May 2024 is shaping up to be momentous. We started by rolling out the new name and logo, updating it to match our expanding service area…the neighboring “twin” county. We are now Columbia-Greene Habitat for Humanity.
This week, we began prepping the site of our next build. This will be the first of our new Rural Starter Homes, a super-efficient, low-carbon, locally-sourced home, designed to be affordable by those making average wages in our area (around $45-50k or so per year.)
These workers — essential workers: medical technicians, teachers, first-responders and the like — have largely been shut out of housing in our area, by escalating costs and a lack of affordable supply. Starter homes, the bedrock of the housing market, have largely been abandoned by developers over the past three decades.
As a result, our communities are shrinking.
There is a “debate” in some circles as to whether housing or jobs are more critical elements in addressing the housing affordability crisis. I think this is off the mark. There are plenty of jobs…currently. What there aren’t plenty of are workers who can live near those jobs affordably. There are numerous studies that show this. And few are claiming a lack of housing in the above $500,000 category.
It is basic housing…that which helped create prosperity for many, that is at the core of our focus.
The house that we will build is a panelized design. Its exterior frame and interior walls can be built in sections, in a controlled environment or on site, and transported. They are less expensive and easier and faster to build. They will use 1/3 of the entry of a typical home. We can build them for our own programs or for others.
We will start this home at the NY State Capitol on May 21, and truck the house a couple of dozen miles to our site. Our wall-raising and dedication are on May 29.
We can nail the affordable housing crisis. If we work at it together. That’s what builds communities. Always has been.
Let’s build.