Baker County
Workforce Housing Action Team #1
Project Purpose
Improve existing housing stock by utilizing existing but underutilized programs or
programs that have not been available in Baker County to address housing deficiencies
Our primary activities are to compile information, identify property maintenance issues and solutions, and connect to resources. See below for more information.
Data
Compile existing program information together to share with others and make it available for sharing
Understand renter/buyer desires - compile existing data and determine if more is needed
Property Maintenance
Identify top 10 rental owners and ask them about challenges they face doing necessary repairs
Identify contractors/others that can do renovations
Networking & Resources
Explore funding opportunities and needs to do the work we’ve identified
Reach out to Oregon Housing & Community Services & USDA for resources & to talk to our group
Activity
Timeline
Oct 5, 2021 - We had our first meeting and identified a priority project and tasks for each teammate before our next meeting on Nov 5, 2021.
Nov 9, 2021 - Survey developed and distributed to top 10 rental owners. We also investigated programs that could be used in Baker County.
January 2022 - Team members reached out to USDA Rural Development to see what programs could help solve workforce housing projects. The team made the decision to have USDA speak to a larger group rather than our small group. Landlords did not respond to the survey that we distributed. By reaching out to real estate offices, we found that housing is not available in a price range that most workers can afford to pay. We decided to consolidate with the other Baker County group.
Feb 2022 - Team is working on a presentation from USDA Rural development with goal to see if anyone wants to take advantage of any of their programs.
Resources
Meet the team
Our 8-member team was created under the Strategic Doing framework. We have one table guide leader to keep the conversation on track, and one knowledge keeper records the session and make sure everyone is on the same page. The team will meet every 30 days until the project is completed. Each team member leaves every meeting with a task to complete by the next meeting.
Kitt Kindle
Tucker Billman
Tony Swart
Courtney Crowell
Lisa Dawson
Table Guide Leader
Questions?
Want to learn more or want to support this project?
Contact Lisa Dawson, lisadawson@neoedd.org