Read McCulloch | Photograph by Adam Williams
Editor’s Note: This is from the monthly column for We Are Chaffee’s Looking Upstream podcast, written by Adam Williams. The column is published in two newspapers local to Chaffee County, Colo.: the Chaffee County Times (Buena Vista) and The Mountain Mail (Salida).
‘We Are Chaffee’ with Read McCulloch
“(We Are Chaffee’s) Looking Upstream podcast is supported by Chaffee County Public Health and the Chaffee Housing Authority.” That’s what I say in the intro for each episode of the show.
With that in mind, the undercurrent of the podcast and its 60-something episodes over the past two years has been to have real conversations with real folks about real things. The things that affect our lives. The social determinants of health, or upstream health factors. (Wink wink: “Looking Upstream”)
Housing is a huge one. Maybe the hugest, if we have some fun with our words. Without stable housing, it’s difficult for an individual or family to keep the rest of life flowing in a healthy, productive way.
So I occasionally have a guest on the show to talk directly about these housing issues that too many know too intimately around here. A guest like Read McCulloch, who is executive director of the Chaffee Housing Trust.
We talked about: How did we get to this point of crisis with housing affordability? What are some of the obstacles to resolving the problems? What is at stake if we don’t work together towards solutions?
And about: Are the building processes and policies we have in place what we need them to be? How do short-term rentals factor into the equation? What’s the impact of a moratorium on construction? And so on.
It’s complicated, of course. Questions are easier to come by than clear answers. But to me, the lack of clear answers for solving the housing affordability crisis also highlights that more of us need to get involved.
If we are going to solve these critical challenges to our community, we all need to be part of the discussion. We at least need to learn and better understand what the issues are. I don’t think we can just leave it to a few others, like McCulloch and the Chaffee Housing Trust or the Chaffee Housing Authority, to do all the lifting to pull us up out of this situation.
The detrimental impact on those who cannot afford housing already is significant, and it ripples throughout the community, affecting all of us whether we recognize it or not. It will only get worse, if we put our heads in the sand.
For any of us who are of older generations and have secure housing, it might be tempting to think, “Well, we did it, and without help. Why can’t the younger generations do the same?” Well, is that really true? Let’s take a look at that.
Here’s an excerpt from McCulloch, talking on Looking Upstream:
“The insecurity that our clients talk about as renters, and that mental health impact on them when they move into ownership, they talk about that shift to, ‘Oh, this is my home. No one’s kicking me out. If my kid has a tantrum and screams, no one’s kicking me out. I can paint the walls. I can do whatever I want to do or not.’
“Take that off the table, in terms of mental health, and they’re much more comfortable, happier people, able to spend time as a family, be better employees, better members of the community. All those things start happening when you take that insecurity out.
“And so, yeah, the former generations, there was an abundance of affordable rentals. There aren’t anymore, and there’s not jobs to match that. We’re not going to raise wages enough to meet the rents. What we have to do is find a way to lower those rents so that those people can afford it at their current employment.
“Look at that young person and all the factors that’s differentiating them from those previous generations. You can start with the cost of education. Folks had the G.I. Bill, and after that, university was affordable. My first semester, I think it was $328 for the tuition. When I left, it was like 750, and I think it’s somewhere in the thousands now. The cost of education is so high.
“People aren’t able to get it. They can’t afford it. Student loan debt is currently one of our biggest impediments for people getting through the process. It used to be medical debt until Obamacare came along. That was the huge one, because if you have outstanding debt, the bank’s not going to lend to you because they’re competing for those monthly payments.
“So go down the list of all these extra costs that this generation has relative to their income that previous generations didn’t. It’s really unfair for folks to say, ‘Well, I pulled myself up.’ Yeah. And you had either market-driven or subsidized opportunities that made it that way. It can be done, but we’re choosing not to do it right now.
“So when we talk about housing and, ‘Oh, well, why should I subsidize? Why should a wealthy home buyer pay extra so that they subsidize a lower-income household’s home? That seems unfair.’ That’s the only way we’re going to resolve the situation.”
There are two housing-related measures for Chaffee County on the ballot this November (6A and 6B). To vote on those ballot measures is the most direct and immediate way each of us can take action on this issue. Learn more at chaffeehousinginitiative.com.
You also can listen to a separate podcast in which Dan R. moderates discussion of the two housing affordability ballot measures between Rob Gartzman and Vince Phillips at heartoftherockiesradio.com/podcasts.
What happens next is up to us. All of us.
Looking Upstream is available weekly on all podcast players (e.g. Spotify, Apple Podcasts) and at wearechaffeepod.com. It also airs on KHEN 106.9 FM community radio at 2 p.m. on Tuesdays.
Adam Williams is host, producer and photographer for We Are Chaffee’s Looking Upstream podcast. Listen at wearechaffeepod.com. Follow @wearechaffeepod on Instagram.
