The Chaffee County Offices of Public Health and Housing are pleased to announce that they will be continuing the Housing+Health Speaker Series by hosting the April and May events online.

The sessions will be held on Zoom, a video conferencing and web conferencing software that is free and available to the public on their personal laptops or mobile devices.

Approximately $8,000 worth of gift certificates to Chaffee County restaurants will be distributed to participants who attend the events and complete an online survey.

Discussing the move to an online format, Becky Gray, Director of Housing, said, “The reality is that COVID-19 is changing all of our lives. As that happens, however, one thing is clear: Affordable and secure housing for our community members is more critical now than it has ever been. This is an opportunity, amid the chaos, to come together to collaborate on one of Chaffee’s most pressing needs.”

Andrea Carlstrom, Director of Public Health, who has been leading Chaffee’s response to the COVID-19 crisis said, “As busy as we are with the focus on COVID-19, we are not neglecting our other community health priorities. Housing and health go hand in hand, and I encourage all Chaffee County residents to participate in these important discussions. This is something real and tangible you can do to improve our community in the long term.”

Upcoming Spring events include:

Missing Middle Housing April 2nd, 6:00pm Drew Finke, Opticos Design, Inc Drew Finke, from Opticos Design, Inc., showcases a new national trend that prioritizes diverse, affordable housing choices in sustainable, walkable places – and how and where it could work for Chaffee. The first 100 participants will be able to log into the online event.

Conservation Subdivision Planning April 8th, 6:00pm Randall Arendt, Greener Prospects Randall Arendt, from Greener Prospects, proposes an approach to laying out subdivisions so that significant portions are permanently protected to create networks of conservation lands.

Permanent Affordability Strategies May 7th: 6:00pm Various Panelists A panel discussion on methods to make housing permanently affordable for future residents, including deed restrictions, land trusts, public ownership, and more. Panelists and topics include:

· Aaron Miripol, Urban Land Conservancy: The Land-Trust Model

· Jennifer Kermode, Gunnison Valley Regional Housing Authority: Deed Restrictions

· KT Gazunis, Garfield County Housing Authority: Public-Private Partnerships for middle income housing

· Betsy Crum, Snowmass Village: Supportive Housing

These events remain open to the public, and a Q&A session will follow each presentation. More information, including the Zoom link for each session, can be found on www.chaffeecounty.org/housing and on the Housing Policy Advisory Committee’s Facebook page.