[00:00:00] Speaker A: The truth can Breakthrough
[00:00:04] Speaker B: Housing isn't just a headline.
[00:00:05] Speaker A: No.
[00:00:07] Speaker B: It's a system under pressure. We're seeing that everywhere in our healthcare, in our work, in our education system.
A lot of things are on the verge of breaking.
[00:00:19] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. I think you step outside, you can see that very clearly. And I am, which is why I'm really excited for our conversation today.
Talking with Jakin from Hope Community Community Homes in. In Eugene. They are doing some really great stuff with regard to building affordable housing.
The development infrastructure buckets that we've talked about, as well as the financing bucket that. It's not necessarily my bailiwick, but I'm hoping to, you know, have some good conversations about that today.
[00:00:53] Speaker B: You know, Hope Homes hasn't been around for long.
[00:00:56] Speaker A: No.
[00:00:57] Speaker B: And they're making such a positive and impactful change. And I can't wait to hear from him on that. Right. And what's in the future for it and how we can perhaps maybe expand it to include other options or opportunities to help solve the crisis.
[00:01:16] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:01:16] Speaker A: Let's get creative.
This is Housing Voices.
From the porches and shelters, streets and the room.
If they have voices, the truth could break through.
Hi. Welcome back to Housing Voices. My name is Bri.
[00:01:41] Speaker B: And I am Marty.
[00:01:42] Speaker A: And today we have the pleasure of having Jake and Taylor with us from Hope Homes in Eugene.
[00:01:48] Speaker B: Hi.
[00:01:49] Speaker C: Hi.
[00:01:50] Speaker A: Thanks for joining us.
[00:01:51] Speaker C: Yes, thank you for having me. This is a pleasure.
[00:01:55] Speaker A: I'm really happy to have you on to talk about HOPE and the really creative work that you guys do. And you do a lot of stuff down there in Eugene.
And if you could talk to us a little bit about what Hope does specifically. Let's start with the housing and the building of these manufactured homes.
[00:02:17] Speaker C: Yeah. So I'll give you just a brief overview of the genesis.
I think the project was put together very thoughtfully and very well initially. My understanding, and I wasn't a part of the project when it first launched, but my understanding was kind of twofold.
Wanted to address affordable housing by increasing the supply of manufactured homes in the state and then also wanted to have a plan for natural disaster.
And at that time, there was obviously lots of wildfires. We had a couple summers that were pretty bad.
So that's where the initial idea started.
And the state of Oregon was very generous in getting some seed money to get it started in the beginning.
[00:03:10] Speaker A: That's really good to hear.
[00:03:12] Speaker B: So you started with affordable housing. Was it specifically for Eugene or for Eugene and the surrounding areas, or were we going coastal?
[00:03:19] Speaker C: Yeah, good question. So I think the initial thought was in just to help Oregon.
So for manufactured homes, you can ship them anywhere, but the transportation cost gets a little bit expensive when you reach that 350 to 500 mile radius from where it's manufactured. So we thought being in Eugene, that's a great location to kind of serve the entire state.
[00:03:46] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely.
[00:03:47] Speaker B: And how many homes have you guys built? What is the community setting?
What does that whole. For someone who doesn't know anything about hope homes.
[00:03:57] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:03:58] Speaker B: Can you make a picture for us?
[00:04:00] Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely. So we started. So the initial concept was from Terry McDonald. He's the emeritus director at St. Vincent de Paul. So he's still on our board and still a driving force of our mission and vision.
But that afforded us a great opportunity as a startup. Our first, you know, client has been St. Vincent DePaul, because they are in the affordable housing space in lots of aspects. But one of those is they have some manufactured home communities.
And so that was really able.
Allowed us to be able to meet a need for them and then also get sales, you know, in the beginning, where you didn't have to do such an arduous marketing and sales effort in the very beginning.
So that said, We've produced 50 homes already.
Most of those have gone to the St. Vincent de Paul system.
And so, yeah, it's been a really good partnership that way.
[00:05:09] Speaker B: So are all 50 together in one location or are they spread out through the communities?
What does that look like?
[00:05:16] Speaker C: Yeah, good question. So the short answer is they're spread out.
So these initial units have been either for infill in parks that St. Vincent de Paul already owns, or it's been to replace some units that need replacing.
So it's been scattered throughout the entire St. Vincent system. In fact, our first home went down to talent.
As a response to the fire there, we were able to donate that unit and work with some other partners on that one too. So.
[00:05:49] Speaker A: And that's in reference to the 2020 wildfires. As someone that grew up in southern Oregon, I know that very well, the wildfire in southern Oregon is very significant and it's getting worse as climate change increases.
[00:06:04] Speaker C: Yeah. You know, anytime you hear the word fire, it's scary.
[00:06:09] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:06:09] Speaker C: But as it relates to homes in that intersection with people and where we are, even more scary. So.
[00:06:18] Speaker A: So I want to talk about. Back up a little bit on.
Can you talk about these units?
[00:06:25] Speaker B: The.
[00:06:25] Speaker A: The manufactured homes themselves, what makes them different from a traditional manufactured home?
[00:06:31] Speaker C: Yeah, you've asked a big question, so I'll try to briefly go through that.
