Back in September 2023, Habitat for Humanity Roaring Fork Valley hosted an open house for its multifamily Glenwood Springs project, The Confluence.
Located on Eighth Street and Midland Avenue, the project targets residents who make an income of 80% area median income, which was negotiated between Glenwood Springs City Council and Habitat.
For residents to qualify for purchase, they must satisfy requirements for need (their current living situation is crowded, unsafe or unaffordable) and residency, among others. Priority is given to residents that are employed full-time within the city limits of Glenwood Springs.
Recently, Habitat changed the building’s plans to six multifamily units, from eight.
The development was originally slated to include six two-bedroom units and two three-bedroom units. The updated project will cut two of the two-bedroom units.
On Thursday afternoon, Habitat for Humanity held a ceremony of giving keys of their newly built homes to the families they’d chosen in Wapiti Commons in Rifle. Two homes have been finished so far, with more on the way, and Habitat for Humanity was excited to celebrate their completion and the people who helped build them. Speeches were given about how grateful Habitat for Humanity was for all the people that had helped make this a reality and that they can’t wait to do more.
Jessica Montur and her daughter Sierra have a life in Rifle — Jessica works at the Journey Home Animal Care Center and Sierra goes to preschool. But they don’t yet have a home in Rifle.
That will soon change with the completion of Wapiti Commons, a Habitat for Humanity project.
“We’re excited to finally get in here and be a part of the community,” Montur said.
Habitat is building homes in Rifle near their office on Smith Street, on land donated in October 2020 by Paul Adams and Clay Crossland. Habitat President Gail Schwartz said she is excited about finishing the duplex type houses soon.
“There are so many aspects of this that are nothing short of amazing, especially working with someone like Jess. That’s the beauty of this neighborhood coming together, they’re all working on each other’s homes, so it’s pretty exciting,” she said.
Dear Friend of Habitat RFV,
My name is Jessica, and I am the proud mom of my 3 1/2-year-old daughter and a new Habitat for Humanity homeowner! I am writing today to thank you for helping my family during an incredibly challenging time filled with so many struggles.
My daughter, is such a happy, outgoing little girl that has many struggles due to health concerns in her life. As a mother, it is incredibly difficult for me to continue residing in an old apartment complex that has continued to develop more and more issues that make me concerned for the health of my daughter and me. I have struggled daily worrying about my daughter's health and our safety that living in the apartments has brought to our lives.
When I applied for a Habitat for Humanity affordable home in Wapiti Commons, I hoped and prayed that we would be blessed, and we were! I have met the other new homeowners and worked with the Habitat for Humanity build crew and Restore workers and felt from the start that this was a community of people that would benefit my daughter and myself by providing the family-type atmosphere we have craved! Being selected has allowed me to work alongside the experienced team of builders as our new home is built from the ground up.
Thanks to you and your generosity, I am now a proud owner of a new, safe home for my daughter and me to grow together alongside an amazing new community of friends. I can proudly tell her that we are home and surrounded by safe people. I get to see the smile on her face as she grows up happy and healthy with new friends close by. Our lives have been changed for the better, thanks to you!
Sincerely,
Jessica
Habitat for Humanity of the Roaring Fork Valley is all about changing the regional affordable housing game. A new giving campaign plus plans to build a modular home manufacturing plant in Rifle might move the game piece forward several more spaces.
Recently, Habitat RFV launched its new 1% “Sell a Home, Help Build a Home” campaign, partnering with real estate brokers in the area who have committed to donate 1% of their net sales commission to the cause of building affordable homes in the region.
Brokers are asked to commit to the program for at least a year, and their clients (buyers and sellers) can also contribute to the campaign through real estate transactions.
“It really is an opportunity for the real estate community to reinvest in our communities when it comes to affordable housing, and to be a part of that solution,” Habitat RFV President Gail Schwartz said.
As the housing pinch tightens in Western Colorado, U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper underscored the importance of local housing initiatives during a Tuesday visit to the Wapiti Commons housing project in Rifle.
