Housing Matters

Thanks to some hard work and planning by my friends Billy Bear Jarrett, administrator of the Colorado Mobile Home Residents’ Alliance (COMHRA), current Broomfield councilperson Sharon Tessier and Adams County Commissioner Steve O’Dorisio, our ongoing, local conversation on affordable housing recently got the attention of both political candidates and the Broomfield Enterprise.

On Friday, Oct. 11, several dozen residents and candidates for local office gathered at the Refuge for a forum on affordable housing in Broomfield and the North Denver region. Candidates fielded randomly selected, pre-prepared questions from Sharon and Steve, who served as facilitator-moderators, and had one minute to introduce themselves and another minute to answer their question. Then a short Q-and-A gave way to group conversations and brainstorming based on topics of interest related to the “spectrum” of affordable housing issues facing our communities.

My favorite part of the forum and of Jennifer Rios’s article about it in the Enterprise is that our friends who are unhoused were listened to, heard and featured. For a community that sometimes has trouble acknowledging that our neighbors live on the margins right here in our area, this is HUGE progress!

Oh, and I can’t forget to mention the generous donation that paid for sandwiches, chips and cookies from Jimmy John’s for all attendees. (Not sure if the donor wants to remain anonymous, so I won’t mention who it was!)

If you live locally and are interested in this conversation (and you should be!), there will be another housing-related forum with local candidates today at 3 p.m. at Holy Comforter Episcopal Church in Broomfield.