I would Say ours have been kind of purpose built.
So the advantage to having St. Vincent de Paul as our, like, first, you know, premier customer is that we were able to provide a specific need for them.
So what we know when we look at the data for these manufactured units is once they are in the market and people move in, they stay for a really long time. So if you take all of the manufactured home inventory in Oregon, about half of it is 50 years old or older. Yeah. So 1976 is about half of Oregon's inventory that people are still living in. So St. Vincent de Paul looked at that and they realized that they need as robust of a dwelling unit as they can get. And so I say that on one hand, on the other hand, I say that we are inspected and certified through the HUD system just like all other manufacturers are. So every manufacturer builds a super quality home.
We hit a few different metrics just for that market.
So we're looking at things like long term cost of ownership.
So as an example, our units have been described as fairly utilitarian. And I don't necessarily like that description, but I have to say it's fair. And the idea behind that is we'd rather have the bones and the structure meet needs today and then in the future, long term. So we have the highest energy efficiency rating we can get.
We put just as much insulation in our units as you would in a million dollar stick built home.
There's even other little things like you won't find any carpet in our units. So the big guys do this, they do it very well. They build beautiful homes. You can pick your floor coverings and things like that.
Yes, we don't do that. We put the most robust, you know, vinyl flooring that we can in there. And again, that's to reduce the long term cost of ownership. We know in carpets, you know, you're going to go five or 10 years and then need to, to have an expense to replace that.
[00:08:59] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:09:00] Speaker C: So I would say that everybody builds quality units.
We do too, but we're trying to hit a little bit different segment of the market that way.
[00:09:11] Speaker A: And why, why, why did you need to do that?
[00:09:16] Speaker C: Well, it speaks to the overall affordable housing issue.
If you look at, well, even renters that would, that would live in these.
I won't be able to remember all of the statistics, but I know that most renters are rent burdened, meaning they're spending more than 30% of their income on housing costs. And so any way that we can drive those costs down, hopefully long term, we're Thinking that's a better situation, you know, for, for the, the renter or the occupant in that home.
[00:09:55] Speaker B: So to reduce the cost of ownership, that usually means taxes. It U How do those factors work in. And are the manufactured homes put on in parks or do the people also own the land that it sits on? So it's a few questions I just threw in there.
[00:10:14] Speaker C: Sorry about that. Stacking some questions. That's okay. We'll get through it.
Most of the units that have been placed are in parks, but they can go on private land and we have several folks right now interested in doing that.
So it's up to the homeowner where they want to go.
The park setting seems to be the most cost, it seems to be the lower cost, but you offset that or trade that with some uncertainty in space rents and things like that.
So it's not a perfect model, but it is a lower cost option.
[00:10:54] Speaker B: I've noticed in my world, because I'm in real estate that park rents are high.
Right. And if I'm looking at the cost of ownership and I'm putting a manufactured home in. Right. One that's being built well, right. That's going for quality. And then I'm putting it in and I've got $800 a month that's really just for the land. And maybe cable, sometimes they throw in trash. Right.
How are we balancing that?
[00:11:26] Speaker C: Well, I don't. If your question is how we're balancing it, I don't have an answer to that. It's really hard.
In fact, where I see that on a weekly basis is folks will come to us thinking that this is an affordable option and they might be right on that bubble of being able to afford conventional financing. Right. So we might help them find a resource for credit repair or down payment assistance or something. And they're right on that bubble.
When the lender does the debt to income calculation for them, they'll come up with a number, let's say 11 or $1,200.
But that number needs to include the space rent.
[00:12:05] Speaker B: Right.
[00:12:06] Speaker C: So oftentimes they are able to afford the overall mortgage, but because that space rent is high, it prices them out.
So that's a challenge that I hope we find solutions for. I've seen as I travel the state and with parks and with residents, I've seen some that are $1200 a month just for space rent and that becomes really hard.
[00:12:36] Speaker A: Yeah, that seems a lot really kind of predatory for folks in my mind because $1200 for a space rent that was nearly what I was paying per month for my studio in Portland. I was paying 1425 for a studio in Portland. And for folks who I think historically, and I'm making generalizations here because everybody's financial situation is different, but I think, I tend to think folks who are living in mobile home parks do not have a lot of disposable income. And I know a lot of people these days do not have disposable income, but that is extremely steep in my mind. And then on top of whatever you're paying for the actual housing itself, right?
[00:13:21] Speaker C: Yeah, I do think there's a place for it. I've talked with residents in let's say a 55 and older community and their clubhouse has the swimming pool and the pool tables and all the stuff. So I think there's perhaps a market for folks that can afford that and want that type of community and environment where they are. But if we're addressing the affordable housing problem or situation, I don't see how we can do it with space rents that are as high as they are in some instances.
[00:14:00] Speaker A: I would agree with you on that. And then I had a follow up question. Sorry, Marty.
[00:14:04] Speaker B: It's okay.
[00:14:05] Speaker A: Who are these people that are coming to Hope to ask for how much? Right. Or what can we offer? What do we qualify for? And you mentioned, I think you're even co located with St. Vincent de Paul and Eugene. Right.