“I’m impressed with Habitat for Humanity and their work all over Colorado,” he said. “People working throughout this state should be able to rent or buy a home.”
A Dec. 20 announcement added fuel to the housing momentum, with him celebrating the $178.3 million earmarked for Colorado projects in the 2023 federal budget. With his efforts, a solid $129.3 million was secured for 94 projects.
Solving a community problem doesn’t happen without some bravery. After all, it’s not enough to come forward with a detailed solution — you need to be the best advocate you can be for your proposal and make it easy for others to invest in your vision.
That’s easier said than done, but it is just what Habitat for Humanity of the Roaring Fork Valley is accomplishing with its proposal to build a modular home production facility in Rifle. Just this month, Rifle City Council voted unanimously to lease Habitat for Humanity a 10-acre parcel of land to habitat for one dollar. Both the amount of the lease and the unanimous vote show just how much opportunity Rifle City Council sees in the proposal.
If constructed, the benefits of such a facility would be numerous. The facility would produce roughly 100 homes a year, which would be sold for below Garfield County’s median sale price. Both one- and two-story homes would be made at the facility, and Habitat is partnering with Colorado Mountain College to help make sure the facility provides much-needed workforce training for an expected 30-50 students each year. Finally, the facility is expecting to create 27 full-time jobs with the project.
Garfield County is one step closer to building what many officials consider is an affordable housing crisis solution.
Rifle City Council last week unanimously approved a lease for Habitat for Humanity Roaring Fork Valley’s proposal to build a modular home production facility on 10 acres west of the downtown area on U.S. Highway 6. The site is adjacent to Rifle’s wastewater treatment facility and was formerly used to produce uranium. It has since been remediated.
The original proposal called for about 7 acres but was increased with the aim of having space for a staging area, officials said.
The modular home facility is set to supply the region with one- and two-story modular houses built with recycled steel. The houses will be sold for well under Garfield County’s median sales price for a single-family home, which is currently $775,000, according to the Colorado Association of Realtors.
Affordable housing is crucial to maintaining healthy communities and a sustainable local workforce. While there’s a lot happening in our region to increase supply, what’s most encouraging to me is the shift to a more refined approach where the goal is not just affordable housing but affordable living.
Several local projects are demonstrating how incorporating energy-efficient design and clean energy can lower utility bills and the total cost of occupancy. At the same time, programs like Garfield Clean Energy are working to make existing housing more energy-efficient and thus more affordable to live in.
Habitat for Humanity Roaring Fork Valley has been on the cutting edge of these developments. Its Wapiti Commons project, currently nearing completion in Rifle, is designed to maximize the “double bottom line” of affordable homeownership and low monthly bills.
“Failure is not an option,” said Clark Anderson, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Community Builders in Glenwood Springs. “At the same time, when we look at the gap between where we are and where we need to be, failure is the most likely outcome under the circumstances and systems we have in place right now.” Clark’s comments served as an introduction to a panel of County Commissioners representing Pitkin, Eagle and Garfield Counties at a Regional Summit on Solving the Affordable Housing Crisis, which Habitat for Humanity Roaring Fork Valley hosted at the Aspen Meadows in March.
The bright spot in what may feel like a dim outlook is that our local governments — both cities and counties — are uniquely poised and qualified to address some of the most challenging affordable housing pinch points. Local governments alone cannot do all the heavy lifting, but they can make the lift easier for local businesses, nonprofits, philanthropists, developers and financiers by adopting land use policies that encourage and facilitate the creation of more affordable housing stock to stabilize our communities.
There is a construct of current land use policy that is headed toward the failed outcome that Clark mentions. Today, for every new development that is approved in communities from Aspen to Glenwood Springs, only 10 to 30 percent of the new units are required by code to be dedicated to affordable workforce housing. Unless our local governments make changes to adapt to the workforce housing crisis, we will continue to see the vast majority of new developments sold on the free market with prices continuing to rise as demand increases.
A new little neighborhood is going to be built by Habitat for Humanity, specifically for the local workforce — and they want locals to name it.
Name ideas must be submitted by June 1, so don’t wait.
