’s goal to create and preserve a diverse housing stock (e.g., income levels, construction types, tenure, housing types, etc.).

In 2017, Boulder City Council adopted the Homelessness Strategy to reduce and prevent homelessness. A core component of the Homelessness Strategy is to create housing options serving individuals exiting the Homeless Solutions for Boulder County (HSBC) System. To ensure the availability of housing units, Housing and Human Services requires all housing partners benefitting from city investment to support the strategy. Support of the city’s Homelessness Strategy includes the creation of group housing (i.e., permanently supportive housing units) and/or acceptance of housing vouchers, including permanent supportive housing (PSH) vouchers which are accompanied by case management services, across the residential portfolio of the development partner.

You can learn more about existing outpatient services that Tribe Recovery Homes provides in Boulder on the county’s website.

You can learn more about Project Recovery on the county's website. If you have additional questions, please reach out to Heidi Grove, HSBC Systems Manager, at hgrove@bouldercounty.org.