A lot of those folks are coming to you seeking affordable housing. Who are those people? Are they working families? Are they people with disabilities? What does that look like?
[00:14:31] Speaker C: You know, we get a good mix of a lot. We've had several, you know, veterans reach out. They're looking for a program that would help them.
Most people have identified a manufactured home situation as something that could be aspirational or attainable to them, whatever their situation is.
I do see folks that would fall in the low income or even very low income. Right. On the AMI scale, typically. And so this is still at least the folks that I've met, it's still an aspirational thing for them, but they've identified that this is a less expensive way to home ownership.
[00:15:24] Speaker B: So how do you determine it? Is it determined who? Get me rephrase my question here.
What is the determining factor on who gets the homes from a financial point of view?
[00:15:36] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. So good question. Because this, there's a whole framework because most of these folks, if they're in that 80% or lower on AMI, they're going to need some assistance of some kind down Payment or something like that. So there's a whole system for that. When we. If I had my way, we would just be the best manufacturer that we could be, and whoever, you know, shows up with, you know, a check, you know, would. Would get a home. And. And I'd like us to get there someday. But from a practicality standpoint, it's usually. Yeah. Folks that, like I say, are aspirational and they need a lower option for their housing, and they also want to try to. Perhaps, I don't want to speak for everybody, but they want to try to get out of the renter cycle and loop, and they realize that home ownership is a way to create wealth.
So I feel like that's who I talk to the most.
[00:16:37] Speaker B: How does it work to avoid an investor coming in and buying the Hope homes?
[00:16:46] Speaker C: Yeah, okay. That's a fairly granular question. So.
We had received a grant when we first started, and that really set the tone for the way that we have continued to do business. But that grant had a few stipulations, and one of them was that you had to be 80% AMI to even qualify for one of our homes. That's where our heart has always been. So it didn't bother us one bit.
What we learned, though, is that that's a heavy lift for a lot of these potential homeowners. They're just, like I say, right on that bubble of affordability or being able to. And there's so many there. There are assistance programs, but that process proves very daunting and arduous at times.
And so I encourage all of them to just stay vigilant in the process and work through, you know, for as long as they can.
[00:17:57] Speaker B: So I want to make sure, again,
[00:17:59] Speaker C: AMI is area median income.
[00:18:02] Speaker B: That's right.
So am I understanding correctly that the people who are purchasing the homes then have to have an interimediate income of 80% or less?
[00:18:16] Speaker C: That was when we were under the terms of that grant.
Yes. That grant has since expired.
[00:18:23] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:18:23] Speaker C: So to answer your question more fully, yes, we could sell to anyone that wanted to.
I don't think that's changed our heart or our desire or where these homes fit in the marketplace.
So if we're speaking more broadly, if someone was 120 or 150% of AMI and thought that they wanted a manufactured home, I'll be the first to say that we're probably not everyone's cup of tea. Going back to the utilitarian description.
And I would. I would guess that those type of folks would go to, you Know, the big guys who do a great job that have the options and the availability of. Of, you know, dozens of floor plans, and you could get more of what you want a little bit easier for that type of homeowner because they're less of a lending risk and all that. So.
So even though there isn't a restriction on. On who we can provide homes for, sell homes to, just what we're. What we're making is kind of fits that lower end of the AMI anyway.
[00:19:35] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:19:36] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:19:37] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm sorry. No, that's.
[00:19:40] Speaker A: No, that's fine. And I wanted to talk a little bit on the wildfire part that we talked about a little bit in the beginning.
On. On your website, it says that Representative Pam Marsh helped with getting a bill passed to expedite the sighting of these mobile homes. Response to the 2020 fires.
How. How is that going? Because I have heard that now, six years later, there are still people in this state that do not have their housing since they lost it in 2020.
[00:20:11] Speaker C: Yeah.
So need to give credit to Representative Marsh. She's been a champion of this project from the beginning, and.
And that's been. Been wonderful.
So that initial investment from the state allowed us to take an old American steel manufacturing building and then rehab it for the way that we need it to have an efficient production line at that time. We built it with the forethought or the intent to produce a lot more homes than we have.
I think the initial said that we could do like two a day, and that would be, you know, craziness in that facility.
So we haven't. We haven't built two a day. But that was kind of the idea, as a response to the natural disasters, is let's increase the available, you know, product. But to your broader point, yes, There are a lot of folks that have been victims of wildfire that. That still don't have their homes replaced.
And I feel like that's a little bit of a pain point or a frustration point, not only for them, but for anybody that's trying to help with this issue is we all agree that the need is incredibly high, but the speed isn't matching that.
And these problems are so faceted that I don't think there's one magic silver bullet to get us there.
[00:21:51] Speaker A: Yeah. And on the ones that you have that have been created and replaced, the housing that was lost, are they kind of commensurate to their housing that they had before? Is it the same? Like, were these people in manufactured homes previously? And is this. And I'm not like, not to suggest that it's a step down for the HOPE product at all. But is it the same, do you know?
[00:22:17] Speaker C: I don't know. But what I do see is when I go up like the McKinsey River Valley, I do see a lot of manufactured homes up there as replacements. Right. I mean, so I do see a lot of that. I guess I didn't pay attention to before to, you know, what, what they were.
