Ages

High School Students, College Students, Adults​

 

Maximum Group Size

20 people, including adults

​

Available Dates​

• ​July 11 to 16, 2027

• July 18 to 23, 2027

• July 25 to 30, 2027

• This trip is also available for flexible length and timing trips from September to April. This could be a day trip, weekend trip, or week-long trip. Prices are adjusted based on the number of days.

​​

Fort Collins, Colorado, combines small-town warmth with innovative approaches to addressing housing injustices. Northern Colorado's strong connection to nature and open spaces has fueled rapid population growth, creating a housing market that is increasingly imbalanced and straining for many residents. In South Fort Collins, neighborhoods like Heartside Hill are experimenting with creative models of affordable housing and inclusive community life, offering hopeful alternatives amid widespread housing insecurity.

 

A Be The Neighbor trip to Fort Collins is all about rolling up your sleeves and learning how housing and homelessness affect real people. Together, we'll ask what systemic issues have shaped who can and cannot access housing today, and how we can reconnect with the people around us to build communities that push back against fear and otherization. Based at Heartside Hill, your group will split time between hands-on service and learning, working alongside nonprofits focused on affordable housing, homelessness, food insecurity, and inclusion. You might help build affordable housing, share a meal at a home for adults with intellectual disabilities, serve breakfast to the unhoused community, or support families experiencing homelessness.

 

Through guest speakers, simulations, and site visits, you'll leave with tools to advocate for housing that isn't reserved only for the affluent, and that doesn't push those at risk of housing loss into neighboring communities.

The Fort Collins experience highlights both the challenges and the possibilities of building communities where everyone has a place to belong, leaving participants with tangible ways to serve and a broader vision for advocating compassion, equity, and lasting change.

 

Your group will explore how the topics you're learning about relate to your own community and develop a plan for how you can continue this work when you get home. Be The Neighbor weeks are learning and launching trips, meaning participants will leave the week equipped to live lives of love, service, and justice in ways that are relational, sustainable, and dignity-affirming!

 

Be The Neighbor’s summer programming begins on Sunday evening and concludes on Friday morning. This location gives groups the opportunity to stay an extra night for an additional $10 per person. Programming will conclude Friday morning and your group can have the remainder of the day to explore the area and leave on Saturday morning. 

Trip costs follow our equitable pricing model. You can read more about it here. We want everyone to be able to participate no matter their financial realities. Regardless of which level you select, your trip includes: 

 

• A simple breakfast, lunch and snack Monday morning through Friday morning

• A dedicated Site Director and Intern(s) to facilitate your week

• Fully planned service and educational experiences

• Theological reflections created to engage participants in connecting what they are learning to their faith

• Discussion guides for priviate group reflection

• Group interactive education led by BTN staff 

• Lodging, including showers, dedicated sleeping rooms, gathering rooms, and kitchens use - most sites include air mattresses or cots for all of your participants

• Costs covered for honorariums for speakers, activities, supplies for projects with community partners, and any entrance fees for educational experiences

• A t-shirt for each participant

• Journals for each participant

• Online orientation for your adult leaders 

 

Please note that your group will be responsible for dinners and transportation during the week.