Eagle County collaborative confab not ‘just another housing meeting’
The Finding Our Way Home Housing Collaborative is trying to bridge the “disconnect” between housing policymakers and area residents who are increasingly desperate to find long-term home ownership solutions in the Eagle River Valley, according to collaborative facilitator Elyse Howard of Habitat for Humanity Vail Valley. It is not just another housing meeting.
But first, the big news is that the next meeting — set for 5 to 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 22, at Colorado Mountain College (Room 188 Lecture Hall) in Edwards — includes free dinner, childcare with kids’ activities and supervision, and Spanish and English interpretation.
“What we were really noticing at our office is the desperation and (people being) one terrible thing away from moving out of the valley. It’s like one car accident, one medical bill away from financial disaster,” Howard said. “At the same time, we’re hearing from some of our leaders or people in positions of power, ‘We’re adding housing … everything’s getting so much better.'”
Howard — who emphasizes that this is not a Habitat program but is instead a collaboration made up of renters, homeowners, employers, public officials, builders, developers and policymakers — acknowledges there has been progress on building for-rent homes and to some degree ownership opportunities, but she added that the need still remains extremely high.
“We are making progress,” Howard said. “Outside the office, we were just noticing a big disconnect between what the actual users of the housing are saying versus the people who are in the role in our community of creating additional housing opportunities.”
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The oft-cited Eagle County Regional Housing Needs Assessment has identified a shortage of 6,375 homes across Eagle County over the next 10 years, with about half of those in Avon and Vail. Towns and the county itself are currently on track to deliver homes in the hundreds over that time frame, not the thousands.
“A lot of us already own a home,” Howard says of community housing leaders. “We bought them when you could. But then for the up-and-coming young leaders in our community and just the general workforce, this is a different process. And some people are getting tripped up in the process. They’re like, ‘Why are you inviting me to another housing meeting?'”
Again, Howard emphasizes this is not just a Habitat program, nor is it just another meeting. She is urging people to watch a short video on the concept and to also fill out a community survey.
“The goal of this work is really collaboration for collective impact,” Howard said. “The idea is we really want to get both the voices of the users of the housing and the voices of the people who are making decisions in our community. We were very intentional with making sure that we have Vail Health at the table, Vail Resorts at the table, Eagle County at the table, the school district at the table. But we need also just the people who need the housing to come.”
After the Jan. 22 meeting, the next meetings will be Thursday, March 5, and Thursday, May 14, and prior attendance at a previous meeting is not necessary, Howard added.
