CRUEL HOPE:

BY NINA JOSS NJOSS@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

George Vonesh drives an hour round trip each day to visit his grandson, Justin.

Justin is a kind, caring, nonjudgmental young man, says his grandfather. He keeps up on the news and likes to discuss current events. In his free time, Justin enjoys music, concerts and paranormal television shows.

He also lives with intellectual disabilities, which have impacted him since childhood. Yet, at 32 years old, Justin lives on his own in an apartment in Lafayette.

As Justin’s primary companion and caregiver, Vonesh has spent much of his life memorizing the ins and outs of programs and services that many adults with disabilities rely on — from Medicaid to food assistance programs, to housing choice vouchers and more.

“It’s taken me years to learn all this stu ,” Vonesh said.

At age 79, he is starting to worry about how he can sustainably support his grandson. e distance from Arvada — where Vonesh lives — to Lafayette is feeling more and more challenging to travel as the years go by.

He wants to move Justin closer, but for months he’s faced hurdle after hurdle. Despite all his research, paperwork, phone calls, meetings and more paperwork, Vonesh hasn’t been able to nd an apartment that will work.

e problem comes down to what’s commonly called a housing choice voucher.

Justin received a voucher in 2018, about a year and a half after applying for the rent subsidization program. He was luckier than many,