Larimer County, CO

Built environment, Climate and environment | 2026

Understanding the water usage and safety concerns of mobile home park residents to spur infrastructure improvements.

As a result of decades of land use, zoning, and lending practices embedded in structural racism, people of color have limited traditional homeownership opportunities and are disproportionately represented among mobile home communities in Larimer County, Colorado. Residents have been raising concerns about water quality, low water pressure, and water outages for several years. Access to clean water is essential for health, nutrition, and disease prevention, yet families with unresolved water issues often lack effective means of documenting their concerns. To advocate for long-term systems change, the Family Center/La Familia, a family resource center serving northern Colorado, will collaborate with resident leaders to document water access and safety concerns and remove barriers to safe, reliable, clean water in mobile home communities in Larimer County. 

Staff from Mi Voz, the Family Center/La Familia’s resident leadership program, will partner with the Larimer County Department of Health and Environment and resident leaders of 12 mobile home communities to codesign, conduct, and analyze a water quality and access reporting tool. Mi Voz staff and resident leaders will use this tool in English and Spanish and capture information on water outages and water quality incidents, as well as residents’ perceptions of water safety and experiences with past complaint resolution. The project team will analyze the data and develop recommendations for effective reporting of water deficiencies and policy and infrastructure improvements. Survey results will be documented in a water access and safety report and shared with residents of the mobile home communities and the City of Fort Collins and Larimer County governments through community presentations. 

This project will provide timely, community-driven data needed to address challenges with water quality and access and inform policy and program changes to make infrastructure more equitable. Residents of mobile home communities will gain tools to document their concerns and engage with municipal staff to seek solutions to their water access and quality challenges. And government partners will be equipped with data to support their efforts to pinpoint effective improvements and pilot new programs.