Archbishop's web site Denver Catholic Register Parishes Catholic Pastoral Center
June 12, 2002
Catholic woman's donation to provide affordable housing in Boulder
$2.5 million Dunn Memorial senior housing complex to feature 14 apartments
By Alwen Bledsoe
When Ruth C. Dunn died in July 1997 she left her longtime parish Sacred Heart of Jesus in Boulder over $3 million in stocks and bonds. The parish continued to invest Dunn's stocks and bonds until it had grown to over $3.7 million, said Dennis Russell, secretary for finance, administration and planning for the Archdiocese of Denver. That money is now building the Thomas H. and Ruth C. Dunn Memorial Senior Housing development in Boulder.
Though wealthy herself, Dunn wished to help provide for the elderly — especially for widows — less fortunate than herself, said Msgr. Edward Madden, former pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The one-story apartment building will be located on 4805 Baseline Rd. near to bus services, Safeway and Kaiser Permanente, Msgr. Madden added.
In her will, Dunn stipulated that the money be used to provide "senior, elderly, or retired persons over the age of 62 with housing or health care facilities, which may be provided at rates substantially less than the prevailing community rates."
She also required that the services be provided on a nonprofit basis within Boulder County but preferably within the city limits, and requested that the building or a section or wing be named in memory of her husband Thomas H. Dunn.
The facility, bearing both her husband's name and her own, is within city limits and is currently under construction. It is expected to be ready for occupancy around January 2003, according to Russell.
The development's 14 one-bedroom, one-bath apartments will measure approximately 700 square feet and cost around $750/month, said Russell. According to the January-March 2002 Denver Area Apartment Rent Study, the average rent cost within Boulder city limits for a one-bedroom apartment is $842, said Betsy Martens, co-executive director of Boulder Housing Partners. HUD, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, requires that a person's income in Boulder be $30,450 — 50 percent of Boulder's median income — or less to qualify for affordable housing. A rent of $761/month is the top rent that can be charged of a single person if housing is to be considered affordable in Boulder. Three of the 14 units will be permanently set aside as affordable housing.
Dunn wanted the elderly to "just have a much better life than they would living in a trailer home or something else they could afford," Msgr. Madden said, later adding, "Rents in Boulder are terrible."
Each of the apartments will be equipped with some kind of security system to allow seniors to call for help and alert a resident manager, Russell said. A house already on the property will be attached to the building and be occupied by a couple who will manage the facilities, he added.
It is anticipated that Housing Managing Services, the professional management arm of Archdiocesan Housing Committee, Inc., will manage and care for the property, said Anna Strobl, executive director of Archdiocesan Housing Committee, Inc. With rent meeting HUD standards for affordable housing, Dunn Memorial Housing will be able to accept Section Eight vouchers, which allow low-income people to qualify through the Housing Authority to pay only 30 percent of their adjusted monthly income towards rent, while the rest of the rent would be paid by the voucher, Strobl said.
According to Russell construction is going well. "We're on budget and on time," he said.
The archdiocese has set up the Sacred Heart of Jesus Housing Foundation to oversee the project.
"What's really making us all happy is here's a situation where a lady was generous in her giving to her community and church and with a minimum of red tape and bureaucratic resistance, we're able to deliver on her wishes and construct almost exactly what she wanted quickly," Russell said.
According to Russell, the land was purchased for $985,000, and the estimated cost to fully construct and equip the building is about $2.5 million. As a nonprofit organization, the apartments will not bring in a profit, and the estimated $750 monthly rent is what is required to cover the $200,000 loan taken out to complete the project, operating costs, and to provide enough money for continued maintenance and repair, Russell said.
A picture of the Dunns will hang inside the new building when it is completed, fulfilling the only wish of the Dunns' extended family, added Russell.
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