LWV hosts community open house

The LWV open house on November 22nd drew an enthusiastic crowd, with more than 100 Crestone/Baca residents stopping by to explore the new rental housing for older adults. Visitors toured the units and got a firsthand look at the community building, where welcome remarks highlighted the importance of supportive, accessible housing for elders.

CPCH Director Rick Hart and Board Chair Kirsten Schreiber address attendees.

Resident Susan Skellenger reflects on her friendship with LWV founder Barbara Hoeppner.

Performance by Crestone Songbirds

Baca visitors enjoy the community building.

Open house featured delicious food, catered by Jennx (far right).

Executive Director/Project Manager Akia Tanara (L) with Judith Oakland.

Jillian(L) and Kirsten

Kari (L) and Stephanie

This is the prayer Kirsten read at the open house

At our ground breaking in June of 2023 I wrote a prayer, a blessing I will read again

And add gratitude, acknowledging as much as I can of everything and everyone involved.

I prayed –

May the natural world look kindly on us as we break this ground for an aging community to live safely and affordably Today I say with a full heart, I believe the natural world did look kindly on this project.

LWV broke ground, took out all the trees, beautiful trees and moved many tons of earth. It was hard to watch

So I had prayed, may the trees on this land forgive us – and I believe they did

I prayed may the sand under our feet be happy to be displaced – and I felt its support I prayed may the animals integrate these little houses into their trails someday, and I still pray, they will



I prayed, may the big mountains and small hills give their blessing, as they CAN give their blessing to us all May the Sun and the Moon and all other moving parts in the universe smile down on us

May the winds blow gently and mostly they did



May the people who have walked, hunted and gathered on this land give their blessing

May the Gods of this land, all those above and below, South, West, North and East bless LWV and its residents May this place be protected from natural catastrophes, fire, floods and winds I prayed, may our neighbors be patient during the time of noise and disturbance and then enjoy this community. It was hard on them, very hard, so I asked for forgiveness and pray we are healed I prayed may everyone be safe during construction, and with so much gratitude I can say, nobody was hurt

Thank you to all spirits around us for your protection. I acknowledge your presence in everything. The hurdles we ran into were resolved, thank you all.

We thank everyone who contributed to this project, from small to large


The State of Colorado

Our Saguache County and the Town trustees Senator Cleave Simpson

All the funders and donors

I especially thank all board members who have volunteered so much of their time and life, seeing this through to the end – Julia Voss, Denise Peine, Rick Hart and Christina Bergholm and all past board members, visionaries and dreamers, Marve Mattis, Burt Wadman, Judy DeLuca, Findley West, Tom Demers, John Alfano, Vivia Lawson, Richard Sanderson, Tricia Toney, Maria Sarro, Cheryl Waschenko and many more…

Ammi, your heart and soul was in this project and I know you are very happy to see it completed. Thank you for your huge part in it for many years, you were a true believer!

Barbara and Marve, we miss you.

Many times I prayed to Barbara in the beyond when we needed help and I believe she worked miracles.

Barbara, you were a guiding light for us. I really miss you my friend and wish you were living here now as you wanted to.

Yes, we volunteers gave many hours and days. I thank our Project Manager Akia Tanara. Much gratitude for your heart, your advocacy, your patience, your expertise working with all agencies and organizations. You gave more than was expected and truly brought this housing project from conception to completion.

A special thank you for Linda Craig, our book keeper. She kept us on track and was steady by our side at all times

All builders involved we thank electricians, plumbers, painters, carpenters, earth movers, the solar part, the engineers, architects….It takes thousands to build a big project. The restaurants and grocery stores here in town that provided food, the truck drivers delivering, materials, and gas. Thank you! It truly takes everything and everyone. Thank you to our families and friends that held space for us. Thank you Peter, your help has been precious with the website and more I thank Steven Elliott my husband – this year has kept me very occupied and he supported LWV in many ways.

And now I pray, may the people living here be content in their new home, enjoy each other, care for each other and have a place they can call home

May this place and this land be an opportunity to thrive.

May this project benefit the greater good and the larger community from Crestone to the Baca, the County and The Valley and beyond…With gratitude to all of you supporters and believers

May we live in peace together