Is there actually a need?
Local experts estimate that at any one time there are approximately 300 people experiencing homelessness in Broomfield. Around half of them are children enrolled in Broomfield schools.
Since 2019, at least seven people have died while unhoused in Broomfield. Three of them graduated from Broomfield High School. Two of them served in the armed forces. Their names: Kenny, 30; Brittany, 36; David, 67; Stephanie, 43; Randy, 55; Rich; 61; and James, 59.
Broomfield has a shortage of at least 1,662 housing units that are affordable for residents earning less than $52,000 per year.
In 2024, our local family resource center, Broomfield FISH, served more than 15,000 unduplicated clients — 1 in 5 Broomfield residents — with basic needs support. More than half of FISH’s clients were children, and FISH client households spent, on average, 75% of their income on housing.
Half of all Broomfield renters or 3,200 households are “cost-burdened,” meaning they spend more than the HUD recommended 30 percent of their income on housing (mortgage/rent, utilities, etc.). Households that spend 30-50 percent of their income on housing are considered to be “moderately cost-burdened” or at risk of housing instability, while those that spend more than 50 percent of their income on housing are considered to be “severely cost-burdened” or at risk of homelessness.
Just 1 percent of local homes sold in 2021 were affordable to households earning less than the AMI (Area Median Income). As of 2024, Broomfield’s AMI for a household of three was $117,400.
For our entire community of nearly 77,000 people, we have only a handful of full-time caseworkers to come alongside people who are navigating housing instability. This severe shortage of case managers, social workers and resource navigators drastically limits the capacity of local agencies to address the needs they’re seeing and severely strains our community in myriad ways.
Like half of all Americans, too many Broomfield families are living paycheck-to-paycheck, can’t afford a $500 emergency expense, and are one emergency away from homelessness.
Broomfield is one of many communities along the Front Range, in Colorado and across the country, grappling with cost of living increases, high housing costs, stagnant wages, general economic squeezes, and other challenges.
Stable housing is important because it supports, sustains and intersects with so many parts of our lives: work, transportation, the environment, and health, to name just a few. And right now, too many Broomfielders are on the verge of being displaced from their community because their rent or mortgage rate or housing fees increase or they lose their job or they get in an accident or any number of other circumstances. Too many families and individuals have to choose between making a house payment or paying for their prescriptions or groceries or childcare.
In 2024, driven by the reality that many Broomfielders are falling through the proverbial cracks of our local social safety net, the 40-plus, on-the-ground, organizational participants of the Broomfield Housing Solutions Forum collectively quantified our current gap between available resources and the urgent housing-related needs of Broomfield residents. The result: our annual deficit or gap is $15 million per year for vital services and staffing around the following three areas:
Rehousing — Includes temporary and transitional housing support for our most vulnerable neighbors—such as survivors of domestic violence, households displaced by life-changing events like injury, disability or eviction, and individuals and families experiencing homelessness. Because we all need a safe place to land when getting back on our feet!
Stabilization — Includes emergency rental and mortgage assistance to keep housing-unstable families housed, as well as the creation of a desperately needed local housing voucher program to support Broomfield residents who are struggling with high housing costs—especially those spending 50% or more of their income just to keep a roof over their heads. Also includes funding to address our severe, community-wide shortage of case managers and resource navigators, who provide crucial support services for residents in need. Because we all need stability and, sometimes, a hand up, too!
Creation & Preservation — Includes the prioritization of truly affordable, income-aligned housing units for Broomfield residents who are particularly affected by stagnant wages, inflation and other financial challenges—because housing affordability gives us all a chance to thrive, especially when times are tough!
The task of our Task Force, if you will, is to pursue new sources of funding to close our community’s collaboratively identified, $15 million-per-year gap in services and staffing.
That gap exists alongside a number of sobering realities experienced by thousands of Broomfield residents.