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Aspen housing authority reports improved vacancies at Aspen Country Inn, discusses eligibility changes
Summary
APHA executive director Matthew Gillen told council targeted outreach and policy changes shrank open units at the Aspen Country Inn from nine to seven and said the housing authority removed a prior citizenship requirement and lowered a work requirement to broaden eligibility.
Matt Grama, the city’s budget manager, summarized APHA’s budget position for 2026 and introduced APHA executive director Matthew Gillen to discuss operations and occupancy.
Matthew Gillen said APHA’s outreach campaign (Spanish radio, flyers and social media) and policy adjustments have reduced open units at Aspen Country Inn from nine to seven and that five of the seven units have serious applicants. “The number of open units has gone from 9 to 7, which doesn't sound great. But of those 7, 5, we have, very serious applicants in,” Gillen said.
Gillen also described policy changes the ABSHA board adopted earlier, including reducing a work requirement from 1,500 hours to 1,000 hours and eliminating a requirement that applicants be legal permanent residents or U.S. citizens. He said APHA has reviewed those changes with counsel and state law, and staff is monitoring whether additional board guidance is needed to ease documentation requirements for applicants.
Council discussed outreach, tenancy protections under recent Colorado law, and the prospect of offering lease-security measures for downsizing program participants to make rental moves more attractive for seniors. Staff said they will continue publicizing vacancies and consider additional changes to ease access for target populations.