“We expect that citizens will come up with some great ideas,” Gail Schwartz, president of Habitat for Humanity Roaring Fork Valley, said. “It is important for the community to support and take ownership of this housing project that will stabilize key members of our community and their families.”
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Glenwood Springs Middle School staff members spent their professional development day on Monday with their hard hats and tool belts on.
What has become a recurring effort, a group of Glenwood Springs Middle School teachers found themselves at the Habitat for Humanity Wapiti Commons project in Rifle on Monday, getting their hands dirty by helping build a set of townhomes and condominiums that are to be available within the coming months.
As one group of 15 staff members found themselves at the construction site, another group of 10 middle-school employees made their way to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Glenwood Springs to assist in sorting the warehouse, moving furniture and helping clean up the area.
Habitat for Humanity Roaring Fork Valley plans to build a modular home manufacturing plant to expedite the pace of affordable-housing development while also creating an industry that provides jobs and workforce training in the Colorado River Valley.
In recent weeks, we’ve received feedback that our plans are somehow in competition with the private sector. We have always believed that the only sustainable path forward is collaboration and the momentum that comes from synergistic partnerships.
Housing for Humanity worked diligently to partner with Eco Dwelling Inc., a private modular manufacturing plant located just outside of Rifle, to help build homes; but according to a national expert, Eco Dwelling didn’t have the capacity to serve our needs.
The first question most businesses in the Colorado River Valley ask of potential new hires is whether they have local housing. If the answer is “no,” the conversation shifts instantly because housing is the single biggest barrier to entry in our mountain communities.
When we talk about the affordable- and workforce-housing crisis in 2023, it’s critically important that we remember we were also calling it a housing crisis in 2020 before COVID-19, which changed our valleys forever.
In a study of Greater Roaring Fork Valley housing needs in 2017, a shortfall of 4,000 units was identified from Parachute to Aspen (including Gypsum and Dotsero) with a projected need of 6,800 units by 2027. That was before a supplemental study in 2022 showed the average home price in the region had increased 42%-71%, the average rent increased 40%, non-local home buyers increased 80%, and mortgage rates doubled. Plus, local wage increases continue to lag far behind the cost of housing and cost of living increases.
Habitat for Humanity Roaring Fork Valley’s proposal to build a new modular-home production facility in Rifle is undeterred, according to one official.
Regional Habitat President Gail Schwartz said, despite Garfield County commissioners’ feeble interest in financially supporting the project, every other entity is on board.
Rifle is leasing the land adjacent to the wastewater treatment center at no cost. The Associated Governments of Northwest Colorado has expressed strong interest in offering what’s called Enterprise Zone assistance. The Colorado River Board of Cooperative Education Services (BOCES) has partnered with Habitat to run the place.
Can the housing crisis be solved?
According to a daylong summit that drew professionals of all industries from across the Western Slope — yes. But it’s going to take a lot of regional cooperation between the private and public sectors.
“If we come at this as individual jurisdictions or counties … we’re just diluted by the fact that the Front Range is almost insatiable when it comes to public and state funds and competing for those funds,” said Habitat Habitat for Humanity Roaring Fork Valley President Gail Schwartz.
Habitat for Humanity Roaring Fork Valley hosted the “Solving the Housing Crisis: A Regional Summit on Equitable Solutions” at Aspen Meadows on Wednesday. The event featured a series of sessions and panels divided by expertise.
In the afternoon, a session on scalable solutions broke down financial resources, government policy, non-profit, and real-estate development approaches to address the affordable housing shortage.
“Wonderful” and “transformative” is how Rifle City Manager Tommy Klein described the new workforce training center and modular home production facility being developed in his community.
The center will train high school students and graduates in some of the latest digital construction technology; attract good-paying advanced manufacturing jobs to the region; and make it more financially feasible for local communities, hospitals and school districts to build affordable, deed-restricted housing for their employees.
The training center and production facility is being developed as a partnership between the City of Rifle, Habitat for Humanity of the Roaring Fork Valley, and Colorado River BOCES (Board of Cooperative Educational Services). It will produce modular housing units from recycled steel, using a digital construction system.