But I do think a lot of folks have realized that this is a fast and more affordable, you know, way to, to replace them.
[00:22:47] Speaker A: Yeah, it's interesting to me, I, as someone who has lived in, in many a trailer homes in my life and I, I, they were amazing housing for when, when we needed it and a lot of people love living in them.
But it is, it is interesting to see as time goes on that were not necessarily able to match the previous housing that folks had grown up in. Right. And again, not to, not to discredit the work that HOPE does or any of the homes that you create because they are amazing and great. But it is, I think, frustrating for folks to see, especially like myself, where it doesn't seem like the situation is getting better as the years go on. And why does somebody who needs a home right now have to settle or settle for a smaller unit with not all the bells and whistles, as opposed to people before that came before me, were able to afford a home that had all the bells and whistles and I didn't have to make a choice if I wanted carpet or not.
And I love that this is an option and that you guys are creating really ingenious solutions and creative solutions to get people in homes because it's so important.
But it is a little frustrating for other folks. Like, man, if I had been born, you know, 30 or 40 years ago, I could have had a lot better opportunity to have a better quality of house.
[00:24:11] Speaker C: Yeah, no, I take your point. You know, for sure.
I think, I think I see that the first like need is, hey, your home burned up, you need somewhere else.
[00:24:23] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:24:24] Speaker C: Yeah. And so I think that's kind of the jumping off point. But I absolutely take your point.
[00:24:28] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:24:28] Speaker A: And I hope that as we move forward, our legislators and then the financing environment becomes a lot more advantageous for folks to be able to get into better housing. Because I also lived in a former FEMA housing trailer that came from Hurricane Katrina. Right. It was great for the people that needed it and my family needed it at that time.
But it's just hard when those things become entrenched Right. And then folks aren't able to gain generational wealth, as you pointed out earlier, because it is a bare bones thing. And then I'm sitting here like, well, I have a house, but now I don't have anywhere else to move into that next step.
And I'll get off my soapbox now.
[00:25:17] Speaker B: She likes to soap.
[00:25:18] Speaker A: Yeah, I do that a lot.
[00:25:19] Speaker B: She does it a lot.
Sometimes I just face out, I'm like, okay, she does.
[00:25:23] Speaker A: Thanks, Marty.
[00:25:24] Speaker B: You know, anytime. Just being real.
All right, so you've created 50 homes.
[00:25:30] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:25:30] Speaker B: Right. On the affordable space.
[00:25:35] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:25:36] Speaker B: How many homes are you projected to do and how long did it take you to do the 50?
[00:25:43] Speaker C: The.
Let's see, we got our HUD certification in record time, I will say, but that was in November of 2024.
[00:25:55] Speaker B: Oh, okay.
[00:25:56] Speaker C: And so from that time, if you, if you do that math back, we're on unit 50. We actually have 10 slated.
So we've had to be good stewards of, you know, our initial investment. And we have been.
So what we also learned is that the HUD certification process is timely, it takes a while and it's costly. Right. Even just preparing all of the drawings and I mean, they look at every single thing.
And so we've had to be very deliberate in how we approach that process.
So the exciting news is we did the 50 that were the two bedroom, one bath units and now we're slated to do 10. We just last week got HUD to sign off on our one bedroom, one bath unit. And yes, very exciting. We also did that in record time and, and need to give thanks to the HUD folks because instead of them coming in and inspecting and then leaving town again and doing all that, we were like, hey, you're going to get a hotel room anyway.
[00:27:12] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:27:13] Speaker C: How about we, you know, do our work in the middle of the night while you're sleeping and you come back and inspect the next stage, that sort of thing. So we were able to work with them really well. So like I say, the exciting part of that is we have our second unit completely certified through HUD. It's the one bedroom, one bath and that'll be the next 10.
After that, we're hoping either two ways, either we will get our third unit, which would be a three bedroom, two bath, double wide unit. Either we'll send it through the HUD process or if we have orders to fill for the, you know, the two bedroom and the one bedroom, then we'll just plug those into the production line.
[00:28:00] Speaker B: What is the rough cost of the one one and the two one.
[00:28:04] Speaker C: Yeah. So the two one is out our door is $80,000.
[00:28:11] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:28:11] Speaker C: And I say out our door because there's additional costs. Right. We can't just ship it out the door, so you need to place it somewhere, you need to transport it, you need to set it up, that sort of thing.
[00:28:21] Speaker B: Do the tie downs.
[00:28:22] Speaker C: Got to do all of that, all of that stuff.
So out ardor, that's 80,000.
The one bedroom unit will be either 68,000 or 72,000. I believe 73,000.
And the difference will be whether it has full ADA compliance or if it's ada, what I'm calling ADA compatible. And what that would mean is that the bones are the same, so all of the doorways and hallways are wider and things like that.
The full ADA compliant gets a little bit expensive because you need the full roll under counters, your cabinets need to come down, you know, lowered to the floor, things like that.
So that'll be the difference. But those are the prices right now.
[00:29:16] Speaker B: Okay, wonderful. And then you said you can produce up to two a day, which would be mayhem.
[00:29:23] Speaker C: Yes, it would be mayhem.
