Upper Valley Housing Coalition

In November of 2001, after several years of struggling to deal with increasing housing challenges and barriers, over 200 business, municipal, and civic leaders attended the day-long Workforce Housing Summit. Organized by a diverse task force, the Summit addressed the scarcity of available housing, both to rent and to purchase. A primary focus was housing classified as affordable for the general workforce, which are households earning up to $75,000 per year.

A shortage of over 3,000 units solely to meet today's demand was verified by the Upper Valley Housing Needs Analysis, which was compiled by Applied Economic Research of Laconia, NH for the Upper Valley Lake Sunapee Regional Planning Commission. The report continued that if nothing changed, the shortage would triple by the end of the decade. The outcome of the Summit was the identification of a number of potential solutions and ideas that could be put in place to address the housing shortage. However, there was no existing entity that could completely dedicate itself to implementing these solutions.

Using models from other parts of the country, the Upper Valley Housing Coalition was created to be the vehicle to carry out the ideas and initiatives of the Summit. To facilitate the work of the Coalition, a Memo of Understanding was signed with Vital Communities, a respected Upper Valley regional nonprofit, to provide administrative support and to serve as its fiscal agent.

The Upper Valley region faces a housing shortage now because it is a highly desirable place to live and work. Its own success and strengths have drawn many prestigious companies to the region, resulting in the creation of 10,000 new jobs over the past decade. The Upper Valley is a thriving and caring community, which is why the Housing Coalition has already attracted over 200 volunteers from every sector of the region and was able to raise over $110,000 from the private sector to fund operations for its initial year. The majority of the dues-paying members made a three year or longer commitment in support of the Coalition.

This diverse collection of people, organized into committees and task forces, is working under the direction of the Board of Directors to address the housing challenge via a three-pronged plan, which is to educate, advocate, and legislate.

Anne Duncan Cooley
Executive Director
adc@uvhc.org

Corb Moister
Outreach Coordinator
cmoister@uvhc.org

Officers
Gail Dahlstrom, Chair – Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center
Don Derrick, Secretary – Upper Valley Habitat for Humanity
Phil Bush, Treasurer – Dartmouth Medical School

Directors
Susan Almy – New Hampshire House of Representatives
Jeff Goodrich – Pathways Consulting
Lynne LaBombard – Housing Solutions Plus
Liz Nickerson – Nickerson/Eller, LLC
Ken Wells – Mascoma Savings Bank

Organizational affiliation is for identification purposes only

		In November of 2001, after several years of struggling to deal with increasing housing challenges and barriers, over 200 business, municipal, and civic leaders attended the day-long Workforce Housing Summit. Organized by a diverse task force, the Summit addressed the scarcity of available housing, both to rent and to purchase. A primary focus was housing classified as affordable for the general workforce, which are households earning up to $75,000 per year. A shortage of over 3,000 units solely to meet today's demand was verified by the Upper Valley Housing Needs Analysis, which was compiled by Applied Economic Research of Laconia, NH for the Upper Valley Lake Sunapee Regional Planning Commission. The report continued that if nothing changed, the shortage would triple by the end of the decade. The outcome of the Summit was the identification of a number of potential solutions and ideas that could be put in place to address the housing shortage. However, there was no existing entity that could completely dedicate itself to implementing these solutions. Using models from other parts of the country, the Upper Valley Housing Coalition was created to be the vehicle to carry out the ideas and initiatives of the Summit. To facilitate the work of the Coalition, a Memo of Understanding was signed with Vital Communities, a respected Upper Valley regional nonprofit, to provide administrative support and to serve as its fiscal agent. The Upper Valley region faces a housing shortage now because it is a highly desirable place to live and work. Its own success and strengths have drawn many prestigious companies to the region, resulting in the creation of 10,000 new jobs over the past decade. The Upper Valley is a thriving and caring community, which is why the Housing Coalition has already attracted over 200 volunteers from every sector of the region and was able to raise over $110,000 from the private sector to fund operations for its initial year. The majority of the dues-paying members made a three year or longer commitment in support of the Coalition. This diverse collection of people, organized into committees and task forces, is working under the direction of the Board of Directors to address the housing challenge via a three-pronged plan, which is to educate, advocate, and legislate. Anne Duncan Cooley Executive Director adc@uvhc.org Corb Moister Outreach Coordinator cmoister@uvhc.org Officers Gail Dahlstrom, Chair – Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center Don Derrick, Secretary – Upper Valley Habitat for Humanity Phil Bush, Treasurer – Dartmouth Medical School Directors Susan Almy – New Hampshire House of Representatives Jeff Goodrich – Pathways Consulting Lynne LaBombard – Housing Solutions Plus Liz Nickerson – Nickerson/Eller, LLC Ken Wells – Mascoma Savings Bank Organizational affiliation is for identification purposes only
	Upper Valley Housing Coalition • P.O. Box 17 • 240 Mechanic Street • Lebanon, NH 03766 Phone: (603) 448-0272 • adc@uvhc.org