The district, which has spent years buying and building homes for its staff, now runs lease renewals, new-hire housing matching and portfolio oversight through Annum
ASPEN, Colo., Oct. 22, 2026 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Annum Housing, the AI-powered community housing navigator that launched in Southern Oregon this spring, today announced its expansion into Colorado through a partnership with Aspen School District. The district is using Annum to run its employee housing program for teachers and staff. This makes Colorado the second state where the platform is live, as Annum continues a national rollout.
In Colorado, a full-time worker must earn $36.44 an hour to afford a modest two-bedroom rental at fair market rent, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition's Out of Reach 2026 report. That is roughly 2.4 times the state's $15.16 minimum wage. In Pitkin County, home to Aspen, the figure rises to $42.58 an hour, the third-highest in the state.
Aspen School District has done more than most employers to solve this discrepancy. Since 2020, district voters have approved two bond measures totaling $209 million. Among other priorities, that money funded a major expansion of staff housing, and the district now owns 120 units. But owning housing is only part of the job. Staff still have to be matched to the right units and renewals still have to be managed. The district also needs to know, in real time, which employees need housing and which options are working, yet much of this work has historically been done by hand.
"Supply matters, and communities like Aspen have made meaningful investments in it," said Jerryck Murrey, CEO and Founder of Annum Housing. "But building units only solves part of the problem. Employers here have already built and bought housing. What's been missing is the system to connect people to it, see what's working, and act on it in real time. Aspen School District is showing what that looks like."
Aspen School District's housing portfolio includes 120 units serving more than 200 faculty and staff. In the first phase of the rollout:
- More than 100 staff members completed lease renewals through a dedicated Annum portal.
- About 80 incoming teachers and staff used Dorothy, Annum's AI housing navigator, to lock in their housing ahead of the 2026-27 school year.
"Housing benefits have become a critical part of how we recruit and retain great teachers and staff," said Joe Waneka, Director of Operations and Facilities, Aspen School District. "But running these programs has historically meant chasing people down individually and hoping we didn't lose track of who needed what. Now our staff can see their options and make a decision in one place, and we can see in real time what's happening across our housing portfolio. That's the difference between reacting to a housing crisis and managing one."
The Aspen deployment follows Annum's launch in Southern Oregon earlier this year. Later this month, Annum will release an updated version of its app, and in the coming months, the company plans to extend its matching tools to additional employers across the Roaring Fork Valley. The company expects to bring the platform to additional states in the coming months.
About Annum Housing
Annum Housing is a community-wide housing navigator that helps working families find and access housing support before financial strain turns into displacement. By identifying early signs of housing instability and connecting people to personalized resources, Annum enables communities to understand and respond to real housing needs in real time. The platform is live in Southern Oregon and Aspen, Colorado, with additional markets launching in the coming months. Learn more at www.annumhousing.com.
Media Contact
Jonathan Murray, Annum Housing, 1 8824729394 (REMOVE #), [email protected], www.annumhousing.com
SOURCE Annum Housing
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