a place to call home
Nonprofit eases housing crunch with affordable homes
Words by Richard Rosenthal
HRB client Kimberly Corey’s children at home on Bainbridge Island. (Photo: Keith Brofsky)
On the internet, there is no shortage of accolades for Bainbridge Island. Type in any variation of the phrase, “best/most beautiful small towns in Washington,” and the island will be on nearly every list.
However, joining the community comes at a steep cost.
In June, according to Redfin, the median home price on Bainbridge Island was $1.2 million. The website RentCafe lists the average apartment rental as $2,579 per month. Many service workers that residents rely on—school teachers, bus drivers, grocery store employees, healthcare professionals—can’t afford to live here. Many commuters sit through long drives in traffic from off-island housing.
Brittany Wisner knows this struggle first-hand. She was raised by her grandparents and grew up on the island. After moving away, Wisner became a coach at Bainbridge High School and then joined Bainbridge Youth Services, which provides free counseling to teens and young adults. She endured long commute times, because she couldn’t afford to live on Bainbridge. “Between coaching and my work for a nonprofit, as you can imagine, I don’t make a large income,” she said. “I was renting out rooms and commuting from Kingston or Poulsbo, which sometimes took an hour and a half.”
Her situation changed dramatically with a move to an apartment owned by Housing Resources Bainbridge (HRB), a nonprofit that provides permanently affordable housing on the island. Wisner’s commute time is now two minutes, and she can walk to work. She also feels a greater sense of belonging. “Before, I was coming to the island, serving the people and leaving again, and I felt like an outsider, even though I was born and raised here,” she said.
So how does HRB provide affordable housing? Founded in 1989, the nonprofit is a community land trust that separates the value of the home from the value of the land by selling the house and retaining ownership of the land. HRB is one of 13 such land trusts in Washington and the fifth largest. “HRB oversees each sale to ensure that homes are sold to other income-qualified households,” explains Executive Director Phaedra Elliott. “By imposing income qualifications and regulating rent and sale prices, the homes are kept permanently affordable.” Another important part of HRB’s mission is their independent living program. The program provides health and safety modifications to the island residences of seniors and people with disabilities, so that they can continue to live safely in their home.
HRB, which receives funding from donations, private foundations and government agencies, currently owns 44 houses and 90 rental units, and has an additional 62 on the way. A mix of HRB rentals and homes for sale are now under construction or in planning at the Wintergreen Townhome community, the Wyatt & Madison development and the Ericksen Community. “This may seem like enough dwellings to offer, but the current waitlist is very long,” Elliot says. “We’re not done expanding. The future is for more growth in affordable housing.”
Kimberly Corey, a single mom, can also attest to how HRB changes lives. A long-time islander, she was born at the Winslow Clinic and graduated from Bainbridge High. After moving away, she found work at the Bainbridge Island School District, coaching girl’s basketball, and recently took a job as a paraeducator at Sakai Intermediate. But Corey struggled to make ends meet and with a long commute from Poulsbo.
“Financially, it was difficult,” she says. “I was basically only going to be able to keep that up for a few more months. I was looking to add yet another part-time job, when a home ownership opportunity through HRB came up. I didn’t think it would be possible for me to afford a house, let alone a house on Bainbridge Island.”
Corey and her two children now live in a townhouse for $300 less a month than she paid in rent. “This was life-changing for us,” she says. “We have so many friends in our neighborhood. It feels like Sesame Street.”
With its strong community, parks, forests, blue water and easy access to Seattle, Bainbridge Island will always be desirable. Thanks to Housing Resources Bainbridge, it can be affordable, too.