A year ago, businesses across the Summit County were struggling under repressive public health restrictions. Now, there’s a new issue at hand and one that likely won’t be fixed overnight: Due to limited workforce housing.
When Breckenridge resident Juliane Hurst was laid off from her job at the beginning of the pandemic, she was convinced she would have to return to her home in the Philippines.
“I was stressed because I just got here to America,” she said. “I was thinking of moving back to the Philippines because there’s nothing to do out here.”
Hurst is one of many in Summit County’s local workforce who found themselves strapped for cash and unsure what to do when the pandemic hit. She’s also among the more than 1,700 households that have received financial assistance through the Family & Intercultural Resource Center’s rent and mortgage relief program.