FAQ
What is workforce housing?
Workforce housing applies to all income levels within our workforce. A household’s total housing costs, according to federal guidelines, should be no more than 30% of the household’s income. By this standard, a significant number of Monadnock Region residents cannot afford to lease an apartment or purchase a home. Our housing market has lagged in the production of new units and, therefore, existing units have increased in price/cost so significantly that a large number of our workforce cannot afford to live in them.
How is Heading for Home staffed?
Susy Thielen is the part time Heading for Home coordinator who manages and supports the Coalition. She is available for public presentations to communities, planning boards, zoning boards, developer groups, etc.
What is the organizational structure for Heading for Home?
A Board of Directors oversees the activities and sets policy for the Heading for Home Coalition. In addition, there is a committee structure overseeing areas such as fund-raising, community education and outreach, housing data gathering and analysis, housing policy issues and affordable housing advocacy.
Who are the members of the Board of Directors?
The following individuals are current members of the Board. Organizational affiliations are for identification purposes only.
Gordon Leversee, Dean of Science, Keene State College, Chair
Ellen Avery, Community Liaison, Monadnock United Way
Jill Batty, Cheshire Medical Center/Dartmouth-Hitchcock Keene
Annie Bilodeau, Connecticut River Bank, NA
Ramona Branch, Antioch University New England
Joyce Clark, Interior Design
James Duffy, Keene City Council
Christine Greenwood, Hampshire First Bank
Zack LeRoy, Panel Pros
Lisa Murphy, Southwest Region Planning Commission
Susan Newcomer, Greater Keene Chamber of Commerce
Katie Sutherland, Dan Scully Architects
Keith Thibault, Southwestern Community Services
Advisory Members:
Curt Hiebert, Keene Housing Authority
Charles Michal, Weller & Michal Architects
Rhett Lamb, City of Keene
Is Heading for Home a 501c3 tax exempt organization?
Currently Heading for Home has a tax-exempt status through the Greater Keene Chamber of Commerce Foundation.
What is the relationship between Heading for Home and the Greater Keene Chamber of Commerce?
Heading for Home is a separate organization for which the Greater Keene Chamber of Commerce provides office space and financial services, i.e. accounts payable and receivable, payroll for a monthly fee.
How is Heading for Home funded?
Heading for Home is a voluntary organization funded by local corporate and individual donations and grants from the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation and the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority.
How did Heading for Home begin?
This is an edited version of the original article from the Monadnock United Way October 2004 Access newsletter.
Housing is a critical for a vital economy. Workforce housing should be affordable, available and suitable for all workers, regardless of income group, with the emphasis on available and affordable.
By any standard, the Monadnock Region has not produced enough housing to satisfy the demand of its workforce in either the rental or owner-occupied housing markets. Any employer in the Monadnock Region will testify that recruiting new employees is made more difficult because affordable and available housing just isn’t there.
So, what does the Monadnock Region do to address this problem? The Greater Keene Chamber of Commerce convened a Workforce Housing Task Force in 2003 to examine the growing lag in housing production and a growing disparity in area wages and housing costs throughout the region. Area finance and business leaders, Keene State College, Antioch New England Graduate School, Monadnock United Way, the Keene Housing Authority, Cheshire Housing Trust, Southwestern Community Services, and Southwest Regional Planning Commission joined together as Heading for Home: A Workforce Housing Task Force to explore this problem and find a solution. The Task Force determined that the Monadnock Region needs a unified and consistent voice to progress toward a solution to our workforce housing problems.
The Task Force invited anyone who was interested to join them in a day of learning and communication at Heading for Home, a Housing Summit on Friday, November 19, 2004.
An excellent panel of speakers brought attendees up-to-date on the current state of housing in the Monadnock Region and the State of New Hampshire. The keynote speaker was Russ Thibeault from Applied Economic Research who spoke to: Housing Trends You HAVE To Know About. David Haney from Bank of America and the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority offered Housing: A Perspective. Jeff Porter from the Southwest Planning Commission presented a just-completed Regional Housing Needs Assessment, which addresses the specific conditions that existed in the Monadnock Region at that time. Also, a distinguished panel presented How Housing Supports and Challenges a Community’s Well-being.
The presentations were followed by an open conversation about Working Together as a Coalition. Planners were optimistic that all present recognized the need for action, and that Heading for Home: A Regional Housing Coalition can serve as a useful tool for community action.
The mission of Heading for Home: A Regional Housing Coalition will be fulfilled through information sharing and awareness building, bringing into sharper focus the economic and community impact of imbalances among housing stock, housing costs, wages, job growth, employee retention, and the need for environmentally responsible housing development. The coalition hopes to attract a broad range of businesses and individuals to help improve the atmosphere encouraging the market to respond to the needs of our communities.