DURANGO, Colo. — After days of negotiations and sleepless nights, residents of the Westside Mobile Home Park received the news they’d been hoping for: their landlord accepted the residents’ second offer to buy the land from underneath their homes.
“The frustration, the tears — they were all worth it,” said Alejandra Chavez, Westside resident and president of the community’s co-op.
Chavez and more than a dozen of her neighbors all huddled around a laptop on a video conference call with Stefka Czarnecki Fanchi Thursday afternoon. Fanchi is the president and CEO of Elevation Community Land Trust, the community trust that put in the offer on behalf of the residents.
“It has been a really tough week,” Fanchi told residents, “We’ve been in contact with the seller, with the broker and with the other buyer… and I do have an update and that is that we are buying the Westside Mobile Home Park.”
Before Fanchi could finish her sentence Chavez turned to the crowd of her neighbors and cheered: “Yes!”
People clapped, jumped up and down, hugged one another and some even picked up their children and kissed them with relief. After a few seconds of celebration and tears, Chavez turned back to the laptop and told Fanchi, “I’m speechless. I don’t know what to say. I haven’t slept in days; I already bit off all my nails. Thank you so much for all your hard work. I know we couldn’t have done it without you.”