Affordable Housing - Three Leaders: No Crowd Here, Only Advocates

By MAX HART

One raises money. Another spends it. The third is the manager.

Say hello to Emily Graham, Philippe Jordi and David Vigneault - the newest threesome to tackle the Island's affordable housing problem."The attitude is not whether we should do affordable housing, but how," Mr. Vigneault says. "How do we finance projects? How do we secure land? There is a renewed attitude among the housing community that is very proactive and energized and ready to move forward."

Mr. Vigneault is the new executive director of the Dukes County Regional Housing Authority, a state-chartered, public organization that manages affordable rental housing across the Island. Of the troika, he is the manager.

"On the Vineyard, the term affordable housing takes on a whole new meaning," Mr. Jordi says. "In this market, anyone making even 140 per cent of the median income is shut out of the market. We need to ensure that there are homes available to all Island families for generations to come."

Mr. Jordi, the former head of the housing authority, is now executive director of the newly created Island Housing Trust, a nonprofit that seeks to buy, develop and lease land across the Island for perpetually affordable home ownership and rental housing. He is the spender.

"Developing, planning and building affordable housing projects is enough of a challenge," Ms. Graham says. "Bringing in money to pay for those projects is an essential component in seeing that they are completed."

Ms. Graham is the executive director of the Island Affordable Housing Fund, a private, nonprofit funding institution that raises money to provide grants and financing to affordable housing developers looking to acquire or maintain properties. She raises the money.

In a conversation with the Gazette this week, Mr. Vigneault, Mr. Jordi and Ms. Graham talked about the affordable housing landscape on Martha's Vineyard, and how their new alignment works together on the front lines of the Vineyard's most talked about struggle.

"This has been an issue for more than 20 years, it certainly didn't sneak up on us," Mr. Vigneault says. "The need is there now more than ever, and more than ever the Island is addressing that need. But there has been a wonderful evolution of how the community is addressing this issue, so I see the glass as way more than half full."

Mr. Vigneault joins the housing authority after 17 years at Vineyard Employment Options, an organization that provides training and job placement on the Island for people with disabilities. In his new job as director of the housing authority, he says he will focus on working with the towns on an array of housing projects.

"Ultimately, how this is going to succeed is with full partnership with the towns," Mr. Vigneault says. "They are the ones in the driver's seat when it comes to creating affordable housing."

Founded in 1986 through a state charter, the housing authority owns and manages 48 rental housing units across the Vineyard for low and very low income recipients - those making between 50 and 80 per cent of the Dukes County median income. And while the housing authority's main function is to provide permanently affordable rental apartments, it has also become a primary resource for Island towns and private companies interested in developing and managing their own affordable housing projects, like Bridge Housing Corp., South Mountain and Good Houses. The housing authority also provides technical assistance, advocacy and consulting and frequently explores grant opportunities for the Island's towns. It also offers home buyer counseling for individuals.

But in terms of the overall housing picture, there are limitations.

"It doesn't address the home ownership crisis and it's not well placed to be a developer," Mr. Jordi says. "That's where the trust comes in. It was designed specifically for acquiring and developing land and keeping it affordable."

The housing trust was created in October. It was founded on the ground lease model, where land is bought and owned by a trust and leased to a tenant for a 99-year term at a greatly reduced rate, usually less than $50 a year. The house on the land is sold at an affordable price, and the tenant pays a lower-than-market-rate mortgage on the house only. The 99-year lease is renewable, making the land transferable to heirs.

"This way, families can live their whole lives on this property," Mr. Jordi adds. "It is the most effective way of retaining long-term affordability for a project."

Mr. Jordi says the goal of the housing trust is to acquire preexisting houses and undeveloped parcels of land. In most cases, the trust will focus on creating single family homes, not clusters or apartments. Currently, the housing trust has purchased a building on a three-acre piece of land originally bought by the land bank and plans to develop a resident homesite on the property. It has also secured land near the blinker in Oak Bluffs, and owns property in Aquinnah.

"Over time, we realized we needed to retain properties as a community asset," Mr. Jordi says. "We looked at the ground lease model and the land bank and saw two good examples of how to do that. Now we need to work with towns and Realtors to find and obtain those properties."

But managing rental housing and buying land for resident homesites is not free, and that is where Ms. Graham and the Island Affordable Housing Fund comes in.

The housing fund focuses on smaller, long-term housing projects, promoting perpetual affordability through deed restrictions and land trusts. Founded in 1998, the fund provides financing for many of the affordable housing organizations across the Island. Last year, the fund issued grants to Habitat for Humanity, the Community Action Committee and the House Moves program, as well as the housing trust and housing authority.

The fund relies on donations from foundations, businesses and individuals for its funding. Through several fund raising campaigns, such as Houses on the Move and Raising the Roof, which raises over $250,000 annually, the fund brings in close to $1 million a year.

"And if we continue our pace, it's looking very good, very promising for future projects," Ms. Graham says.

And how do the three work together? Closely - literally at arms length from each other - and under the same roof at the Vineyard Housing Office in Vineyard Haven.

"It is certainly a dynamic working environment," Mr. Vigneault says with a laugh. "It's a cozy office."

"There are no walls between us, so the lines of communication are always on," Ms. Graham adds. "Affordable housing ultimately is people taking initiative, and all the people in our office - they are doers."