Senior living facility in Colorado mountain town saved by local donors

What was previously considered a catastrophic elimination of a senior living and skilled nursing care facility in one Colorado mountain town has now turned into a massive community lift to save the location for years to come.

Casey's Pond Senior Living Facility in Steamboat Springs houses over 100 residents who were given 60 days' notice to try and find a new home a few weeks ago because the building was in receivership. There was too much debt to operate it and management needed to look for a new owner. Normally, the property would have been sold to auction to get the most out of it and pay off the balance. But the City of Steamboat Springs and the Yampa Valley Community Foundation decided it was an asset to the area too important to lose.

So, they set about the herculean task of finding tens of millions of dollars to try and buy the place itself to save it.

"We started reaching out to anyone we could think of, calling through the weekends, in the evenings, calling all our friends and community members who love this place so much and were shocked actually at the response and overwhelming generosity," Traci Hiatt, director of philanthropy for the Yampa Valley Community Foundation said. "The people really wanted to save Casey's Pond. In very short order, we were able to put together an offer to the bondholders."

The Steamboat Springs City Council earmarked $2.5 million for the purchase. The rest of the undisclosed amount -- although estimated in the tens of millions of dollars -- was financed by private donors.

"It almost feels like a miracle," Hiatt said. "And since it clears the debt, we know it can operate as a successful business now too."

CBS News Colorado's Spencer Wilson bothered Tina Rozwadowski, a resident living at Casey's Pond, the last time he was there, asking her about what she would do if the place closed. He caught up with her Monday again while she was, again, playing cards. She insists she does much more with her time than that though.

"We had been going up and down, up and down, up and down," Rozwadowski said, talking about the turbulent emotions of the residents waiting for good news. "We couldn't talk about anything else for weeks and weeks and weeks."

She said the moment all the residents learned of the agreement between the receivership and the community bid, there was visible relief.

"Everyone poured into the lobby, and crying and laughing and hugging," Rozwadowski said. "It was really great seeing."

Still, she says she won't rest easy until the money changes hands and the "ink dries" on the deal. Still, she in no way wanted to come off as ungrateful: "I'm immensely grateful to the donors."

There's no timeline for the deal to be worked through, but residents are no longer expected to be kicked out in months, so the pressure has subsided. The Steamboat Springs community breathed a sigh of relief.

"It is just such a relief, and it has been so inspiring and phenomenal," Hiatt explained. "We are just really happy that we are where we are."