The Place next April will open the biggest expansion in its five-year history when it opens The Launchpad, a 50-unit apartment complex designed to provide permanent housing for youths until they can find somewhere to live themselves.

Young adults ages 18-25 will sign one-year leases on apartments in the $20 million project on the west side of Colorado Springs, where they will receive help with education, employment and mental health so they remain self-sufficient, said Joey Macasero, grants and communications coordinator for The Place. The building will be staffed around the clock by direct care specialists, a case manager and a program manager, he said.

“Tenants will receive support to re-enroll in school, get a GED (general educational development) certificate or seek higher education. We are already working with other organizations to provide health care, and they will have access to (a variety of) other resources,” Macasero said. “When a tenant signs a one-year lease at Launchpad, we expect they will be ready to be on their own,” but no one will be forced to leave when their lease expires.

The Place now offers housing services to homeless youth ages 15-24, offering them a safe and stable place to live, through 70 housing units scattered across the Colorado Springs area as well as intensive case management for physical and mental health care, educational and employment support and development of family and life skills. The nonprofit agency will continue to operate its housing program after The Launchpad opens, Macasero said.

The agency also sends its Outreach Team to places where homeless teens gather, such as Acacia and Dorchester parks, to develop rapport with youth, offer them needed supplies as well as case management services, Macasero said. The team tells youths they meet about the agency’s drop-in center near downtown Colorado Springs, where hot meals, showers, shelter, essential supplies and employment services are available.

The Place operates an emergency overnight shelter that can accommodate up to 20 homeless young people and serves three meals daily. Shelter clients must arrive before the 7 p.m. curfew and most leave by 10 a.m. for work or to attend school, Macasero said.

During the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, The Place helped 562 youth through its Outreach Team, drop-in center or emergency shelter. He said the largest share of financial help was spent on rental assistance for youth in the agency’s housing program. The Place is supported mostly from foundation grants and individual contributions — the agency’s largest fundraising event, the Off the Street Breakfast, attracted 962 participants in July.

The Place became a separate nonprofit in 2019 after opening 19 years as part of Urban Peak, which provides similar services in the Denver area to give the local nonprofit more flexibility in addressing issues specific to Colorado Springs. The agency selected Becky Treece as its CEO in March from a field of 85 applicants; she had previously served as interim CEO and chief development officer for the organization and had worked for several other local nonprofits.

“Between getting you a job, getting you your vital documents, getting you an ID, getting you transportation to doctor’s appointments, to getting you set up with a doctor, there are so many things that they (The Place) help with, more than just food and being somewhere you can actually be sheltered,” said Jasmine, a Place client.