The Promise of Zinnia | 

Permanent Supportive Housing is Blooming in Longmont | 

On Monday, Dec 16, the City of Longmont and Boulder County celebrated the opening of our latest homeless housing partnership, called Zinnia. Zinnia is 55-unit building offering housing and rental assistance to approximately 60 individuals and couples. Residents of Zinnia are selected based on the length of their homelessness, their disabilities, and the grave risks they face. They are arguably the unluckiest members of our community.

Zinnia is the latest example of All Road’s focus on housing. It is built and operated by the local private developer Element Properties, and All Roads played a crucial role in getting Zinnia built, supporting Element from concept, through funding, through lease up. Now, All Road case management and clinical staff are on site to offer intensive services so that whomever has a chance to call Zinnia their home, remain in their home and have an opportunity to thrive.

Working in this field usually comes with a lot of heartbreak, mainly because All Roads gets to see up close, every day, the tragedy of scarcity for those of us who are the unluckiest and end up without a home. Thankfully, Monday was not one of those days. On Monday, we celebrated abundance. We celebrated leveraging a relatively small amount of local investment and magically turning it into a 25 million dollar project with 55 rental assistance vouchers. Last Monday, we celebrated the liberation of 60 people from the trap of the streets to the safety, comfort and dignity of a home.

At All Roads, we talk about the privilege of our work. That coming to the aid of those in need, whose hardships we could no more imagine than we could endure, is a privilege. We try to honor their struggles by promising to be the best we can be. Zinnia is medical care, Zinnia is mental health care, Zinnia is harm reduction, Zinnia is safety, Zinnia is decriminalization, Zinnia is warmth, Zinnia is community, Zinnia is hygiene, Zinnia is food security, Zinnia is dignity, Zinnia is home. Zinnia ends homelessness. Zinnia is the best we can be.

And Zinnia is not an accident. It is part of a purposeful effort to build a homeless response system that gets results. But it takes much more than thought leadership to move the needle. You need do leaders to get results, and that’s what Element Properties and All Roads delivered.

We asked one of our residents what Zinnia means to him and he shared the following:

“Hot water on my aching back, that is oh soooo soothing and cathartic and calming; thank you!”

“Safety behind a deadbolt and a glorious living space; what a relief!”

“From the gates of Hades, with violence and extreme poverty and pain and thieving… to a space with no flies, no shouts of anger, no neighbors dying in front of me, and no sucker punches to my face; I can feel the stress fading away!”

“This place has been a deep-breath of peace and tranquility; I can even watch the sun set behind the mountains.” 

“Now I can breathe in peace, slowly, deeply….and breathe out love.”

All Roads stands ready to do more. We stand ready to leverage our 42 years of experience and partner on future projects. For those of you who have the resources to make an impact, we are ready and we need your help. Help to make our Zinnia services sustainable, help to kick start the next Zinnia, and help so we can get for the un-luckiest what we all deserve and cherish…..a home.

Thank you for joining us!