Housing Resources Bainbridge may be one of the island’s newer institutions — its 35th birthday is this month — but its work will shape the community for generations to come.
The organization’s anniversary coincides with a crucial juncture in Bainbridge city planning— updates to its Comprehensive Plan, which sets parameters for nearly every aspect of its infrastructure for the next 10 years or so. The plan’s topics include climate change mitigation, transportation needs, land use policies and housing. Those are at the forefront for nonprofits like HRB.
The conversation around planning has changed a lot since HRB director Phedra Elliott joined the nonprofit 15 years ago, she said. For a while, Bainbridge was insulated from the slow creep of the national affordable housing shortage. It wasn’t until about 2018 that the average median home price on BI exceeded $700,000 that the community began to take notice.
“It’s become a national crisis, but at the beginning, nobody was paying attention. We don’t have to convince people of the problem anymore,” Elliott said.
Tamar Kupiec, HRB communications director, added, ““People wanted to be grandparents, and live near their families, but found that younger people couldn’t afford it here.”
Elliott credits the nonprofit’s outreach and advocacy programs for changing public opinion about affordable housing on BI. Staffing shortages in municipal roles and BI’s service sector, worse traffic and lower school enrollment can all be attributed to the crisis, she said. Those who initially balked at the idea of affordable housing came around after HRB demonstrated that potential new residents already worked in the community, but couldn’t afford to live here.
But recognizing the need for change is just one obstacle.
Starting Sept. 18, city officials are hosting five Open Houses to gather input on proposed updates to the BI Comp Plan. HRB is encouraging its supporters to speak out on behalf of their neighborhood’s housing needs.
The nonprofit’s portfolio includes about 133 units of housing of various sizes, plus 31 townhomes under construction. It uses a land-trust model to lease its properties, which gives tenants and homeowners more economic flexibility and removes the land from speculation, which helps keep prices down.
While HRB is “well-positioned to continue its development and housing programs, as well as grow its profile in the community,” Elliott said it’s still an uphill battle. The process is “time-consuming,” “onerous” and materials more costly than ever.
“We want to make it easier to build housing of all kinds with affordability included, but there’s no one silver bullet,” she said. “People are paying attention — it’s a really big deal.”
