Changemaker: John Parvensky

When reflecting on the milestone moments in his 38 years serving as President and CEO of Colorado Coalition for the Homeless (CCH), one of the first to come to John Parvensky’s mind is the opening of the Forum Apartments in Denver – the first Supportive Housing (SH) development in Colorado. The 100-unit property sits across the street from Denver’s City and County Building and was once home to University of Denver’s law school. Opened to residents in 1996, The Forum was initially met with skepticism and resistance.

“We were fortunate to work with then-Mayor Wellington Webb, who really went to bat for us on that project,” said John. “Mayor Webb said if he couldn’t support that development in his backyard (next to the City and County Building) then he couldn’t go out into neighborhoods and encourage them to support affordable and supportive housing in their own communities.”

The Forum would go on to receive the Significant Achievement Award from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and it would serve as a model of success and innovation that CCH would replicate in many other locations as it went on to develop supportive housing across the Denver metro area and the state.

Before moving to Colorado and leading the Coalition, John graduated from law school at the University of Pennsylvania and practiced as a lawyer in Philadelphia. His work centered on community organizing and community reinvestment initiatives, particularly in communities that had been affected by discriminatory redlining practices.

“I grew up in the sixties, and as early as high school I was involved in civil rights issues and the anti-war movement,” John explained. “I decided to go to law school to study and gain skills toward the cause of social justice. It also gave me an opportunity to learn about housing needs in low-income communities.”

These early experiences fostered John’s interest in work centered on the intersection of housing and economic justice. Following five years of practicing law in Philadelphia, John relocated to Denver. After a couple of years providing technical assistance to early-stage nonprofits, he was introduced to CCH, which at the time had a staff of six and an annual budget of just over $100,000. He was drawn to the organization’s mission and to the opportunity to return to the front lines of the causes he was passionate about. He was hired to lead the organization in December 1985.

“We decided early on that housing was health care, and if we weren’t addressing people’s housing needs, we could not improve their health,” he said. “Similarly, if we weren’t addressing their health care and mental health needs, we couldn’t help them obtain and maintain stable housing.”

CCH recognized that when serving populations with mental health and substance use disorders, the provision of short-term housing met immediate needs, but was unlikely to lead to long-term outcomes. Following its pioneering work to bring the first SH development to Colorado, CCH quickly ramped up its pace of development of housing units.

“Our goal was to always have one property in predevelopment, one under construction, and one undergoing lease-up,” said John. “Through the 2000s, we were largely able to do that, and we were fortunate to be able to leverage the support of the tax credit program, HUD, CHFA, the Division of Housing, and the city to support that pipeline to help meet the needs of individuals and families in metro Denver.”

During this period, the Coalition worked with the Lowry Redevelopment Authority to ensure that a portion of newly vacated land in east Denver that was once home to Lowry Air Force Base would be used for affordable housing. Following a series of legal negotiations, CCH successfully developed 220 units, a combination of affordable and supportive housing, to serve families in what is now known as the Lowry neighborhood in Denver.

Echoing their work in pioneering SH, the Coalition was similarly instrumental in demonstrating the effectiveness of the Housing First model, an evidence-based approach that offers housing without conditions to those exiting homelessness paired with voluntary onsite services.

“We were one of 11 communities chosen by HUD to participate in a chronic homelessness initiative,” said John. “This developed into the Metro Denver Housing First Collaborative, which helped demonstrate early on that providing housing without preconditions and with wraparound support was the most likely way to reach people that would otherwise be left behind.”

The early pilot programs and studies began to bear evidence, as Housing First was shown to not only be effective in keeping formerly chronically homeless people housed, but that it was more cost effective, resulting in fewer public costs that would otherwise be borne by hospitals, emergency services, and the criminal justice system.

The final development completed by CCH under John’s leadership before his retirement was Renaissance Legacy Lofts in Denver. The innovative facility offers 98 SH units alongside the John Parvensky Stout Street Recuperative Care Center, a name bestowed by the CCH Board of Directors, which provides onsite health care and respite beds to support homeless individuals recovering from a hospital visit or medical issue requiring ongoing care. At its grand opening on October 6, 2022, Mayor Michael Hancock issued a proclamation declaring the day “John Parvensky Day” and presented John with a City of Denver challenge coin, a rare honor bestowed on those who have made an extraordinary difference in the Denver community.

When John retired in spring 2023, CCH had a staff of 750, an annual budget of over $110 million, and a portfolio of more than 2,000 units. That same year, John received the Cushing Dolbeare Lifetime Service Award from the National Low Income Housing Coalition in recognition of his achievements.

“There is nothing more rewarding than being able to provide housing to someone who has been calling the streets their home,” he said. “Some of the most cherished moments in my career are when I could walk side by side with somebody as they moved into an apartment.”