COLORADO SPRINGS — News5 took a look at how Colorado actually defines affordable housing. According to the state, it is where households pay no more than 30% of their income to housing costs.
This does not include housing that receives any form of public subsidy.
A church in Colorado Springs is addressing the issue of affordable housing. Solid Rock Church, which is located in south east Colorado Springs, is celebrating the grand opening of its new apartment complex Thursday.
Both planners and residents say it's a true blessing.
"I went and got me a U-Haul truck, took my furniture and moved right over," said Cassandra Flatcher.
She says her old apartment building was noisy and full of people fighting. When Flatcher found out about the Village at Solid Rock, she couldn't wait to move in.
"I love it out here, I enjoy it here," said Flatcher. "Everyone is being nice to everybody and I'm enjoying myself."
Solid Rock church planned to use the land for a garden, but learned the soil wasn't good for growing. So, church leaders made a new plan.
They created a separate nonprofit to handle the business of building an affordable housing complex. Three years later and these apartments are offering options.
Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade discussed affordable housing and the need for Colorado Springs to diversify housing availability in his State of the City address earlier this week.
Mayor Mobolade delivers State of the City address
According to a study commissioned by the mayor through the Common Sense Institute, Colorado Springs needs 27,000 more housing units to meet the need overall. A big focus is affordable housing.
"Beyond innovative housing solutions, we continue to leverage our HUD funds to invest in local housing projects," said Mayor Mobolade. "This year, we allocated roughly $1.6 million dollars to a total of 1,194 units that are either under construction or ready to lease."
If you're looking for more information on affordable housing in El Paso County, the Department of Economics has a tool on their website with everything you need to know.
You can see the following:
- affordable housing developments
- contact information for management offices
- how you can qualify
___
Is it 'truly' affordable to live in Colorado Springs?
How easy is it to find an affordable home? If someone earns $51,000 a year and a third of their income goes to rent, they would need to find an apartment for about $1,280 a month. News5's Eleanor Sheahan takes you on a journey searching for this answer.
____
Watch KOAA News5 on your time, anytime with our free streaming app available for your Roku, FireTV, AppleTV and Android TV. Just search KOAA News5, download and start watching.