The center will significantly reduce Habitat’s construction costs, enabling them to produce over 100 units per year, primarily for local Habitat projects. Other units will be sold to Habitat affiliates in neighboring counties as well as communities, school districts, hospitals, and others interested in building affordable, deed-restricted housing for local workers and residents.
If the Greater Roaring Fork Valley wants to make a significant impact on our affordable housing crisis, it will take an unwavering commitment from every stakeholder — local governments, citizens, volunteers, businesses, and our philanthropic community.
The 2019 Regional Housing Study estimated that 4,000 additional homes are needed to meet the housing needs of the local workforce, which is why Habitat for Humanity of the Roaring Fork Valley is now committed to building affordable housing at scale. We’re a non-profit with a small construction company that is in the business of stabilizing families. In our experience, that starts with building a “forever home” in the communities where our families live and work.
Local Businesses
There is no doubt that local businesses that depend on a local workforce to keep their doors open have a big part to play in affordable housing, but it’s not their problem to solve alone.
There are certain businesses in the valley with the capacity to invest in motels, build multiple units and provide employee housing at scale. Those businesses with that capacity to do so, we encourage them to step up, and many already are.
We also need to provide access to affordable housing for small businesses, nonprofits and vital institutions such as our schools and hospitals for their workforce. For business owners who can’t contribute on a large financial scale, being active in shaping local housing policy making is equally important. What this looks like is: showing up to advocate at city and county meetings when affordable housing is on the table; being actively involved in the proposed solutions to affordable housing; and speaking up when those solutions aren’t adequate. Change happens with momentum and momentum happens when people are inspired to action. What will it take to inspire us to take action?
Government
The connection of businesses and citizens to the governmental process cannot be emphasized enough. Government needs to facilitate the development of affordable homes. When projects are approved that provide housing that is only (or mostly) attainable by second homeowners, it only increases the workforce needs and
exacerbates the housing problem.
This is where businesses and citizens need to speak up. Our local governments need to balance future housing development in order to protect the culture, viability and fabric of our communities while continuing to power the resort engine.
Government must thread the needle between free market home prices and what is truly affordable for a service industry driven workforce. We can do this by improving the efficiency of approval processes, creating incentives for businesses to invest in affordable housing, and insisting that our visitors help pay the way without further burdening our business owners or putting the burden on the backs of homeowners.
The West Mountain Regional Housing Coalition (WMRHousing.org) is paving the way to identifying smart housing investments and potential solutions, and they are bringing an important regional approach to the table. When we work together across multiple counties, we can level the regulatory playing field and collectively solve the housing crisis.
Philanthropy
Even with an involved business community and full collaboration from governmental agencies, affordable housing requires significant subsidies. Working hand in hand with our philanthropic community, we can identify opportunities for donors to step forward to help tackle the housing problem which is foundational to every other aspect of our community.
Generous philanthropic dollars have historically supported important arts and youth organizations in our valley. It is gratifying that housing is now becoming top of mind for donors, who recognize that there is a direct correlation between affordable housing as the underpinning to most things we consider essential in our communities. Through their giving, our local philanthropic community has the power to change our entire ecosystem.
Community
Cooperating to achieve our goals of safe and affordable housing for all means making our voices heard and standing up for the actions that help us to succeed. It means volunteering for affordable housing projects that need to get across the finish line. It means packing a city council room to speak up on policies that matter. It means writing letters to the editor to voice our ideas and concerns when appearing in public isn’t possible. It also means recognizing that affordable housing “for all” doesn’t mean only our young working families.
Our values must include diversity in every arena, including age, race and income. When the conversation veers toward “retirees are part of the problem,” we have to remind critics that those same retirees are long standing community members who paid it forward by teaching our children how to read. Our choices need not be binary: By working together, we can preserve and expand the essential fabric of our communities.
In the coming months, there will be many opportunities to better understand and support affordable housing in our region. Our local Habitat for Humanity affiliate will be keeping you posted on how you can be involved. In the meantime, share your thoughts and I sincerely appreciate your willingness to engage with us on solving this critical issue.
