Manna Soup Kitchen has expanded its mission to address housing insecurity in La Plata County. The organization recently received a donated residential property with four units where tenants pay no more than 30% of their income in rent. Built in the late 1800s, the home has already seen improvements including driveway replacement, roof repairs, and radon mitigation. This year, Manna plans to remodel two units and replace exterior siding. Manna welcomes donations of building supplies, services, and financial gifts to expand the program. Contact Joseph Kuzma at 970-385-5095 or Marketing@Mannasoupkitchen.com. This story is sponsored by Kroegers Ace Hardware and Freddy’s Frozen Custard and Steakburgers.
Low income housing units and affordable housing in Durango are very challenging to come by. So we're really proud to take on this initiative and contribute to affordable housing in Durango and put programs into practice in areas that we feel passionate about. You're watching the Local News Network brought to you by ACE Hardware and Freddy's Frozen Custard and Steak Burgers. Manna was founded in 1985. We just celebrated our 40 year anniversary. Mannas main focus is really come down to food security. We have our daily meals and our no-cost food market, housing security. We do a lot of support with helping people who are unhoused transition to housing or people who are housed but might be struggling with it, maintain their housing and employment. So we have our culinary training program, which focuses on job skills training and gainful employment skills. So at the beginning of 2025, we had a community member reach out to our previous executive director, Ann Morse, saying that they had a house that they were looking to donate to a local nonprofit that supported housing security initiatives. And we adopted the house in August of 2025. The tenants of the house are seniors or people with disabilities, and they qualify as low income. So we're able to facilitate for low income housing units. And while we're so excited to have this house, it is such an incredible addition to Mannas programming. It's also a 100 and 40-year-old house, so it does come with a few projects and renovations that are needed to turn it into our long-term vision of serving as transitional housing. So we are looking for community support, whether that is through local businesses willing to donate materials or services at a discounted rate, or anyone willing to make a monetary donation that will help with long-term housing initiatives in Durango. Bringing this house into Mannas programming is a really big first step. This is the first time where we've ever owned our own property and served as property managers facilitating low income housing. Please reach out to us. We are open to creative and collaborative problem solving and increasing housing security initiatives in La Plata County. For more information, visit manna soup kitchen.org. And for more stories like this, visit DurangoLocal.News.
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