[00:29:25] Speaker B: You know, I've heard that they're anticipating a big fire year this year because we had a dry winter.
Is there a plan to, let's say, start producing more in advance of that in anticipation, or is there any readiness, emergency readiness plan in place?
[00:29:44] Speaker C: I think there should be, but the answer is no, there's not. And, and there's several factors to that. Is one, I don't think anyone wants to hope for a natural disaster.
So it's hard to bet on, on that and sleep well at night.
And then the other thing just comes down to, you know, cash flow and cash on hand.
If we were to receive a preemptive order, let's say organ emergency management or some agency like FEMA or something wanted a stockpile of homes in anticipation of such a thing, then yes, we'd be able to do that, but we wouldn't be able to just cash flow that type of inventory and production without an order already. Right.
So kind of a hard ball of yarn to unwind.
[00:30:37] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, we, we recently talked to one of our legislators, Representative Gomberg, and he talked about in this next long session, investing in the infrastructure to support housing creation. You know, wastewater, drinking water, electrical grid, all of, all of that stuff at the utilities. But a lot of conversations that I've been part of is what are we doing to have plans, emergency preparedness, and really climate change preparedness plans.
And I don't think you necessarily have to have an answer to this. I think I'm back on my soapbox again.
But you do like that soapbox? I love it. I love it.
[00:31:20] Speaker C: She does.
[00:31:21] Speaker A: But what are we doing to prepare for what we know is going to come? Like we know that climate change is exacerbating our wildfire risk with hotter, larger, more intense fire.
It is going to happen.
And what are we doing to prepare the full spectrum of folks that are part of the response, which is folks like Hope and all of our counties, our cities, all of the people that keep communities going and keep people safe. How are we thinking in the long term for what we know is going to come? Seriously?
[00:31:57] Speaker C: Yeah, no, that's a fair question.
I don't think we have a equally fair answer yet. But I will tell you what we are doing.
We spoke about one issue of having a large inventory on supply. So a stockpile of homes. Okay, well that's one idea. But the things that we can control from our standpoint in production is we build all of our homes with the longevity in mind to be as fire resistant as possible.
So there's a wildland urban interface. Right. Plan.
We believe that that's coming and going to be implemented in Oregon. So we're building all of our homes to all of the WUE standards that we are aware of now.
So as an example, the new unit, the one bedroom has a metal roof. Right. So fire resistant.
[00:33:07] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:33:08] Speaker C: The initial one had the asphalt shingles, so again looked a little more standard or maybe utilitarian, but that product is still very ember resistant and things like that. We build our homes where the vent for the outside air coming in has a mesh screen right on it. Because what WUE says is that most house fires in that environment are from embers that enter the home or enter the attic, that sort of thing.
So we're using fire resistant siding and materials everywhere that we can.
And that would be a response we can control to a longer term idea or problem, which is okay, now someone's replaced this home and in some number of years, if they experience another wildfire, have we hardened that structure as best we can to survive, you know, that, that wildfire. So that's what we can do.
[00:34:10] Speaker A: That's really cool.
[00:34:11] Speaker B: I like to hear that. So are those wuwi?
Kind of feels fun saying that word.
Are those Wii considerations done for every home or will they be done just for ones that are going to be going out in non park?
[00:34:28] Speaker C: Yeah. So from a production efficiency standpoint, it's easier for us to build every home that way.
[00:34:36] Speaker A: Yeah. Great.
[00:34:36] Speaker C: And that way our crew doesn't need to learn two different.
You know, it's like this is the standard, this is what we do every time. So from a production standpoint, all of ours are going to be fire hardened and we like that.
[00:34:52] Speaker A: Yeah, I would agree with that.
[00:34:53] Speaker C: Yeah. And again, I mean I'll be fair and say that I do believe that we're not everyone's cup of tea, but I also believe that the product we're building fits a need and can be utilized very well in the marketplace under. Under the right circumstances.
[00:35:10] Speaker B: Well, I'm not everybody's cup of tea, so I totally understand that.
[00:35:14] Speaker A: We need a variety.
[00:35:14] Speaker C: Right.
[00:35:15] Speaker A: We need all different types of homes to address all different types of human need.
[00:35:20] Speaker C: Yep, absolutely.
[00:35:21] Speaker B: How many people are working with Hope?
[00:35:25] Speaker C: So the latest roster I had was just over 30. Can't remember, 32 or 33 employees on our, in our home. And that includes admin and the line.
[00:35:39] Speaker A: And then you have also some trainings that happen on site.
I had the privilege of doing a tour of the HOPE facility down in Eugene and got to see one of the classrooms kind of in progress. Traits classrooms. Can you talk about that?
[00:35:57] Speaker C: I sure can and I'm happy to. I love this part of our program.
In fact, it's one of the reasons I signed on to the project.
I love multi solution projects or projects that have multiple impacts just kind of baked in.
So when they were developing the idea for this factory, they realized that not only does Oregon have an affordable housing need, part of that affordable housing is workforce.
We need the workforce for that.
So we were able to partner with the Lane County Education School District and they created a career and technical education program specific for our factory.
So five. Yeah, it is really cool. Five days a week we have high school students that are on site.
We have a classroom for them and they learn all aspects of the trades, you know, framing, carpentry, welding, electrical, plumbing systems, that sort of thing.
