The growhaus Building Closure
March 11, 2020
During the week of February 10, during the course of some planned construction projects, The GrowHaus learned from our engineering team that there were concerns about the structural safety of our building. Out of concern for the safety of our community and staff, The GrowHaus’ Board temporarily closed the building until we could learn more. After further engineering tests and analysis, it was confirmed that the building’s structure does not fully meet city requirements for stability and safety.
We have been in regular contact with our construction project team and the city of Denver over the past weeks to fully understand our options. Unfortunately, we have determined that the reinforcement of our current building, while it will be considered as one of many long-term options, is not feasible in the near future. For this reason, The GrowHaus board has made the difficult decision to indefinitely close the building.
Despite this closure, the vast majority of The GrowHaus’ operations are continuing to serve the Globeville and Elyria-Swansea communities.
Our Promotoras are conducting adult education classes and home visits on healthy food and wellness and distributing healthy rescued food through our weekly no-cost grocery program.
Our educators are leading after-school classes at partner locations, traveling to schools for service-learning educational sessions, and planning ahead for summer educational programs.
Our food distribution team is continuing our weekly food box program.
Unfortunately, two aspects of our work have been impacted by the building closure.
Because we are not able to operate within the building, our community market has been indefinitely closed. Our team is actively exploring new methods to distribute healthy food to residents in Globeville and Elyria-Swansea at affordable prices.
Finally, our on-site farms are particularly impacted by this closure and will have to close.
The building that has housed us for a decade has been an incredible community space that has brought so much joy to thousands of people. We are so lucky to have operated in such a unique and inspiring facility. But The GrowHaus is more than a building, and our mission and our programs will continue to thrive for decades to come.
The leadership of The GrowHaus cares deeply about this organization and came to this decision only after numerous in-depth conversations and significant research into alternatives. We all agreed that closing the building should be the last option but, ultimately, we did not find another feasible and safe alternative. We have created a steering committee of Board members, staff, and experts that will be solely focused on understanding the exact needs of our current building and future options. They are starting on this work immediately.
We recognize that our services fill a critical need for many residents in our neighborhood. To serve our community, The GrowHaus will continue to operate our programs in collaboration with numerous community partners who have stepped up to offer temporary space during this transition.
While many next steps are still unknown, we are more committed than ever to ensuring we deliver what our community has always expected of The GrowHaus: access to fresh, healthy, affordable food, high-quality education about nutrition and wellness, and trusting relationships and support networks that transcend food. We are determined to move through this challenge with the innovation, dedication and compassion that makes our organization so unique.
Kayla Birdsong, Executive Director
& The GrowHaus Board of Directors
Please note that our weekly food box program is continuing operations as normal.
If you are wondering how you can help during this very challenging time, there will be many ways to do so over the coming weeks and months. You can help our programs right now by joining También, our monthly-giving membership community. The power of También is that by pitching in what you can every month -- whether that’s $5, $10 or $100 -- you help make profound collective impact possible.
Given the implications of our building closure, the reliable and consistent support that También members provide will be essential to ensure our programming can thrive and best serve our community. Join here: www.thegrowhaus.org/tambien
To reach out about another way you think you can support, or to speak to a staff member, please email reachout@thegrowhaus.org.
