DENVER — As communities in La Plata and Archuleta counties begin to clean up after massive flooding that damaged more than 100 homes, nonprofits are stepping up in a unique way to help families find a place to stay.
Mile High United Way's 2-1-1 Help Center has partnered with Durango's Team Up and Airbnb's nonprofit arm to provide emergency housing to anyone displaced by the floods. Airbnb.org is letting impacted residents stay at properties in the area for free so they can focus on getting back on their feet.
Residents can call 2-1-1 to reach Mile High United Way call takers and get connected to the service. The hotline is available to anyone in the state to access critical resources such as food, shelter, rental assistance, and childcare at any time.
Airbnb hosts in Colorado can sign up to list their home to help families impacted by flooding in Southwest Colorado by clicking here.
Wade Treichler, Chief Operations Officer of Mile High United Way, said this is a first-of-its-kind partnership for the state.
"We're hopeful that this can be a resource moving forward for the state," said Treichler. "This is almost an eviction by nature, for lack of a better word, but the more we can do to prevent people from having to have a hard financial hill to climb back up and help them up, then I think the better off we're going to be."
Denver7 spoke with Kim Christensen, a Mile High United Way employee who has been on the ground in La Plata County assisting families since Wednesday. She said many residents are coming together to help clean up their communities.
"Their world has been turned upside down, but this is a really resilient community, and like I said, they're banding together to try to rebuild. Some of these homes we've heard have been in some families for generations, and so there's that feeling of loss, but also feeling of gratitude that they, you know, have each other, everyone's safe, and that they can move forward," said Christensen.
The floods have so far destroyed two homes and caused water damage to nearly 100 others, according to officials.
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