COMMUNITY LIVING OFFERS SOLUTION TO LONELINESS EPIDEMIC

By Giles Clasen and Robert Davis

Photos Courtesy of Giles Clasen

ROCHELLE BROGAN, 60, still talks about the hug she shared with her son last October. “That hug was great. It was the best; my kids give good hugs,” she told the Denver VOICE.

She said she could feel the weight of the pandemic lift off her chest as she held him tight. Prior to that day, Brogan struggled to cope with the social isolation caused by the pandemic. As a self-proclaimed extreme extrovert, she clamored for her former life—one filled with people: hugs, handshakes, and all.

Before the pandemic hit, Brogan worked as a peer resource navigator at Denver Rescue Mission. In her role, she helped people find resources to escape homelessness or get substance abuse treatment. She also worked shifts at the Denver Public Library until her physical health began to decline.

Brogan was also active in her church and volunteered with the Colorado Safe Parking Initiative, a campaign to allow people experiencing homelessness in Denver to sleep in a legally parked car that they own.

As she held her son, Brogan thought about how she had not seen either of her children in over six months. Her daughter was pregnant with Brogan’s first grandchild, and to be safe and maintain social distancing, Brogan did not go near them.

She always wanted to be a part of her daughter’s pregnancy journey, from rubbing her feet when they hurt to watching her grow into her new role as a mother. To Brogan, these are more would-be memories that COVID-19 prevented from becoming reality.

“My energy and life are enhanced by interacting with people. I wasn’t getting my energy and stimulation,” Brogan said. “I couldn’t see my kids and it was killing me. I couldn’t see my granddaughter and it was killing me.”

It would be another three months before the family could reunite.

 THE LONELINESS EPIDEMIC

Recent research by the Harvard Graduate School of Education describes feelings of loneliness as a new epidemic sweeping the country.

 The study found that 36% of Americans, like Brogan, are experiencing “serious loneliness.” This condition is defined by researchers as being isolated “frequently, almost all the time, or all the time.”

This epidemic is primarily impacting young people aged 16 to 25 years old. Sixty percent of respondents in this age group reported feeling increasingly isolated. Mothers were the second-highest group with 51% of respondents. Overall, 43% of Americans reported feeling increasingly lonely.

And increased loneliness and isolation come with serious health costs. According to the study, loneliness is linked to “early mortality and a wide array of serious physical and emotional problems, including depression, anxiety, heart disease, substance abuse, and domestic abuse.”

Brogan admitted she’s been feeling irritable lately, which she knows to be a sign of her depression. She began battling depression more than 20 years ago, before her first stint in homelessness. She’s seeing a therapist now and is fostering kittens to help abate the loneliness.

However, Brogan also developed an infection in her GI tract because of the stress and anxiety she’s felt since mid-March of last year. Over the summer, her condition was so bad that she only ate bowls of chicken stock and white rice.

Some therapists say that this loneliness can also manifest in misdirected anger, from sharp tones in casual conversation to episodes of outright rage online. In an interview with Vice News, Therapist Ashley McHan reported that she’s noticed an increasing number of incidences of misdirected anger among her patients.

According to McHan, “Over time, we get fatigued. If there hasn’t been change happening around us or there hasn’t been improvement of situations, our ability to tolerate them is going to decrease...our ability to cope might eventually piddle out.”

Andrea Bonior, a therapist and author of the upcoming book “Detox Your Thoughts” shared similar insight.

“We are, right now, just chronically living under threat; even the smallest decisions that normally we would take for granted now feel very threatening,” she told VICE News. “We’re also just more irritable because most of us are in situations where we’re stifled, we maybe feel trapped, and we’re not able to actually do what we want to do.”

COMMUNITY LIVING, COMMUNITY SOLUTIONS

 Social isolation and loneliness are causes for significant concern, especially in regard to persons from vulnerable and marginalized groups who are at risk of experiencing homelessness. However, some alternative housing advocates in Denver say a solution to the city’s ailments is right underneath its nose: community living.

The term “community living” often refers to three types of living arrangements—collectives, cooperatives, and co-housing properties. There are several types of each living arrangement, but some of the most common are rental collectives, market-rate cooperatives, and nonprofit cooperatives.

Rental collectives can be operated in single-family homes, apartments, townhomes, or condos. Oftentimes the building is owned by an offsite landlord. Roommates often vote on cable and internet packages or rules regarding food storage and common space usage.

For example, an individual who purchases a share of a group equity cooperative is required to return an agreed-upon percentage of their share’s equity to the cooperative once the share is sold. This arrangement helps ensure the cooperative stays affordable for future members.

Market-rate cooperatives allow residents to purchase a share of the corporation that owns the building. An example of this is the Holly Street Townhomes, a potential project developed by the Co-Own Company in Hilltop that will bring 24 affordable units to the neighborhood.

Nonprofit cooperatives offer subsidized affordable housing to people earning between 30% and 60% of an area’s median income. The building is owned and operated by the nonprofit organization to ensure affordability. These arrangements sometimes come with “group equity” arrangements, which prohibit property owners from draining a property’s equity after selling it. 

There are no nonprofit cooperatives in Denver, but there are several collectives and co-housing properties. One of the most well-known is the Queen City Collaborative at 901 Clarkson St. in Capitol Hill.

During a recent co-buying class hosted by LivWork Denver, Laura Cowperthwaite, who owns another co-housing arrangement known as Casa Gala, said she decided to invest in community housing because she didn’t want to couch surf after retiring.

“Rather than handing down my homes to my children, I’m going to create housing for my community,” she said.

As home values continue their meteoric rise across Denver, housing is becoming increasingly out of reach for many potential homebuyers. This is leading many to seek to split the costs with others, even total strangers, Cowperthwaite added.

Economists at the World Economic Forum (WEF) expect co-living arrangements to become increasingly popular as COVID-19 upended the traditional office culture.

Additionally, urban properties remain in high demand for younger homebuyers. WEF estimates up to 70% of people will live in cities by 2050. As a result, cities across the globe will need to find a way to adapt to an increase of tenants working from home. Community living provides both an environmentally and urban-friendly solution.

Cowperthwaite said Denver’s housing market is already seeing increased demand for alternative living styles. According to the Colorado Association of Realtors, the average home price in Denver is now over $600,000, while the U.S. Census reports that the median household income from 2015 to 2019 was $68,592.00.

“Now that COVID-19 happened, we’re seeing a lot more demand for live-work spaces because of the shift in work environments,” she added. “And, it’s shown no signs of slowing down.” ■