We at Habitat for Humanity of Archuleta County couldn’t be more excited to announce that our 2023 partner families have moved into their homes.
We want to thank everyone who volunteered or donated to affordable homeownership in Archuleta County this year.
In 2023, we helped three families build their own homes alongside volunteers and obtain an affordable mortgage, impacting five adults and nine children who range in age from newborns to high schoolers. This tripled our annual build capacity.
This security of homeownership helps to maintain four jobs in our county.
Also in 2023, 10 additional families are now homeowners in Archuleta County due to Habitat Archuleta offering USDA Direct mortgage origination for financially qualified applicants who were not selected as Habitat partners.
Thirty-four local businesses and organizations generously contributed more than $77,000 of in-kind labor. Grants and donations to help build affordable workforce homeownership exceeded $278,600.
Three new rooftop solar installations were added to our energy-efficient homes. As part of a pilot project with LPEA, solar batteries and additional energy-efficient appliances were added to one of our homes, providing stored energy from sunny days and increasing the efficiency of the rooftop solar.
The donated tax-lien lots from the county that the Habitat homes were built on now provide tax revenue and homeowner association dues of over $3,600 annually, a reinvestment back into our community.
We hosted eight AmeriCorps volunteers as part of the National Civilian Conservation Corps program.
The volunteers, aged 18-23, learned how to use all the power tools on-site, assisting in the stitching of three modular homes and stick-building two garages.
We were able to host one high school intern thanks to the building trades program at Pagosa Springs High School and Pagosa Springs Community Development Corporation.
During our build season, we had 45 unique volunteers for a total of 3,915 hours.
Since 1994, Habitat Archuleta has built 33 homes and repaired 30, impacting 122 children and 85 adults.
Looking ahead to the 2024 build season
We are now transitioning to planning for our 2024 build season. This will be year three of our campaign to build 15 homes in five years.
Three families have been selected as Habitat partner families who will help build homes alongside volunteers and pay an affordable mortgage. Five adults and seven children will have an affordable place to call home.
Five local employers — in outdoor recreation, construction, retail and restaurant industries, and the school district — will retain employees who have the security of homeownership.
We have seven homes to go in our campaign in 2025 and 2026.
To learn more about how to get involved in affordable homeownership in Archuleta County, email Monica at office@habitatarchuleta.org or call (970) 264-6960.