There's several certificates that they earn through that program, one of them just even being CPR. Right. But they get what's called an OSHA 10 safety certificate. There's a national certificate that they get.
And probably in my humble but accurate opinion is one of the very best parts of that that program is it's helping them get the skills necessary to enter the workforce holistically. So they have the hard skills, how to read plans, how to do the work, that sort of thing. But the program goes even further and addresses some of what I would call the Soft skills. How to advocate for yourself on the job site. Right. How to know, okay, this doesn't feel safe. How do I speak up for myself? That's cool.
And I'm generalizing here, so forgive me for that, but oftentimes we hear in the blue collar trades that the new folks don't get treated very well. You know what I mean? And so this program addresses that and teaches them how to enter the workplace more holistically. We've had great success stories come from that program.
In fact, last year, two of the students received $10,000 scholarships. One of them continued on to secondary education and used it for that. The other one entered the workforce and entered an apprenticeship program and was able to use that $10,000 grant for that program.
Yeah. So that's been one of the shining stars of what the Hope Factory does.
[00:38:54] Speaker B: Do any of your employees live in your housing?
[00:38:59] Speaker C: Not yet.
Not yet. Several of them want to.
So that's kind of another aspect that when they develop this idea, threading together some solutions.
So the other aspect of our factory is we are a second chance employer.
And to be completely honest, I was kind of skeptical of that when I came on board. I didn't have any experience with it.
I am now a champion of that. And the reason why. There's two reasons why. But one of the reasons is these folks, if you can imagine, just a lived experience that would require them to have a second chance or need a second chance, they take that seriously. And so what we've found is when. When our students work on the floor with these folks, and they're like journeymen, you know, framers and carpenters and stuff like that. So they're getting good experience that way. But what I've seen is the communication is so robust. And the communication, I mean, they are not barking orders. They're not right.
Because they've had that experience before.
And so that's one area where I
[00:40:21] Speaker B: see that I wanted to pause for just a moment, if I may. Can you go over what the second chance employment means? How does that work? Who's included in that?
[00:40:32] Speaker C: Yeah. Thank you for that, Marty.
Yeah. So the second chance just means that we encourage folks that have been justice involved to apply with us.
We encourage folks that have experienced a addiction recovery program or even folks that have experienced homelessness in their life. And so that brings me to my second point. The reason I feel that this is a really unsung part of our program is that these folks know what it means to have a home.
[00:41:08] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:41:08] Speaker C: And they're not just Building a box that you put your stuff in at the end of the line. They know what having a home means, and so they're doing the best work that they can.
And.
And you see it in the details.
[00:41:22] Speaker B: Well, and you're giving Hope back, right? Which goes. Leads back to your name as well.
A little birdie told me something and I wanted to ask you about this. So the little birdie said that you guys are working to create a cooperative community with your HOPE homes.
Did I understand that right?
[00:41:46] Speaker C: Well, perhaps.
Yeah. That's one of the ideas that I really hope.
Forgive me for saying it this way, but an idea that catches fire. I really think that it does. So being a startup, we're learning a lot of lessons. And one of those is there are projects for manufactured home communities or for infill for current communities. And that sort of thing that is. Has been what we're learning is that's been a hard market for us to get into. And mostly because the conversations for around those projects have started years ago. Right. And it just takes that much time to get through all of the grant programs and all of the things required to. To do this.
So, yes, several of us have discussed what are the options or possibilities that we just start our own project and have that. And I've done some work on setting the framework for how that might look, but I don't know, I'm curious who your birdie is. I don't know enough to say, yes, we are yet, but I would really love to.
[00:43:02] Speaker A: Well, I think it's part of a larger conversation that I think Hope is a part of in that because of the situation with our housing environment, we have to come up with unique solutions. We have to figure out what works because, you know, wages are not covering the bills that they used to, and we're having to find, you know, can we get as many people as possible, maybe on this loan to qualify for this financing so that we can all find somewhere to live. And I think the cooperative housing model is, is attractive for a lot of folks who don't qualify for a regular home or also maybe still want to be in a communal setting and don't want to be, you know, far from their, their community members. And, you know, maybe that means you can save on childcare costs if somebody in the, in the area can help with their childcare or, you know, share on all transportation if you want a carpool. And I think that's a symptom of the situation that we are in that we're having to find these unique Solutions, because the system fundamentally isn't working for most people.
[00:44:10] Speaker C: Yeah, the need for solutions is so great.
And I get discouraged sometime because I look at, okay, what problems can I solve? And every time I go down that road, there's just more problems and more roadblocks and more things.
In my better times, I remind myself that the solution to this problem isn't a matter of resources. We've thrown a lot of resources at a lot of different ideas and a lot of different projects, and some have worked and some have not, but that just shows me that we have the resources.
So I try to remind myself that the solution will fall in the. In the category of resourcefulness.
And I really feel like there's a need for as many people that have the heart to help this problem is to jump in and if nothing else, help brainstorm, find solutions and be that resourceful.
[00:45:17] Speaker B: You know, what are some of those barriers that you're running into that you want some more help with the resourcefulness on?
[00:45:26] Speaker C: Yeah, thank you for that question.
