A Lakewood-based non-profit, Metro West Housing Solutions, on Tuesday received a 2012 MetLife Foundation Award for Excellence in Affordable Housing for its work at the Residences at Creekside in Lakewood from the Enterprise Community Partners and the MetLife Foundation.
The award honors outstanding leadership, green design, innovation and effective service provision in affordable senior housing. MWHS serves more than 4,200 low-income people in Lakewood and Denver.
Metro West Housing Solutions received an unrestricted grant of $50,000 and will be honored at the LeadingAge conference in Denver in October. The MetLife Award is presented to only four organizations nationally each year.
“We are pleased to celebrate Metro West Housing Solutions as one of the recipients of the MetLife Foundation Awards for Excellence,” said Dennis White, president and chief executive officer, MetLife Foundation. “Because of their dedication, Lakewood’s seniors are provided with high quality, affordable and supportive housing as they age.”
The Residences at Creekside is just north of Pierce Street and West Colfax Avenue.
The development transformed a once vacant and under-utilized site into a vibrant, diverse, and beautiful community for the area’s seniors.
The building includes 118 permanently affordable apartments, nearly 4,500 square feet of indoor community spaces including a communal kitchen and attached activities room, computer lab, beauty salon and fitness room.
Some 6,500 square feet of outdoor amenities includes an expansive community garden, interconnected pathways, a small dog run and a plaza.
Sustainable features of the community include:
- Close proximity to bus stops and light rail service to begin in April 2013.
- Highly energy-efficient building design limiting utility costs to less than half of comparable apartment buildings.
- Water-efficient fixtures and landscaping.
- A 63 kW photovoltaic solar system.
Resident services are provided by MWHS’ on-site resident services specialist and through partnerships with other local non-profit organizations.
“We thank Enterprise and MetLife Foundation for providing this award and grant in support of affordable, sustainable senior housing,” said Tami Fischer, MWHS executive director. “We look forward to celebrating this achievement with residents and staff and applying the funds toward strengthening and expanding resident services programming for our clients.”
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