“There is no house like the house of belonging” David Whyte

As you know, our community is both generous and appreciative.  It’s a way of life that drew many of us in, and that ethic sustains us over the years as we move through personal and community-wide ups and downs. Over time, regardless of when we arrived and started to call the Methow “home,” we learn to engage and give ourselves to each other, and we find ourselves belonging to this place, rather than expecting it to belong to us.

As the Executive Director of the Methow Housing Trust, I end up being the conduit for a lot of feedback - much of which comes in the form of gratitude. When this feedback comes (as it often does, in passing at a local store or the post office), I often wish that I had time to list off the significant team of people and partners that make the delivery of affordable homes to local families...possible. I wish for all of the people who make it possible, to hear directly from their community, what a difference they are making.

So, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, I’d like to share with you some of the mighty forces at work behind the scenes at MHT, so that when you next see one of them, you can offer thanks to them directly.

BUILDING HOMES in this era of record high material and labor costs, in a rural community (where contractors and sub-contractors are booked 2-3 years out) is not easy!  But thanks to the following partners who make MHT a priority in their quality work, we are still building energy efficient, durable, quality homes - affordably. We attribute this success to the diligent and endless value-engineering of our design team, the dedication of our building team, and the willingness of our sub-contractors to show up when we need them. Thank you for building an average of 8-10 homes per year!

• Big Picture Construction & Crew (Larry, Jake, Nick, Cameron, Mark and Colby) These guys work their TAILS off every day at the jobsite, and give their hearts (and joints) to building quality homes for our qualified homebuyers.

• MB Studio – Jeff is the man behind the efficient, quality home designs we build.

• Sub-contractors can make or break a budget.  Our team of subs show up on time, and work efficiently to move projects along. Huge thanks to: JA Haase Excavating, CJ’s Plumbing, Full Spectrum Electric, Flow Electric, Fisher Refrigeration, All Valley Insulation, Methow Valley Drywall and Cascade Foam & Coatings.

• North Valley Lumber – Not only does Nick alert us to the best time to purchase materials, he advises us on how to improve affordability and quality within a constantly changing industry.

We could not do business without the STRONG PARTNERSHIPS we have formed with all of the people who approve and prepare our building sites for construction:

• Most of the land that MHT has developed to date, has been donated or sold to us at a significantly reduced price. And in some cases, with utilities already installed!  We simply would not have been able to produce so many affordable homes in 5 short years, without this significant support. Thank you to Moccasin Lake Foundation, Lee Whittaker, Hank and Judy Konrad and an Anonymous Donor for this critical contribution to affordable homes.

• The Towns of Winthrop and Twisp – we appreciate your recognition of the acute need for affordable housing in our community, and your support and leadership toward the efforts of MHT and other affordable housing developers.

• Tackman Surveying – Thank you Bill and Luke for giving us the lay of the land!

• JA Haase Excavation – Thank you Justin and crew for taking on our infrastructure development, and for moving around all of those pesky rocks like true artists.

• And on the back end of construction, thank you to Camden and crew of Plantas Nativas, for setting our homeowners up with basic irrigation and front yard landscaping.

• Thank you Roger Rowatt, for keeping us all in line as our Cascade Meadows North project manager!

Once the homes are inspected and deemed ready for sale, our eager and eligible homebuyers are supported by a team of local professionals to close the deal and protect their investment:

• Mortgage Lenders – MHT homebuyers are presented with a handful of favorable lending options, unique to their circumstances and needs.  Many thanks to WaFed, Homesight, and USDA for their lending partnership, and in particular, to North Cascades National Bank who recently approached MHT with an offer to hold their intertest rates (for MHT homebuyers) at 3.75%, when the national average has gone as high as 7.2%!  I can’t emphasize enough what a huge gift this is to our community.  Without this voluntary donation of low rates from our local bank, MHT would have to either raise another $50K per home in order to make a higher interest rate mortgage affordable, or disqualify some of our lower income buyers.  Thanks to NCNB, neither is necessary.  Please thank them!

• WFG Title Company – Thank you for your dedication to our unique ground lease home sale model, and for making the final steps of purchasing a home so clear and positive for our buyers.

• VIP Insurance – Thank you for providing such accessible homeowner policy options for our buyers, and for walking them through the process.

MHT now supports a community of 26 community land trust homeowners, and 61 eligible families waiting for the opportunity to buy a home.  Many thanks to all MHT homeowners for being ambassadors of the community land trust model of homeownership, and for being willing to tell the stories of your housing journey!  Most of the homes we build are part of a neighborhood of MHT homes that require the structure of a Home Owners Association (HOA) to support common areas, roads or other shared assets.  Each HOA relies on the leadership of volunteer HOA officers. Thank you HOA officers of Canyon Street, McKinney Ridge, and soon Cascade Meadows South, for supporting your neighborhood with time and care.

And without a doubt, one of the foundations of our success is…YOU!  MHT now has a donor base of over 440 community members and businesses that have made financial support of affordable homeownership a priority.  As a relatively new organization, we are humbled by your exceptional generosity, trust and recognition of community need.  We will continue to work hard to put your investment to work for the people of our Valley.  The Build Belonging Capital Campaign was a huge success thanks to your participation, raising nearly enough money to support MHT in bringing the portfolio of local, permanently affordable homes to 75 within the next 3-4 years! 

And finally, when you see them out in the community, please thank the members of the MHT Staff, Board, Volunteers and Advisers.  If you are interested in meeting this incredibly committed and passionate group, we’d love to see you at the Annual Membership Meeting on December 1st, 5:30pm at the Winthrop Public Library!

Wishing you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving and Holiday Season!

Danica Ready, MHT Executive Director