Typically, the first barrier I see from my vantage point is funding and lending. So it's the money.
And if that's a individual, family or someone that aspires to be a homeowner, like I say, typically they're on the lower end of the conventional loan parameters, so they're a higher risk to the lender. And so that becomes a barrier. And a lot of folks would like to aspire, but they're outside of the conventional financing. And so they have a lot of work to do.
And there are programs that will help with credit repair and budgeting and things like that.
So anyway, that's a long way of me saying the, the money is the first hurdle. And even in projects that, like if someone wants to build a community or something, and then, you know, the state will say, well, we've got these grand opportunities, but obviously that comes with strings. And so a certain percentage of those homes need to be, you know, for the 30% AMI or something like that. And so again, they're reliant on program assistance.
And so that's the first hurdle is the funding part.
[00:46:47] Speaker A: It's really interesting.
I think, as our legislators are working to find solutions and stuff, I always just keep coming back to the same general point of if our government is putting our taxpayer dollars into the 15 million that Hope got in the beginning, which is amazing, and that's the type of thing that I want my taxpayer dollars to go to, then with the finance, then we run into a financing roadblock as well. Does then maybe. And you don't have to have an answer to this at all. I'm spitballing on my soapbox again.
Does it fall on our government, our state government, to step up and say we are going to a government sponsored loan. Right. We have government backed loans for many different types of individuals. And does then the government need to step up? If my taxpayer dollars are going to help create this housing, why then do I have to pay taxes and fund the product then that I helped create, my money helped create?
And I really would love to see our government step up and really help alleviate a lot of these burdens because we make all of these rules and we can change all of these rules.
The world was not created and then our financing guidelines were created right after that. We can literally do whatever we want. And I would love to see the creativity that we employ for corporations and for all different types of things. And I would love to see that creativity applied to how can we make our fellow humans lives better?
[00:48:24] Speaker C: Yeah.
So you've touched on a lot of points and what I take from that is the acknowledgment that Oregon has a lot of voices.
[00:48:34] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:48:35] Speaker C: Right. And so there's a lot of, of people that have varying views of how to tackle our problems. And we need to, you know, allow for that. And so that's great.
But I will say the other thing I picked out of what you said was some days I allow myself a whiteboard and a magic wand and in that magic wand would find a solution that was outside of, of the mainstream.
And what that means to me is, you know, conventional mortgage lending requirements. Right. We know what those are. Credit worthiness and debt to income and all this stuff.
If we target the lower amis, we're in a different demographic. And, and so I look at it like this. A lot of the students that come through our program, our CTE program, don't want or aren't suited for the traditional route of secondary education or whatever, for whatever reason.
And so I like this program because it gives them another option that's outside of the quote unquote traditional route.
My magic wand would say, let's create a program that is outside of the traditional mortgage lending criteria, that targets folks that are aspirational and to some degree have the ability to do that.
And then to further that idea, because sometimes I want my magic wand to have two spells in it, not just one, but I have a worry or a concern just on a broader conversation about the appetite of Oregon taxpayers to continually fund these programs.
So I would, if I had My magic wand, it would be a program for these lower amis that allows them a path to wealth creation that they haven't had before through home ownership and then also a program that is self sufficient or something similar to a revolving fund where it's paid back and then it can grow and grow and grow and then maybe we wouldn't get some criticism from taxpayers as much anyway.
[00:51:00] Speaker A: Well, that's awesome because you just asked, you answered one of the questions that we were going to ask that we ask everybody. If you had a magic wand, literally, what would you do? And that is amazing.
[00:51:11] Speaker B: He took our magic wand question right out from underneath us.
I was like, I love that. Yeah. What do you think is the biggest bottleneck, the biggest challenge that you're facing?
[00:51:25] Speaker C: Well, I'll answer it this way. So the first hurdle or roadblock is the funding in whatever aspect that is.
The second is, I hate using the word red tape, but it's the process and that's just endemic in everything.
Right.
And I also feel like I need to be fair because I do see efforts from the legislature that are trying to speed up that process.
So I don't want to minimize that. I feel like some folks there have heard and are trying to do things again, in my challenging moments, I'm looking at the need and then I'm still looking at the speed. And even though we're doing things that are trying to speed up the process, the need is just so great that I feel like I need to do something to make it faster.
So I would say, because I mean it goes down to even local permits and ordinances and you know, things like that system development charges, just all of the things. Right. And I realize there has to be a process, but that's, that's the big, that's the big challenge.
[00:52:43] Speaker B: I'd like to give a shout out or recognition to those who you see in the legislature that have seen the light and are making, perhaps are trying to make the path a little bit easier.
Can you identify them?
[00:52:59] Speaker C: Oh, I'm not as.
Yeah, I'll have to get my political baseball cards out to remember.
[00:53:07] Speaker B: No need to.
I just didn't know if they were on the top of your head or anything.
We're good at getting on people.
[00:53:14] Speaker A: Right.
[00:53:14] Speaker B: We also, on the flip side, want to compliment and give props to those who are actively listening and responding to the needs in the community because we believe in housing and we want more people homed.
[00:53:28] Speaker C: Yeah.
