BY SHEILA LIERMANN

Realtors, brokers, buyers and sellers are making an impact on the lack of workforce housing in Blaine County one transaction at a time.

With concern about the rapidly changing character of Sun Valley, Ketchum, Hailey, Bellevue, Carey, and communities beyond, and the inability for essential employees to afford stable, secure housing, Sun Valley REALTORS Give (SVRG) created the Community Housing Fund.

With a $10,000 gift from the Sun Valley Board of Realtors and their unanimous support plus an anonymous $25,000 donation, the Sun Valley REALTORS Give created their newest program, the Community Housing Fund, in January 2024. 

The workforce moving into the new Saddle Lofts project on North River Street in Hailey benefitted from a grant from the Community Housing Fund.

Before launching the program, the Community Housing Fund raised over $110,000 from Founding Donors, Ambassadors of the Fund and Friends of the Fund. These initial donors were Realtors, brokerages and local title companies who share the vision of the Community Housing Fund.

Fundraising will continue through 2024 and beyond with the Closings with a Cause program. At the closing table, the Community Housing Fund encourages Realtors, brokerages, buyers and sellers to contribute to non-profit entities creating workforce housing or providing down payment assistance for essential workers in Blaine County. Closings with a Cause is a unique and sustainable approach to fund raising for workforce housing.

Cathy Nikoliasons, Executive Director of Sun Valley REALTORS Give, said, “The meteoric rise in housing prices has been devastating for many in our community and has created extreme housing insecurity never before witnessed in the Sun Valley area. The Realtor community wanted to be a part of the solution for this problem. One hundred percent of the members of the Sun Valley Board of Realtors are financially invested in the Community Housing Fund.”

Administration of the Community Housing Fund and the Closings with a Cause program is made possible by Sun Valley REALTORS Give, a 501(c)(3) non-profit. The Community Housing Fund pools donations to maximize impact on the housing problem that affects every household, organization and employer in the community.

Every gift to the Fund and Sun Valley REALTORS Give’s commitment to workforce housing is leveraged by the expertise of non-profit workforce-housing developers and other organizations with a demonstrated track record of success and who share the goals and vision of Sun Valley REALTORS Give.

The Community Housing Fund has partnered with ARCH Community Housing Trust, Blaine County Charitable Fund, Veterans Housing Fund, and Wood River Community Housing Trust to financially advance shovel-ready new construction projects and existing housing inventory to ensure every gift to the Community Housing Fund is properly invested and well managed.

Donors to the Community Housing Fund designate the entity or program they want their contribution to support. By the third quarter of this year, the Community Housing Fund had disbursed $73,000 to their partners.

The Community Housing Fund contributed $43,000 to Blaine County Charitable Fund (BCCF), the local non-profit who, in partnership with SVRG, created the Down Payment Assistance Program for the benefit of essential workers in Blaine County.  

The program provides workforce housing assistance by bridging the gap in a buyer’s down payment, buying down an interest rate to make a loan more affordable, or contributing towards closing costs.

Mary Fauth, Executive Director of BCCF said, “The very first recipients of down payment assistance perfectly fit the definition of essential worker. The husband is in law enforcement and the wife is a postal worker and we are thrilled to announce they closed on their first home in July. The Community Housing Fund and Blaine County Charitable Fund recognize that these are the people who make the county tick and merit stable housing.”

ARCH Community Housing Trust’s mission is to develop safe, permanently affordable housing for persons of low to moderate income. At this time, ARCH is raising funds for the Ellsworth Inn development in Hailey, with a matching grant in place.  Thus the $15,000 contribution from the Community Housing Fund to ARCH became $30,000 with the marching grant.

ARCH Executive Director Michelle Griffith said, "ARCH is honored to have been selected as a partner by Sun Valley REALTORS Give who have demonstrated a deep commitment to our community with the Community Housing Fund.  The funds awarded by the SVRG to ARCH were matched at 50% by another donor and are being used to redevelop the former Ellsworth Inn property in Hailey from a bed and breakfast into housing for our workforce.  The first resident has moved in and six more critical workers will call the Ellsworth home in April.

“We also have another Ellsworth match in place and all future funds under this new match will help us to construct 12 new homes on the same property around the redeveloped Inn.”

Additionally, $15,000 was granted to the Wood River Community Housing Trust (WRCHT), an entity whose mission is to acquire or build workforce housing for lease to the middle-income workforce.  The grant was applied to WRCHT’s project, Saddle Lofts apartments, located on North River Street in Hailey.

Mary Wilson, Co-Founder & Board Member of WRCHT, said, “This grant is important to us as it helps bridge the gap from occupancy permit to lease up. We are thankful to Sun Valley REALTORS Give for their help in housing the Wood River Valley workforce at the Saddle Lofts. The timing was perfect.” 

The fourth partner of the Community Housing Fund is the Veterans Housing Fund, administered by Sun Valley REALTORS Give. For years, this program has provided Veterans with support in rent, down payment assistance, moving expenses, rental search, adapting homes for disabilities, and major home repairs.

Said Nikolaisons: “Community support helps to ensure that the nationwide epidemic of Veteran homelessness never impacts Blaine County. All SVRG’s efforts stay local and all donations go directly toward helping Veterans in Blaine County. By year end 2024, Sun Valley REALTORS Give will have helped four Veterans with rental and down payment assistance and home repairs in the amount of $20,000.”

On spearheading the Community Housing Fund, Chair Sheila Liermann, a retired associate broker said, “I moved to the Wood River Valley in 1980 with a pair of skis, a degree in finance, and thirty bucks I borrowed from my little brother. I’ve been able to thrive in this community because I moved here during a very different economic time, one in which you could work your way towards homeownership by grit, a bit of luck and working multiple jobs.

“Homeownership for many is now virtually impossible with our escalated real estate prices. My dream is for the Community Housing Fund and our generous associates, friends and neighbors to acknowledge and support those hard-working people who contribute to our community on so many levels and deserve the stability and benefits of affordable workforce housing.” 

The Sun Valley real estate community recognizes that Blaine County is a richer, more vibrant place when people who work in the community also live in the community.

To donate or to learn more about the Community Housing Fund, visit https://svcommunityhousingfund.org/. To learn more about SVRG’s other programs, such as Holiday Baskets, the Scholarship Fund, and Veterans Housing Fund, visit https://svrealtorsgive.org/.