Jan. 3—CHEYENNE — When the former Stage Coach Motel was given to the COMEA shelter in 2022, rehabilitating the building seemed daunting. The city and county used federal money and bought the motel that year, intending to give the building to the local homeless shelter.

But COMEA was also left with all of the repair costs for the building, which proved to be more expensive than staff expected. The shelter had earmarked $600,000 for the project, but that was quickly depleted because the building was in much worse shape than initially thought.

“There was asbestos,” Executive Director Robin Bocanegra told the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. “… It didn’t have a fire sprinkler system, so putting in a whole fire alarm and sprinkler system in that building was very expensive. We had to get rid of bedbugs and, I mean, there were mice everywhere. Then, all the windows and doors had to be replaced. All the plumbing, electrical was in bad shape.

“So the bones of the building were usable, it’s just that everything else wasn’t.”

The project and its rising costs have loomed over the shelter’s staff since they’ve taken it on, adding stress to a period that was already marked by financial uncertainty. Bocanegra has repeatedly told the WTE that COMEA has faced debilitating financial issues. The shelter is frequently forced to work on a shoestring budget.

“(In December), we were fearful that, come February, we may not be here, you know, maybe wouldn’t even be open,” she said. “Then, Chick-fil-A came through with $100,000, and that’s kind of keeping us afloat.”

Saving the Stage Coach

But the anxiety over the Stage Coach building evaporated in the first weeks of December, when COMEA received the news that it had received a $950,000 grant from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines through its Competitive Affordable Housing Program.

Bocanegra and her staff had applied for the grant in June. They’d been waiting for news for months when they finally heard they’d gotten the grant, which should cover almost all of the costs for the building.

In a news release sent out by COMEA on Wednesday, FHLB of Des Moines touted the $735 million it had “helped facilitate” since it was founded in 1990, including the Stage Coach project in that figure.

Jonah Bank will be assisting the shelter with financial services in connection with the grant. In the news release, the bank’s marketing president, Mike Williams, addressed the intense process the shelter and its sponsors went through to get the grant.

“The FHLB’s … grant application process is very in-depth, requiring not only technical expertise in the area of affordable housing, but also detailed financial projections,” Mike Williams said in the news release. “COMEA has the expertise and does the everyday hard work of supporting those struggling with homelessness and addiction. “

Financial advisors from Blue Federal Credit Union were instrumental in the grant, as well, with multiple people from assisting directly with the drafting of the grant proposal.

Putting money to use

The $950,000 figure the shelter requested was based on estimates staff had in June. But the costs the shelter assessed have likely changed, Bocanegra said, and they will need to get new quotes from contractors to find out how much they will need to finish the project. They expect the cost to be similar, and once the project is done, they expect the units in that space to nearly cover the building’s overhead.

But the grant will not get rid of all of the shelter’s problems. The money can only be used for the Stage Coach project, and cannot be spent on overhead, payroll or any other building run by COMEA.

“The only concern that we have is that the community will look at that and say, ‘Oh, well they’ve got a million bucks. They don’t need my money,'” Bocanegra continued. “This (money) cannot be used for anything other than the completion of the Stage Coach. … So, we just don’t want people to misunderstand and think that, now, all of a sudden, COMEA’s just rolling in dough.”

The Stage Coach building will house the shelter’s Stages program, which is intended for people who are independent enough to pay rent, but need a more affordable option than what’s available in the local housing market. Once completed, the building will have 22 units available for rent. It will cost $450 for an individual and $600 for a couple without children to live there.

The shelter has a separate wing for families, and Bocanegra said, since many of the people who will live in the complex will be recovering from alcohol and substance use disorders, they would prefer not to have children stay there.

“It’s kind of the third and final piece, you know,” she said. “We have the shelter for single adults, that’s a sober shelter. We have a safe place for families. And, now, we can help the folks that are kind of falling through the cracks.”

Lowering rent

The Stages program is deliberately priced at a much lower rate than many extended-stay rental complexes in Cheyenne. Ideally, someone who draws as little as $750 from disability or Social Security payments can afford to live in a private unit, while still being able to access the services provided by COMEA. This is substantially lower than other places in the city, Bocanegra said, adding that the Stage Coach motel charged clients $1,000 a month when it was still in business.

“If someone was on the most limited income, they could live here for $450, and they’d have that extra $300 a month to use for their discretionary spending, because (that) includes heat, electric and WiFi,” Bocanegra said.

Three units are already fully updated, and they are all currently occupied. Bocanegra said the project is already shaping up to be a success.

“We have three people that have been living in those since May,” she said. “They have been doing really well. One gentleman did experience a relapse on his sobriety, but he got right back to it because he had a safe place to live and a support system. That’s, kind of, what this is meant to do. Otherwise, folks who are in a shelter or homeless that relapse or have a medical problem, they lose their housing, and they have to start all over again.”

The next major phase of the Stage Coach building update will take place in the spring, but could potentially roll over into 2025. The completion of the project, in some ways, is Bocanegra’s way of finishing what she started and paving the way to a potential retirement.

“I had promised (the COMEA board of directors) that I wouldn’t leave until the Stage Coach was done,” she said. “I didn’t want to leave them with the unfinished project; I would have felt like I got them into something and them left them hanging. So, that makes me feel a little more secure in the fact that I can meet my obligations and the commitments that I made.”

Samir Knox is the Wyoming Tribune Eagle’s criminal justice and public safety reporter. He can be reached by email at sknox@wyomingnews.com or by phone at 307-633-3152. Follow him on Twitter at @bySamirKnox.