Yeah. So I'm not going to take the risk of calling anybody out that I would Forget folks. But I will say I think it was.
Forgive me, because I don't remember this stuff well, but I think it was. Senate Bill 1537 is going to allow cities to expand their urban growth boundary specifically for developments. And I think there was even a House bill that followed that up that said that the development could be or should be for 55 and older and low income, you know, that sort of thing. So they carved out something that would specifically help, you know, folks that want to get into manufactured homes. And I believe that's, you know, a lift by everybody. Right. Who got that. That sort of thing passed.
[00:54:17] Speaker A: So that's amazing.
I totally just lost my train of thought.
[00:54:24] Speaker C: All right.
[00:54:24] Speaker A: That doesn't happen very often.
[00:54:26] Speaker B: No, that's really my role. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So we want to leave people. We really appreciate your time and your expertise, but we always like to leave people with a nugget, with an action item that they can do to try and make housing better. Right. And here in Oregon. So what's the nugget that you would like to share with people? What's the action item on how to
[00:54:50] Speaker C: make housing better regarding what you're doing
[00:54:55] Speaker A: from your point of view, Is there anything.
It could be the trades program that. That we talked about, or the housing, the funding, the financing. Should they go talk to their legislators about this or what, from your vantage point, would make your life easier?
[00:55:16] Speaker C: That's a good question.
And it's hard to. I'll answer, but it's hard to answer because the affordable housing thing has so many variables and facets to the challenge and the problem.
But the one answer I would give is, I think we need more resourcefulness, and I think we need more people that want to stare this monster in the eyes. Right. Look under the bed and see the monster, and then help develop some more solutions.
Again, I go back to.
In order to solve this stuff, we need.
We need more ideas, more solutions, and I think that'll be the key.
[00:56:07] Speaker B: And maybe more cooperation.
[00:56:09] Speaker C: Well, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah.
[00:56:15] Speaker B: But.
[00:56:15] Speaker C: But I also give some grace to, you know, our. Our legislators because they. I mean, we're talking about affordable housing, and that's just one issue on their day. Yeah. And there's so many other directions that they're pulled. And. And yes, we think this is a high priority, and it is, but it doesn't mean it's their only priority. So, yeah, it's hard. That's a job I wouldn't want.
[00:56:39] Speaker B: Me either.
[00:56:39] Speaker A: Well, they stepped into the role, so,
[00:56:41] Speaker B: you know, they wanted it.
[00:56:43] Speaker A: They knew what they were getting themselves into. So it's not a cakewalk.
[00:56:47] Speaker B: Where can people find more about Hope Houses Homes, and how could they get involved?
[00:56:56] Speaker C: Yeah, I appreciate that question. So, yeah, so our website is Hope Community Homes.
So kind of long but easy to remember. Hope community homes.org and you can find all the information about the houses, the floor plan, that sort of thing.
The other thing that I would really ask is not everybody that needs to know about us knows about us yet. We're still very much a startup.
And so if folks could spread the word and help people.
And I'm still looking for opportunities at civic organizations to speak and tell our story.
I realize that, like I say, we're not everyone's cup of tea, perhaps, but I still feel like people need to know what we're doing in the community and that they could help us spread the word that way.
Additionally, we just launched a program on our website because we had some donors that wanted to contribute. And so we've created a thing where if you want to contribute 10 doors. Right. And it'd be the door to the new home, then you could do that. Or if you are excited about windows or paint or whatever, then we have different things that you could contribute to that way. Yeah. And you can find that on our
[00:58:19] Speaker B: website and on there they'll show pictures of the homes and all the good stuff, right?
[00:58:25] Speaker C: Yes, absolutely. And we're always building it out. It's. We just went through a major revision, so there won't be too many revisions here for just a little bit. But we're adding stories of homeowners and process and things like that. So keep coming back.
[00:58:38] Speaker A: I would love to hear the stories from the homeowners personally. That'd be very cool to see.
[00:58:43] Speaker C: Yes, some of them are really cool. I have one homeowner in Junction City who's just moving in and. And about every three days, he's. He's asking another question, and I just. I just love it. And it means to me that they're so excited.
[00:58:56] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:58:57] Speaker C: About having that.
[00:58:57] Speaker A: They're invested.
[00:58:58] Speaker C: Yeah, that's.
[00:58:59] Speaker A: And that's what we love to see.
[00:59:01] Speaker B: Yeah, that's really. Thank you for doing this work, for coming and speaking with us, and we really appreciate it.
[00:59:09] Speaker C: Yeah, I'm. I'm happy to be here. And I think you guys are doing a good thing. So thank you for that.
[00:59:14] Speaker A: Thank you for listening to my soapboxes a couple of times.
But again, thank you, Jake, and for joining us.
My name is Bri.
[00:59:22] Speaker B: And I'm Marty. And this is Housing Voices
[00:59:27] Speaker A: Practical Solutions Meet A special thanks to our partners MartyBullford.com and Cynet.net for supporting thoughtful dialogue around housing in our communities.
Music for Housing Voices is provided by Karen DeWolf and Adrienne Kriz. Thank you for helping us set the tone.
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Until next time, this is Bri. Let's keep listening, keep learning, and keep building practical housing solutions together.
