Building a fund for affordable homes

SHEFFIELD, Mass. — The challenge of finding ways to fund affordable housing in the Tri-state area was the main topic of discussion at a meeting March 4 of HousingUs, an initiative of the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation.Community and government leaders from Berkshire, Litchfield, Dutchess and Columbia counties attended the organization’s annual meeting, which was held at Dewey Memorial Hall. One of the speakers at the meeting was David Rich of Salisbury, who is executive director of Supportive Housing Works (which is based in Fairfield County). He said “a quiet housing crisis” afflicts the Tri-state region.Without housing that young families can afford, he said, communities won’t thrive; young professionals will move away.A healthy mix of housing in a community should be 8 to 12 percent affordable, he said. In this region, only 1 to 2 percent of housing is considered affordable. He applauded HousingUs for the work it’s doing in trying to make more housing affordable and available. HousingUs Program Director Jocelyn Ayer gave an overview of the past year, noting efforts to make six units of affordable housing available in Salisbury.The group also hosted a housing symposium last September in Great Barrington that was attended by senior officials from the federal Housing and Urban Development (HUD) agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture as well as elected officials, and volunteers with housing groups from New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts.A priority for the group now is “working on an initiative to create a fund to buy properties and preserve them for affordable housing,” Ayers said.Charles Church, a member of Salisbury Affordable Housing Commission, reiterated the “necessity of a loan fund in order to take advantage of prime properties as they become available.”Also discussed at length was the difficulty that people in need of affordable housing have in getting mortgages. Many people in need of low-cost homes have a history of bad credit or are burdened with debts that make them unattractive to local banks. HousingUs also has had problems with helping homeowners get loans to convert space at their existing homes into accessory apartments. One success story shared during the meeting was of Colby Shove, a local contractor who, with the assistance of HousingUs, was able to secure the loans he needed to construct an accessory apartment.To learn more about HousingUs, go to www.housingus.org or call 413-229-0370.