Together Colorado Boulder County and East County Housing Opportunity Coalition, or ECHO, have combined forces to ask Boulder County Commissioner candidates, Ashley Stolzmann and Elaina Shively, several questions about their position on housing and mental health.
Some facts about Boulder County’s mental health and housing led Together Colorado Boulder County and ECHO to focus their questions on two facets.
In 2018, Mental Health America ranked Colorado’s mental health situation as 40th for adults and 48th for youth. Boulder County emergency room visits for suicide attempts rose 82% in 2020, and continued to climb in 2021. It is crucial to note for LGBTQ youth, ages 10 to 17 years old, the suicide attempt stastic increases by three-fold.
COVID-19 has complex impacts on mental health from isolation which can lead to economic challenges and grief. These consequences are particularly salient for young adults, medical and essential workers and those who have contracted COVID-19. For the Latinx community, stress, anxiety and depression have been exacerbated by financial and social impacts.
In terms of housing, about 25% of renters in Boulder County spend at least half of their income on rent. In some County Departments, 70% of employees commute from outside the County, commuting from the county to work is highest for lower income workers. The last ten years of available data show Boulder County has created 3.5 jobs for every one unit of housing.
Ashley Stolzmann and Elaina Shively’s responses can be found here.
