The Methow Conservancy recently announced the donation of six acres in Winthrop's Heckendorn neighborhood to the MHT. Located near the Meadowlark Natural Area and Sullivan Cemetery, this land will enable MHT to develop a permanently affordable neighborhood for full-time residents.
This community forum hosted by Methow Housing Trust, Resilient Methow, Methow Valley Long-Term Recovery and VIP Insurance will be on Wednesday October 30th, 6:00pm at the Winthrop Library.
Since its inception in 2017, Methow Housing Trust has made huge strides to address the need for affordable housing with the development of five neighborhoods, the construction of 49 homes, and the expansion from one staff member to five.
MHT’s core program requires expertise in land acquisition, neighborhood planning and permitting, neighborhood design and project management. As the need for focused leadership in this key area grows, Danica Ready, MHT’s founding director, has decided to make that part of her current role her primary focus.
The aim of local housing easements is to create and preserve housing for people who live and work in the valley. The idea is to establish permanent easements on properties that would require occupants of housing on those properties to be full-time residents.
by Ashley Lodato, original published by Methow Valley News, 05/25/23
The Methow Housing Trust has broken ground and begun construction in their next Twisp neighborhood, which will eventually add 10 single-family homes ranging in size from one to four bedrooms to the trust’s inventory of permanently affordable, quality homes for full-time residents who make between 60-150% of area median income.
by Sandra Strieby, original published by Methow Valley News, in Methow Home 2023 03/16/23
“Home,” with all its implications, is a compelling concept, one that feeds our souls and imaginations and grounds us on every level. Even the thought of being without a home is frightening; the reality can undermine health and well-being and precipitate a cascade of consequences.
While the housing crisis continues, there is strong work being done! In recognition of this fact, the Housing Solutions Network has evolved yet again. In the fall of 2022, leaders representing an organization actively working on a housing project were invited to be a part of the HSN, attending bi-monthly roundtables (along with ad hoc collaboration), to create some connective tissue between these leaders and their projects. Today the HSN is made up of 15 individuals, representing 15 different entities and projects.
This group has now met twice, and the progress and optimism is contagious and encouraging. We’d like to share this optimism, encouragement, and notes on progress with you, our community!
Please join us on Tuesday, February 7th, from 5-7pm at the Twisp Grange.
A teacher and Methow Housing Trust homeowner, a long-time community leader for economic resiliency in the Methow Valley, a professional civil engineer with a passion for inclusive and affordable housing, and more! What do all these wonderful community members have in common? They are serving on the 2023 Methow Housing Trust’s Board of Directors. Read their full bios in our latest blog.
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.
YOU, our community, have informed the direction of the Methow Housing Trust throughout our formative years. Together we are building towards a healthier housing ecosystem for our Valley that includes affordable homeownership for at least 75 local families, 22 affordable rental units through partnership, and continued widespread community action to advance more local housing solutions. Read on to see how you’ve shaped where MHT has gone thus far, and where we are headed next as YOUR community land trust.
We are a community that believes in belonging, and builds toward it. In times of adversity, we operate from an unyielding willingness to adapt, to innovate, to include and unite rather than exclude or polarize. Thank you to the 250+ households shaping the Methow’s housing future through participation in the Methow Housing Trust’s Campaign to Build Belonging. You made a statement that will have lasting impact.
Housing Trust to build 11 affordable homes in Twisp
“We have always been committed to helping with local housing, but can’t do it alone,” Konrad said. “I have been watching what the Methow Housing Trust does with their program, and have two employees that already live in MHT homes in Twisp. They are fulfilling an important community need, and we wanted to help them continue to successfully build more homes for local folks as soon as possible.”
“The Konrads have been such leaders in housing for a good long time. We are proud to have their trust and partnership on this project,” Ready said.
2021 marked a community-wide call to action to address growing disparities in access to housing in the Valley, which are felt (and heard) in new ways, and with new urgency. The sense of belonging afforded by secure housing is increasingly hard to come by, especially for year-round residents whose income is derived locally.
“This partnership has been brewing for over two years, but the events and market trends of this past year made it a clear priority,” said Housing Trust Executive Director Danica Ready in a statement. “MHT has learned, from informal conversations with our partners in affordable rental development, that a key to their grant-seeking success is being able to declare secured land for their project at the time they apply for funding. We have so much respect for the leadership and work of HAOC, so it was an obvious partnership to pursue.”
“The housing crisis we are currently facing … is not new news for us,” Nancy Nash-Mendez, Executive Director of the Housing Authority said. “The thought that through this new partnership, there will be 40- plus families having a place to call home by the end of 2023 is very exciting.”
