Symposium Unplugged: Sparking Ideas for Healthy Homes in Rural Colorado

A safe, stable and affordable home is key to good health. Yet, the affordable housing crisis disrupts the lives of thousands in our state and millions more across the country every day. Without a safe, stable and affordable home, cost-burdened Coloradans must make difficult trade-offs to keep food on the table, cover necessary medical expenses or stay current on their rent or mortgage. Coloradans living in rural communities are hit particularly hard by housing barriers unique to the places they call ‘home.’

Hosted in Salida, Colorado the event featured leaders, local experts and people who’ve experienced housing insecurity in rural Colorado. Attendees had the opportunity to learn about innovations underway in Chaffee County, as well as to foster shared learning, networking and collaboration.

• Resources:
  • Agenda
  • Seeking & Sharing Wall: Continuing the Conversation (Detailed Notes)
  • List of attendees who "opted-in" to share their contact info
  • Photos from the event
• Housing and Health Resources: Colorado Health Institute and Health Equity Advocacy Cohort 
  • Symposium Unplugged Presentation Materials
  • 2019 Colorado Health Access Survey: Progress in Peril
  • Colorado Health Institute (Report): Home Equity - A Vision of Housing Security, Health and Opportunity
  • Executive Summary and Housing, Health, and Equity (fact sheet)
• Colorado Rural Point-in-Time Count Data (2018, 2019): Colorado Coalition for the Homeless 
  • 2018 Point-in-Time Report: A Snapshot of Homelessness in the Colorado Balance of State Continuum of Care (Sheltered Count)
  • 2019 Point-in-Time Report: A Snapshot of Homelessness in the Colorado Balance of State Continuum of Care (Sheltered and Unsheltered Count)
• Colorado Affordable Housing Preservation Resources 
  • Informational webinar slides: Enterprise's Rural Rental Housing Preservation Academy. Application Deadline: Wednesday, Nov. 27
  • (Presentation) Rural Rental Housing Preservation | Housing Colorado Now | Oct. 9, 2019
• Rental Housing Reports Related to Symposium Unplugged Topics or Questions from the Audience 
  • Colorado Health Foundation and Burlington Associates Evaluation on Expanding CLT Programs in Eight Colorado Counties 
  • Doubled-up Households in Colorado: How prevalent is this phenomenon in 2006 vs. 2017? 
  • Glossary of Terms: Charting a Course for Equity
  • Housing America's Older Adults: 2019
  • Rental Housing for a 21st Century Rural America
  • 2018 SPARC Phase One Study Findings 
  • The State of the Nation's Housing: 2019

A complement to the annual Colorado Health Symposium, Symposium Unplugged engages participants in a single, health-focused conversation in a smaller, more intimate setting. The purpose of this ongoing series is to dig deeper into one of the many topics discussed at the Symposium.