I love Nederland. I love living here, working here, meeting people and having a drink with them here.

I was given the chance as a nonlocal to write for the local newspaper here and I dedicated myself to that opportunity. I took a job at Mountain Man Outdoor Store, and my girlfriend Natalie Duplessy took a job at Salto. We love these jobs and we love being a part of the community.

For months, Natalie and I drove into Ned from Denver. We waited out our lease there while hoping that a place would become available here in time. It was late February, the last hour, and we were able to find a place.

It’s been a month. In this month we’ve worked and hustled, as do all the employees of this town, year-round, but especially during FDGD. We’ve shared a lot with this community over our first month as “residents”.

We’re not really residents, though… not officially. We’re in the same boat that a lot of newcomers, especially workers, find themselves in. Subleasing or motel-poaching or couch-surfing, anxiously waiting with fingers and toes crossed that something long-term will be made available. A guaranteed roof over our heads for at least six months, hopefully a year. A lease for an address that’ll allow us access to our rights as citizens, like the ability to vote.

We’ve learned of the true instability of subleasing, as we are already having to anxiously search and hope for another apartment. Even more frustrating is the fact that those who represent these properties would deny us without ever meeting us; without any intention of working with us.

This situation of “musical apartments” is the unfortunate prerequisite for moving to Ned, and is harshest for those in the workforce. “It’s easier when you’re here.” That’s what we’ve been told, but what does that even mean? I know and have spoken with those who have worked here for years and who are still unsure of their living situation.

It’s more luck than perseverance that lands you a place to live here; for how can you prove your worth if most property owners, realtors or managers won’t even meet with you? No matter the foothold in the community that you try to cultivate, there are gatekeepers who don’t really represent that community. The frustration caused by this is magnified when you truly love what you do, when you truly love being here. It’s heartbreaking to be stuck on the fringe and to not truly be a part of something great.

We’re not alone in this situation. We are grateful to everyone who has reached out and offered to help or who just listen and empathize; it’s what makes this community so great. This isn’t just our burden, either. Many have gone through it or are going through it, or maybe even going through it all over again.

This is, in part, just an airing of frustrations before returning to the norm of grinning and bearing it. But if solutions to this problem are important to you, and you can vote, if you can truly be a part of this community, please do. Those of us on the fringe thank you for it.

If you have a lead on housing, please email corpklegg02@gmail.com.