The largest Habitat for Humanity community in the western U.S. has officially broken ground in northern Colorado.
Soon, Greeley will be home to the new Hope Springs neighborhood, a community designed to bring quality affordable housing to the region.
Thanks to donations from community members and businesses and funds secured by elected officials, Hope Springs will soon be home to 491 new affordable homes.
“This is a big step forward,” said Adrienne Goolsby, senior vice president of Habitat for Humanity in the United States.
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Northern Colorado is the fastest growing region in the state and the region is projected to double its population over the next 25 years.
“The affordable housing crisis has grown by leaps and bounds over the past 10 years. The number of starter homes available across the United States has decreased by 40% since the late 1960s,” Goolsby said.
Rachel Borum, an employee at the University of Northern Colorado, said she makes a living working in budgeting. Although she works with money every day, being able to raise a child and cope with inflation on a single income has been a challenge in recent years.
Borum told KeynoteUSA Colorado’s Dillon Thomas that she would volunteer at Habitat for Humanity, but always assumed she couldn’t qualify.
However, she finally worked up the courage to apply and was accepted as the first homeowner in Hope Springs.
“I can see myself in it,” Borum said.
Borum said he wanted to buy his own house, but inflation made it difficult. Qualifying for a loan was never a problem with credit, but having the funds to hire was his concern. While he was trying to save money, the cost of housing exceeded the rate at which he was able to save.
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“I’ve been trying to get the down payment ready,” Borum said. “This was my last hope. The other option would be to leave the state and find something more affordable.”
Borum is one example of the many Northern Coloradans who work full time but can’t afford reliable housing.
“There are even more people like me,” Borum said. “It’s a need everywhere. It could solve some real problems in society.”
Some of the houses in the neighborhood will be 3D printed and some cement foundations are already being printed.
“Affordable housing is a crisis. It’s in a state of crisis. We need to figure out how we’re going to address it. And it’s not just from a rental perspective, but also from a homeownership perspective because we want to build generational wealth. “Goolsby said.
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Thomas Dillon
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