STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK
100 Men Who Care is presenting a presentation and panel discussion for the community focusing on creative solutions for housing for the lowest of income in the community.
The gathering will be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 8, at the Minnie Moore Room at Hailey’s Community Campus. It will feature representatives from The Advocates, Blaine County Charitable Fund and the Senior Connection. It will be moderated by Michelle Griffith, whose ARCH housing trust organization helps secure affordable housing for teachers, firefighters and other workforce.
“The low-income is a sector of the community that is not getting any attention,” said Marty Lyon, who founded 100 Men Who Care, a collective philanthropy group. “We reached out to three nonprofits who are serving the low income—The Advocates who provide transitional housing; Blane County Charitable Fund, which provides money to assist people with rent, and The Senior Connection which serve more than a hundred seniors who live in poverty.
“Collectively we are going to tell quite an interesting and important story.”
Wood River Valley residents live in a utopia but it comes with some challenges, Lyon said, just recently Hailey was named by Lending Tree as the fifth most expensive place to live in the country—a spot it has occupied for years.
“Normally, 100 Men meets four times a year to hear from nonprofits who need funding for various projects,” Lyon said. “We’re opening this to the community because this is a community issue that is bigger than 100 Men Who Care.”
“We hope the community will come out an participate to help our brothers and sisters who are less fortunate. The people who mow our lawns, paint our houses, remove our snow—all of these careers are filled with low-income workers.”
Lyon pointed to other places where that have neighborhoods of tiny homes.
“These things happened because people cared. And there may be federal funds available for these sorts of things. We’ve got lots of conversations going on about deed restricted housing, architectural style and colors of buildings, size of buildings and other things. There’s no discussion about housing assistance for the low-income or poor and those in poverty.”