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
Greg Kennedy, Chair - Mascoma Savings Bank
Steve Marion, Vice-chair - DHMC
Len Cadwallader, Secretary - Vital Communities

Directors
Susan Almy - Legislative Action Group Rep.
Robert Bryant - Twin Pines Housing Trust
Bill Dietrich
Jeff Goodrich - Pathways Consulting
Karen Hebert - Spectra
Jim Hemphill - Public/Private Partnerships Rep.
Ralph Hybels - Leadership in Medicine
Kathleen Kanz - TRORC
Larry Kelly - Dartmouth College
Lou Anne McLeod - DHMC
Nina Moore - Timken Aerospace
Ned Redpath - Coldwell Banker/Redpath Realtors

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 Greg Kennedy, Chair - Mascoma Savings Bank Steve Marion, Vice-chair - DHMC Len Cadwallader, Secretary - Vital Communities Directors Susan Almy - Legislative Action Group Rep. Robert Bryant - Twin Pines Housing Trust Bill Dietrich Jeff Goodrich - Pathways Consulting Karen Hebert - Spectra Jim Hemphill - Public/Private Partnerships Rep. Ralph Hybels - Leadership in Medicine Kathleen Kanz - TRORC Larry Kelly - Dartmouth College Lou Anne McLeod - DHMC Nina Moore - Timken Aerospace Ned Redpath - Coldwell Banker/Redpath Realtors Organizational affiliation is for identification purposes only
	Upper Valley Housing Coalition • 104 Railroad Row • White River Junction, VT 05001 Phone: (802) 291-9100 x-109 • Fax: (802) 291-9107 • adc@uvhc.org