If there are questions that you have about affordable housing that you would like to see addressed in our monthly column, please send me a note. If there are topics that you think are important to include in our summit, I would like to hear from you at GailS@HabitatRoaringFork.org
There is nothing the housing crisis in our region does not touch.
As outlined in the Colorado Newsline, “Colorado’s mountain communities have long felt the affordable housing crisis.” Yet today, this issue underpins every aspect of our economy — whether you are a business owner, non-profit, government entity, school, or just a resident visiting a local restaurant.
Without a stable workforce, our region will cease to exist as the special place we know. This is not hyperbolic, but an accurate statement about the real trajectory of our region without creative solutions and community investment.
While housing has not traditionally been a popular place for philanthropic support or investment, it has the potential to change our region’s trajectory.
Gail Schwartz, president of Habitat for Humanity Roaring Fork Valley, said she has heard from countless non-profits in our region and fields daily calls looking for support for employee housing.
Fourteen-year-old Callie Lawson is living with a broken bedroom door perpetually ajar, leaking privacy. A teenager’s nightmare. That’s just one of the many repairs needed for her family’s aging mobile home — repairs that most craftsmen, unaccustomed to working on factory-built structures, either don’t know how to fix or are unwilling to tackle. Jeff, Callie’s father, is losing patience too, with the rent hikes on the trailer lot and the leaky roof he can’t afford to mend. Meanwhile, Callie’s mother, Kim, yearns for the sort of home that’s been out of reach since she was a child: “I’m 52, and I’ve never lived in a stick-frame house.”
The housing crisis in western Colorado’s greater Roaring Fork Valley, where the Lawsons live, is like a stubborn virus that gets worse with each passing year. The region is book-ended on one side by the relatively affordable “down-valley” cities of Glenwood Springs and Rifle and on the other end by Aspen, where the median home price has risen to roughly $3 million. Even the average down-valley home is now fetching more than a half-million.
But now, Roaring Fork residents — and the Lawsons — are getting some relief. The local branch of Habitat for Humanity is constructing Wapiti Commons, a 20-unit development slated for completion next summer. The project boasts units that are not only affordable, they’re also net-zero, meaning the development will produce as much energy with its solar panels as its efficient appliances consume, making utility bills cheaper. This is no custom-built one-off, but part of Habitat’s plan to show that sustainability can be standard, not just a luxury add-on. Habitat sees Wapiti and its sister site, Basalt Vista, as templates of what’s to come. The first finished homes will be ready for families this spring.
Aspen Skiing Co. President Mike Kaplan said it best in a meeting with Pitkin County Commissioners earlier this month when he urged the commissioners to take “unpopular positions” fundamental to our sustainability and progress.
Lately, it’s been easy to blame Aspen Pitkin County Housing Authority (APCHA) for our affordable-housing crisis, but that will not result in any real solutions. It is clear that there are efficiencies to be made in how APCHA oversees its housing inventory, enforces its rules, and manages deed-restricted properties. But let’s be honest — it’s the development-approval process that is truly broken.
In order to create enough workforce housing that will support and sustain our regional economy, we must have new land-use policies and visionary leadership. We don’t have a viable economy without a workforce, and we don’t have a workforce without housing. Plain and simple: We need to find a balance.
APCHA was built on a reality that existed 40 years ago when land, water, and roads weren’t a problem, but they are scarce and challenging problems in 2023. It’s time that we come to terms with the fact that we have to shift our perspective if we want to impact our affordable-housing shortage. In order to do this, we need to first figure out the valley’s carrying capacity and then revise our land-use policies in order to better manage future development.
A shift in perspective starts with believing and then acting as if what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Developers bring valuable dollars into our valley and often wield a heavy hand when it comes to approvals from the local government. The myth is that, unless governments cater to the demands of developers, we are at risk that
they’ll pack up their investors and construction crews and move down the road to communities that welcome them.
