After 10 months of struggling to locate affordable housing, a Colorado retiree finds new home in Lakewood
Retiree Lou Erickson was happy. Elated really. Finally, 10 months after starting a daily search for affordable housing, she now has a place. "Glad to have someone on my side," said Erickson about a worker with Metro West Housing.
The individual searched out the right place for Lou and her daughter Erica, a 44-year-old with a learning disability.
Still, it was a little hard to believe.
"Until I got the key in my hand I still have some worry, but that part of it is not so bad," Lou said.
Her near-daily search began in the middle of 2022, after her landlord died.
The duplex was sold and the new owner informed Lou he needed her out to fix and flip the place.
She and her daughter had been there for over two dozen years. It had been good. Not updated, but reasonably safe and had parking for the vehicle Lou uses to get them to the grocery store and to doctor's appointments.
The rent had been raised through the years, by about 40%, but that is not much compared to other rentals over those years.
Erickson was about to learn how unaffordable Colorado had become.
"That was a real shock because the rents are just outrageous," she said.
Lou worked for years as a nurse's aide, mostly at St. Joseph's Hospital. Caring for other people all her life was not lucrative.
They survive today on her social security and her daughter's disability payments. The income gap is substantial for people on social security says Metro West Housing spokesperson, Jill McGranahan.
"Their average income yearly is about $14,500 and that's just not going to get you much in terms of housing here in Colorado," McGranahan said.
In addition, looking for rentals is often harder for older people. "They're not as tech-savvy. And especially since COVID, everything is done online now," McGranahan said.
Lou has no internet service. Her phone is a pay-as-you-go model.
"She's been in the same place for 24 years. And all of a sudden... she finds herself looking for a new place to live. It's a new world, it's a new process, it's scary," she said.
And much harder. Reaching out to agencies she got information on places that might be available, but found moving targets and long waiting lists.
"I mean there's a lot of good people out here that are struggling and were treated like trash. That's how it feels," she said.
At one point, Lou was told it was her lucky day as she found a place and to bring money to pay a fee.
But things changed when she showed up.
"Then it was more money because the water sewer and trash. Then I said 'I'm on a wait list for low income.' Well we don't have one of those ready." she said.
Ultimately, a Metro West worker stepped in with more help and more phone calls to find Lou a home in a complex on the south side of Lakewood.
"Erica has a balcony where she can sit outside and I know she's safe out there. Because it's not the ground floor," she said.
It's the right place. It feels safe and the cost is actually a little less than where they've been.
They move in next month. After 10 frustrating months of searching and refusals and changing offers, Lou and her daughter, have a home.
