FORT COLLINS, Colo. — No matter if you're buying or renting, the cost to live in Colorado continues to climb.
For many families, the lack of affordable housing options means they can't live where they work. But, Colorado State University is helping to change that by creating a more affordable housing option for its employees.
Tucked inside CSU's Office of Student Affairs, Ria Mensah makes her work look easy.
"Oh, I love my job," said Ria Mensah, fiscal and administrative officer and scholarship coordinator for CSU.
What's hard, Mensah said, is finding affordable housing in town. "Here, in Fort Collins? Oh yeah," she said. "That is really tricky."
The housing landscape in Fort Collins, Mensah said, is so different from years earlier. "I used to live here when I was a student, as an undergrad and the cost of living was nothing like it is now," she said.
But a new program from CSU is helping to change that.
In just a few weeks, the first of CSU's affordable housing units for employees will be complete, ready for move-in.
"I think they're going to be very pleased," said Brett Anderson, special advisor to the president and chancellor, CSU.
Anderson said they know housing costs are out of control.
"Housing in Colorado in general has become challenging for so many folks to find affordable housing and meaningful housing opportunities. And we were hearing loud and clear from our employees at CSU that this was a big deal for them, it was hard for them to find a place, they were struggling to live anywhere close to the university and then transportation became a challenge," Anderson said.
CSU donated land for a new apartment complex to be built, just off South Timberline Road in Fort Collins. Then, they found a developer and spent years working to get plans and permits approved.
Now, the 180-unit Rendezvous Trail complex will be ready for the first round of move-ins come January. The apartment complex has 57-units solely for CSU employees, with rent adjusted to median income to help make it more affordable.
But, it's not the only way CSU wants to tackle this problem of affordability.
"This is just the first step, right? I mean, we're talking 57-60 units, we're an employee base of 8,000 plus full-time employees and with part-time employees we're well into 15,000. We've got to find more solutions as well," Anderson said.
Anderson said CSU has been working with credit unions to help allow employees to make low down payments on mortgages to help eliminate the cost of mortgage insurance, working with realtors willing to help work on reduced or no commission to help CSU employees, raising employee pay to be more competitive and are establishing an emergency housing fund to help their staff when they're in crisis.
"We've got to continue working on," Anderson said. "We can’t rest here and assume we’ve solved the problem. This is a small piece and we need to keep going.”
Already, the university's actions are lifting up families.
“It’s overwhelmingly amazing. I’m so excited, CSU has always left an impression on me and this even more so because they are reaching out to the employee community and saying, 'Hey, we value you, we want you here and we’re going to do what we can to keep you,'" Mensah said.
In a little over a month, Mensah will move into a two-bedroom here with her 16-year-old son, Micah.
"I hope I don't cry but I think I might," she said. "So, yeah, it's overwhelming and it's also a relief to know we have a place."
This new apartment will bring a new chapter for her family.
"I'm just excited that we're finding a place to call home. And that's going to be great," Mensah said.
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