Providing Solutions for Affordable Housing

In 2022, Durango, Colorado’s Westside Mobile Home Park residents learned their park was for sale and worried they would face exorbitant rent increases or be displaced. Mobile home parks in general employ a predatory model that affects low-income families who are often minorities and immigrants, excluding them from homeownership. A bill passed in 2020 offered hope, giving residents the opportunity to purchase the land. First Southwest Bank collaborated with community, state and federal partners to provide financing for the residents to purchase their mobile home park, a deal that would not have been possible without the Emergency Capital Investment Program. Funding this project ensured affordable housing for almost 100 Hispanic families who had lived in the area for generations, families who have been disproportionately affected by the economic impact of living in southwest Colorado as the area’s housing crisis mirrors post-pandemic trends across the West. They now have a piece of the American dream of home ownership.