Amy Engelmann, her husband, Curt, and two daughters had no permanent place to stay this past weekend, so they temporarily moved into the recently opened Element Basalt-Aspen hotel.
The parents aren’t jobless, nor were they evicted. But unlike some workers who commute to Aspen from as far away as towns along the Interstate 70 corridor, Amy can’t do that because of her job’s demands.
As a nurse anesthetist, Amy must be close to Aspen Valley Hospital — no more than a 30-minute drive away — in case of an emergency, be it coming to the aid of a car-crash victim or a woman in labor.
The Engelmanns also earn too much money to acquire affordable housing in Pitkin County but don’t draw enough to find an adequate home on the free market. They’re looking for a three-bedroom residence, and for their financial status, it doesn’t look good. Recent advertisements have shown rentals for three-bedroom units in Aspen commanding anywhere from $6,000 to $9,000 a month.
“We are homeless,” said Curt Engelmann, who works in the fields of carpentry and painting, and is a winter employee for Aspen Skiing Co.
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