But the harsh reality is we need to all agree that there are limits in our ability to cope with the pressure of new development. We can’t afford to keep approving new projects with only 10% to 30% of the units being devoted to housing for locals.
The current system is overly invested in high-dollar absentee ownership, which puts more pressure on our local workforce and exacerbates traffic issues at the expense of local residents. We have to break this cycle that is not serving us. We should expect and demand more — throw a dart — maybe the number should be 50% of new projects dedicated to residents, while still offering tools and incentives that keep development in the region attractive.
We have to change the way we do business, and that can be unpopular in the face of the loudest voices and the deepest pockets. We have to inspire our decision-makers to recognize and appreciate that the sustainability of our economy, quality of life, and workforce should be our priority, and that it is going to require compromises.
We are uniquely positioned to talk about solutions from a regional perspective, and we’re at a point where we have to have those conversations outside of the bubbles drawn by our county lines.
Everyone is entitled to see themselves as a stakeholder in their community and care about what is best for their community. Yet it isn’t just up to Aspen to solve the “Aspen” problem or Glenwood to solve the “Glenwood” problem. Even if we could provide more housing in Pitkin County, not every person who makes the commute to Aspen wants to live there.
When we function as a regional group of stakeholders, we start to collectively take responsibility and invest in what is best for every community from Parachute to Aspen.
I’m often asked why affordable housing is such a circular conversation. It’s not unlike the endless “Entrance to Aspen” discussion. There are no easy answers or silver bullets. These problems take collaboration and compromise, and it’s hard to do either when stakeholders are married to thinking about the problem only as it relates to their needs or perspective. For the sake of our region, we can start to work together as stewards for the generations to come.
On March 15, Habitat for Humanity — supported by The Aspen Times, Glenwood Springs Post Independent, and a host of regional partners — will convene a regional, affordable-housing summit: “Solving the Housing Crisis: A Regional Summit on Equitable Solutions.”
We look forward to bringing together new energy and committed partners to spark inspiration and activate real solutions to one of our valley’s most pressing problems. Stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks.
If there are questions that you have about affordable housing that you would like to see addressed in our monthly column, please send me a note. If there are topics that you think are important to include in our summit, I would like to hear from you at GailS@HabitatRoaringFork.org
Habitat for Humanity of the Roaring Fork Valley is attempting to build a modular home manufacturing plant so that it can scale up its pace of affordable housing development and more aggressively combat the housing crisis rippling from Aspen to Parachute.
The initiative, for which Habitat is now seeking investors, aims to make a dent in the ever-worsening local housing shortage that is resulting not only in staffing shortages for the area’s dominant resort and hospitality industry but in the disruption of basic infrastructure like dependable school bus routes. Habitat estimates the housing shortfall just to meet local workforce demands at 4,000 homes and has concluded that a modular facility is its best hope to make a significant impact on the crisis by providing hundreds of affordable modular homes to qualified buyers in coming years.
This past year in the City of Aspen Community Survey, only 29% of local respondents were satisfied with the city’s progress toward making Aspen livable — which is a significant decrease from 45% in 2019.
Who were the residents least satisfied with their quality of life in Aspen? Residents 18-44 years old earning $100,000 or less annually. Basically, our employment base. The reason for their dissatisfaction? Aspen’s declining livability and economic vitality.
It’s not hard to see the bird’s-eye view of the crisis in the greater Roaring Fork Valley: In 2019, it was determined that 4,000 more homes were needed to adequately house the regional workforce, and that remains the case today. Further exacerbating the problem is the influx of new homeowners as a result of the urban exodus during COVID.
In order to sustain our workforce, keep our young families, maintain a growing retirement community, and support our economic vitality, it is essential and incumbent upon us to create affordable-housing solutions that meet our current needs and future demands. When there is a lack of affordable housing in our community, there is also a lack of stable working families when they are paying far beyond their means for rent, often commuting up to three hours per day, and living in substandard and crowded conditions — which inevitably diminishes their willingness to remain part of our workforce and our communities long term.
