A nonprofit group made up of real estate agents and Human Service Agency Leaders formed a coalition to help an area in the San Luis Valley in Colorado with affordable housing.
The San Luis Valley has at least 150 abandoned homes and most of them have been in disrepair for quite some time.
The coalition of agents and agency leaders joined together to purchase and renovate the homes and schools that were abandoned in order to revitalize the area and bring people back into their homes.
The project began in 2019 after reviewing housing studies from the area. The team narrowed the focus to two key issues and a plan was devised. The key focuses are low wages and a lack of quality, affordable housing in the area.
The philanthropically minded group pledge a $250,000 housing market study and action plan for this specific area.
One of the findings of the study was that there were problems in some of the mobile home parks, where low-income people were illegally evicted and left homeless. Some of the issues were found to be because of corrupt landlords who made illegal profits at the expense of the tenants.
In some cases, the homes will be restored for the people who abandoned them when upkeep became too expensive.
The coalition hopes to reduce the 1,800-home demand by 20% to 30% within the next five years.