GREELEY – Before 2025, Christine Taulman was not the biggest fan of the holidays. 

Her feelings were understandable — homeless, she was in and out of shelters for much of her life between 2015 and 2024. 

But the Greeley resident is warming up to the holidays, particularly after this past season.

Her mood began to shift this past December, when she received a call from StarRise Apartments in Greeley stating it had a permanent single residence available for her. 

“This was the best holiday season I can remember having in some time,” said Taulman, who moved into the StarRise Apartments on Dec. 11 — the same day she was notified that they had a place for her. 

To get into the spirit of the season, Taulman cooked the entire Christmas dinner for the other 57 residents and staff who live and work in StarRise. The meal she prepared included a turkey, ham and two pot roasts, along with an assortment of other items. 

“I loved every minute of it,” Taulman said. “Everyone told me how much they loved the meal, which made me feel so appreciated. They really helped get me back into cooking and baking again.”

As one might expect, Taulman’s experiences at StarRise have been vastly different than when she did not have permanent housing. StarRise is a 58-unit permanent and supportive housing project in Greeley. 

Like so many other homeless people in Colorado and elsewhere, Taulman turned to drugs — cocaine and meth — to escape, she said, the hardships of being homeless. 

“Being homeless is tough,” Taulman said. “You have to stay up at all times to make sure you are safe. I have some very bad health conditions because of those experiences. I had a heart attack when I was 50. My health is still a struggle for me, but I am getting better. I have been off cocaine for two years, and I’ve been clean from meth for one year. My recovery is going well.” 

Target audience

Taulman exemplifies the target audience for StarRise Apartments.

According to StarRise literature, the apartment complex is designed for individuals who have been homeless for a long time and are living with serious health conditions or disabilities. 

Many residents face barriers that make it difficult to access or maintain stable housing, such as chronic illness, mental health challenges, or the absence of family or social support. 

Construction for StarRise began in July 2024, and it was completed in September 2025. Residents began moving in on Oct. 1, and it reached full capacity by Dec. 23.

Star Rise is part of a larger campus, North Weld Village, that was donated by former owner Dennis J. Hoshiko, who became interested in and passionate about helping out the homeless population in Greeley.

Located at 123 9th Avenue, in Greeley’s industrial area, the North Weld Village was built in 1908 and was originally used as a cannery to process the produce farmed in nearby fields. 

In 1964, the Hoshiko Family bought the property to store their family farms’ onion crops. Dennis Hoshiko donated the campus to High Plains Housing Development, a nonprofit affordable housing developer, in 2020. 

High Plains is the organization responsible for the development of StarRise and North Weld Village. 

“It only took 90 days to lease the property, where comparable complexes take up to six months,” said Jodi Hartmann, High Plains Housing Development executive director. “I really attribute that to the great collaboration StarRise has had with the city of Greeley and the United Way. We had a lot of support on this project.”

Hartmann grew up in Pueblo, attended school at University of Northern Colorado, and, in 2005, she became the executive director for the Greeley Transitional House, an emergency shelter for families, that is now the Greeley Family House. 

Hartmann took her current role with High Plains Housing Development as its executive director in 2019.

“I have a heart for working on issues where people are not being heard, and are kind of invisible,” Hartmann said. “I love being in this field, just helping others who are less fortunate.”

The need

There are 160 chronically homeless people in Greeley, according to Hartmann. 

Meanwhile, another city official noted there are as many as 630 homeless individuals in Greeley.

It is famously difficult to track and pinpoint the exact number of homeless people.

While homelessness might not be the epidemic that it is in larger metropolitan areas, many Northern Colorado communities — such as Fort Collins, Greeley and Loveland — also face it.

One thing Hartmann and others agree on is that the stereotype of those who are homeless needs to change. 

“I think the biggest misconception is that they did something wrong and that they don’t deserve housing,” Hartmann said. “Yes, there are reasons they’re living on the street, but so many times, I would say the vast majority of the folks living on the street have mental illness, and they have had a break from their support system, whether it’s family or friends. Many of them have no way of getting out of that situation.”

Sherry Meyer, program director of Recovery Support Services for North Range Behavioral Health, added that the stigma attached to those who are homeless is often based on false assumptions.

“People think Christine Taulman made the choice to be homeless,” Meyer said. “She didn’t make that choice. She was put in a position where that choice was made for her, and then she had to experience life on the streets with nothing and probably very little in terms of support.” 

“What I love about this place (StarRise) is that you get to see people come in here and start to turn their life around. Everybody in here has taken a different journey to get here, and the progress of that journey can look very different from person to person,” Meyer added.

Part of a bigger plan

The opening of StarRise Apartments is just Phase 1 of a grander plan that includes expanding other facilities in North Weld Village, which includes five phases. 

Ultimately, Hartmann said, they would like to see 200 low-income housing units available between 2029 and 2032 that would serve both single residents and families.

The Phoenix Project will be Phase 2 of the North Weld Village. Built on the site of the original cannery building, which was recently destroyed by fire, the property will provide 50 multifamily units targeting very low-income households.  

Achieving that level of affordability requires complex financing from public resources, private foundations, and other local partners. Public funding comes from low-income housing tax credits and from the public partners, such as the Colorado Division of Housing and City of Greeley/Weld County.

Hartmann and those affiliated with the project anticipate applying for the tax credits from the Colorado Housing Finance Authority in February 2028, and if successful, it will be under construction by May 2029. 

“I think we have the resources, facilities and staff in place to really make this campus grow and be a go-to place for those in need of low-income housing and resources in Greeley,” Hartmann said. “My dream is that in five to seven years, I could walk in here and everything would be humming along as quietly and peacefully as it is right now. Our goal is that the 85% of the people who live here will be stably housed in two years.”

“They will be working with their case managers and have a housing stabilization plan. They can live here as long as they want, as long as they’re following their lease,” Hartmann added.

Taulman said she feels very accepted and supported at the StarRise Apartments. And who knows? In the next four to six years, she could be making Christmas dinner for 200 residents. 

“I would gladly do it again and again for them,” Taulman said.