

9th & Navajo Street Apartments & Health Clinic

ABOUT
Mercy Housing is collaborating with Denver Indian Health & Family Services (DIHFS) and Native American Housing Circle to build the first affordable housing in the Denver Metro region focused on serving the American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) population, combined with a new space to double the size of DIHFS' clinic. The development will combine 190 affordable 1- to 4-bedroom apartments with DIHFS' new clinic providing primary healthcare, dental care, behavioral health, nutrition, and wellness services to AI/AN people and the surrounding community. It will be the first housing development in the Denver metro area focused on serving the AI/AN households.
The development will combine 94 supportive housing units for
unhoused individuals and families with 96 affordable apartments for low-income households, and a Federally Qualified Health Center. The new clinic will allow DIHFS to greatly expand its mission and capacity to serve the growing Native population in the Denver metro area and community-based healthcare open to all.
The Denver Housing Authority purchased the property as part of the D3 Supportive Housing Land Acquisition Program, which is designed to accelerate the development of affordable housing units over the next 5 years by leveraging a portion of the city's affordable housing funds. Through the D3 Program, at least 40% of units must be operated as Supportive Housing or housing for residents earning below 30% of the Area Median Income and the project must be restricted as affordable in perpetuity.
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According to the 2022 Point in Time Count, American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) individuals made up 6.3% of homeless people in the Denver Metro area (432 total), while making up only 1.4% of the region’s overall population. That means that this population is overrepresented 4.5x among the metro homeless population.
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The AI/AN population in the Denver Metro area doubled between 2010 and 2020, which amounts to a growth rate that is roughly 6 times that of the overall population increase.
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At the same time, the region’s AI/AN adult population is far more likely than the general population to be living in poverty without a high school education. 17.9% of the region’s AIAN population do not have a high school diploma, which is more than double the share of the overall population (8.5%). The share of AI/AN people living in poverty is 14.1%, compared to 9.2% of the overall population.

2024 Updated rendering created by RATIO Architects

2023 Conceptual rendering created by RATIO Architects

2022 Early conceptual rendering created by RATIO Architects
Mercy Housing honors and acknowledges that the land on which we reside is the traditional territory of the Ute, Cheyenne, and Arapaho Peoples. We also recognize the 48 contemporary tribal nations that are historically tied to the lands that make up the state of Colorado. We honor Elders past, present, and future, and those who have stewarded this land throughout generations. We also recognize that government, academic and cultural institutions were founded upon and continue to enact exclusions and erasures of Indigenous Peoples. May this acknowledgment demonstrate a commitment to working to dismantle ongoing legacies of oppression and inequities and recognize the current and future contributions of Indigenous communities in Denver.
Press
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KOAAM : Affordable housing for American Indian and Alaska Native People Underway.
WANT MORE INFORMATION?
Please use this form to submit general interest or inquiries to the 9th and Navajo St. Housing Team.
Indicate if you are interested in applying to live at 9th and Navajo St. in the future. You will be notified via email when the application process begins in 2026.
Note that resident applications are not currently available. There is no waitlist and completing this form does not guarantee priority during the application process.
PROJECT SPECIFICS
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190 total affordable apartments including 1, 2, 3 and 4-bedroom with high end finishes
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Focus on serving American Indian/Alaska Native households
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18,000 sq. ft. Health Clinic operated by Denver Indian Health & Family Services
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Residential courtyard, community spaces, fitness center, community gardens, and structured parking available
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On-site resident services programming provided by Mercy Housing and Native American Housing Circle including financial literacy, vocational training and job readiness, youth programming, health navigation services, and AI/AN cultural programming
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Clinical case management provided to formerly unhoused residents by WellPower and Denver Indian Health and Family Services
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Equitable Transit Oriented Development (ETOD) through provision of affordable housing one block from the 10th and Osage light rail station and free transit passes for residents

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Stakeholder and neighborhood outreach meetings
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Residential financing
application to CHFA
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Construction completed
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Resident move-ins begin
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Clinic operations start
Summer 2023
Fall 2024
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Financial Closing
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Construction begins
Fall 2026
Native American Housing Circle (NAHC): Started in 2019 as a community response to the overrepresentation of Native Americans experiencing homelessness and housing instability in the Denver Metro area. Since 2019, NAHC has been working as a community coalition of Native-led and Native-serving community organizations, community members, and allies who advocate and create affordable housing opportunities and direct services for Native American people experiencing homelessness and housing instability in the Denver Metro area.
Denver Indian Health & Family Services (DIHFS): Established in 1978 with a mission to provide culturally competent services that promote quality health for American Indian and Alaskan Native adults, children, and families in the Denver metropolitan area.
Wellpower: Enables adults to live more fulfilling and productive lives, children to be more resilient, and families to be happier and healthier.
Through multiple community sites, mental health providers in several Denver public schools, collaborations with community partnerships and home-based outreach, we provide treatment, prevention, outreach and crisis services to children, families and adults