People working in and serving Wallowa County, whether in our hospital and clinics, restaurants, retail and local businesses, county and city government, or nonprofits, shouldn’t have to commute from Union County or live in a camp trailer.

We need more homes, which must be both available and affordable to the local workforce. If we don’t meet this need, many jobs will remain unfilled. That’s the challenge to which our new workforce housing initiative is responding.

Wallowa County is a recreation community with rapid growth in second-home ownership. Most of the starter homes that used to house our workforce, including apartments, have been converted to public housing, vacation rentals or higher-end homes. Over the last several years, home sales have been competitive. Many have sold to cash buyers willing to waive contingencies and settle quickly, pushing out first-time homeowners applying for mortgage loans. The housing market will continue to cycle up and down, but the inclination to sell to the highest bidder will remain constant through those cycles.

Median home prices have skyrocketed in Wallowa County over the last three decades — appreciating 2.5 times faster than median household incomes. Zillow reports the average home value in Wallowa County at $413,255. These trends are putting home ownership out of reach for many.

Wallowa Resources formed Working Homes LLC and appointed an advisory committee to develop solutions. Based on our initial assessment, we believe there is a need for homes priced between $150,000 and $340,000 — and the local workforce needs a mix of owner-occupied and rental homes.

The private sector continues to build homes that meet a different market need; those with household income above 120% of the area median income (AMI). Public housing serves those earning less than 60% of AMI.

Working Homes LLC plans to develop housing to help alleviate the worker shortage in the county. We want to increase the supply of attractive, well-built, energy-efficient houses available to people whose income is between 60% and 120% of AMI, roughly $48,000 to $96,000 per year. This income range is too high to qualify for traditional subsidized housing but not enough to afford most of the homes in our market.

Because of the high cost of homebuilding, we believe there is a role for a community-based nonprofit to contribute to the solution. Nonprofits can access various sources of capital from individual donations, foundations and government not available to the private sector, helping to reduce costs and providing a variety of proven strategies to ensure homes and rental units are available and affordable to our local workforce.

Wallowa Resources’ mission is to support the community and its economy. Through its Working Homes initiative, it is investing in our future infrastructure, an investment as critical as the money spent to maintain our schools, roads, dams, and bridges.

One model Working Homes is considering is the community land trust. This model started in the 1960s, helps preserve homeownership opportunities for working families in the face of gentrification and ensures that local residents can afford to live and work in their communities.

Some community land trusts retain ownership of the land and sell only the homes. Others offer housing units for rent and provide property management services. While the price appreciation of a home is limited in this model, homeowners still build equity. Many use this increased value to buy their next home through conventional means.

As we continue to explore the best options and strategies to meet the workforce housing needs here in Wallowa County, we want to hear from you. In early June, every household will receive a mailer directing you to an online survey designed to help us understand what types and sizes of workforce housing people need. With the community’s input, the neighborhood we develop will be designed in a way that best meets the needs of our local workforce.