The solution isn’t as simple as recruiting more or new people to the valley. We all know that the best chance for a working family to make it in this valley is to gain a hard-earned foothold — starting with finding a place to live — and then finding ways to navigate the system. Newcomers hardly stand a chance.
Because local housing for our vital employees has become so unaffordable, our communities are at risk, and our economy is at risk.
The sense of urgency is before us every day — it’s “help wanted” signs in the windows, visible reminders to customers to “treat staff nicely”; businesses with limited operation hours; and services that are simply no longer available at all due to a lack of staffing. What presents as a profound problem in a resort market like Aspen is playing out throughout the region. Relying on the bedroom communities “downvalley” for our workforce is no longer viable because those communities have a housing problem of their own.
Solving the housing crisis isn’t simple, but it is possible if every person in our broader community believes that they have a role to play. We must move beyond the days when we pointed to someone else to solve the problem. No one stakeholder has all of the tools.
Government can create the policies and incentives that pave the way for development of affordable housing; employees and business owners could show up and make their voices heard at public meetings; we can make individual donations or volunteer at Habitat for Humanity to build more homes; or share our personal stories in letters to the editor — but all that alone is not enough.
It is time for our philanthropic community to recognize affordable housing as one of the most important investments one can make in protecting the quality of life for everyone in the region, but that alone also isn’t enough. In order for us to collectively tackle this problem, it will take every one of us as stakeholders intersecting the crisis at the level we can with the resources we have.
The bottom line is our local real-estate market is up by historic levels while payrolls are not keeping up. Our community is at risk and our economy is at risk if we don’t start building an affordable-housing inventory to get ourselves out of the crisis we are in. If we can bring everyone to the table, we can figure out how to build at scale affordably, which won’t compromise our values but will instead preserve them.
As an eighth-grade social studies teacher at Aspen Middle School, Lyssa loves her job. “I’m a teacher through and through,” she says. Lyssa has lived and worked in the Colorado mountain community for more than a decade and never wanted to change her career. Faced with exorbitant housing and rental prices in the Roaring Fork Valley, however, she felt that staying there seemed impossible.
Lyssa had to consider what was manageable for her and her husband, Jeremy, and their two children, 6-year-old Arlo and 4-year-old Willa. And it wasn’t just their family facing the prospect of leaving. Lyssa saw firsthand that a dire lack of affordable housing in the valley was the driving force behind the school district’s challenge to recruit and retain teachers. “It’s impossible to find any housing on a teacher salary,” Lyssa says. “Our valley loses a lot of teachers because of housing.”
Habitat for Humanity is working with the city of Glenwood Springs to build two new housing developments.
On May 5, the Glenwood Springs City Council agreed to move forward in working with the Habitat for Humanity Roaring Fork Valley to build two affordable housing units on city-owned parcels of land.
Now the city and Habitat for Humanity are drafting a deed restriction agreement and memorandum of understanding. This will mean that the units will not only house people within the area median income (AMI) range, it will also give the discounted rate to the people who qualify.
One unit is planned to go up at Eighth Street and Midland Avenue while the second is planned to go in by on Airport Road called the Iddings project.
Talk of the housing crisis in our region has been filling headlines, letters to the editor, and conversations around town for years. While the pandemic accelerated the issues our region faces, they are not new.
Even mentioning housing has a tendency to raise tensions and the solutions offered are never universally accepted. Solutions that might work incredibly well in other locales can fall flat here simply because we are blessed to have such a unique place to call home.
While solutions should be explored and creativity should be tapped into, the great housing debate has real-time impacts on the lives of children and families that are important to examine and understand as a community in the meantime.
Garfield County Commissioner Tom Jankovsky had been leaning toward a $50,000 contribution to Habitat for Humanity of the Roaring Fork Valley’s Wapiti Commons project in Rifle. But an intriguing perk convinced him and his fellow commissioners to up the ante.
Commissioners voted 3-0 to contribute $200,000 to help defray costs to build the 20 new homes, which are to be made available for purchase to qualified buyers earning 80% of the area median income (AMI).
In exchange, two of the units are to be reserved for qualified county government employees to purchase.