Charities move operations to Myron Stratton Home campus
Benefits: more space, peaceful setting, proximity to each other
Three charities that serve needy women and children and others with low incomes will open new operations today at the Myron Stratton Home campus in south Colorado Springs.
The charities include Peak Vista Community Health Centers, Partners in Housing and TESSA, which serves victims of domestic violence. Putting the services in one place will help the charities serve clients better, officials said, because clients often receive help from more than one agency.
The physical setting helps, too, said TESSA director Michelle Valdez. The Myron Stratton Home is a 105-acre campus with 37 buildings set amid elm trees, manicured lawns and flower gardens.
“That, for us, is the biggest part. It’s just so calming and therapeutic,” Valdez said. “It’s just so peaceful to even just sit outside.”
TESSA’s new administrative offices, space for counseling services and a residential home add up to nearly double the space the agency had before its move a couple of weeks ago.
All three charities have started some operations at the home, and other services will begin there later.
Partners in Housing is setting up administrative offices, classrooms and transitional housing for 12 homeless families in its self-sufficiency program.
Peak Vista is setting up a medical clinic for elderly residents of the Myron Stratton Home and for residents of nearby neighborhoods.
About 75 low-income seniors will continue living on the campus in cottages and an assisted living facility.
The home, which mining tycoon Winfield Scott Stratton provided for in his will, opened in 1913 to help needy children and the elderly.
The home remains a private foundation with assets of about $127 million. The Devereux Cleo Wallace Center operated there for decades, serving children with psychiatric, emotional or behavioral problems, as well as those with developmental disabilities. The center closed in 2004, citing money problems.
The Myron Stratton Home spent $6.2 million renovating and expanding its buildings to make way for the new charities, said Mark Turk, the executive director.
The charities will pay rent for grounds and building maintenance, and they’ll lease the buildings for $1 per year, he said.
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