Developing affordable housing is more expensive and takes longer to build than market-rate homes. But why? Here are the major challenges Our Town St. Helena (OTSH) faces as we develop our Pope Street Workforce Housing project (10 units) and the Fountain Street project (approximately 40 units). Complex Financing When the Read more…
Our purchase was made possible by a generous donation to OTSH from Jim and Stephanie Gamble. “It is essential that local families and organizations support the preservation of existing housing and the building new homes for our workforce,” said Jim Gamble. “We are happy to invest in OTSH’s project to help grow the well-being of our community.”
Marisol was on Cuba’s national swim team. (pay attention: this is important). They never let her attend the international swim meets outside of Cuba because they were afraid she would defect due to her family and friends in the US. Nevertheless, Marisol made friends with her competitors from several countries when they came to the island, and those relationships would provide critical in her long journey to find a better life that didn’t include living under a dictator.
With the dramatic drop in income for countless people due to the COVID-19 pandemic, millions fell behind in their rent or mortgage payments. The federal government helped for a month or two. Now our cities and rural areas are filled with people in deep financial trouble, facing frightening consequences of not being able to make their monthly payments.
How can we make the new apartments as comfortable and livable as possible? On February 12, OTSH conducted a public forum to inform the community about the four units we are planning to build at 963 Pope St. While our first responsibility was to alert the neighborhood about upcoming changes Read more…
Ramona Gibbs and her six-year-old daughter, Iliana, moved into OTSH’s Pope St. property in time to celebrate Christmas in their new home. After living in a studio apartment for four years, Ramona and her daughter were delighted to be putting up their Christmas decorations in this 2-bedroom, 1-bathroom house. When Read more…
Anai Ortiz: Born and raised in St. Helena Meet Anai Ortiz, homebuilder and native Californian. Anai’s grandparents immigrated to San Diego from Mexico as part of the Bracero program that dates back to WWII. There were farm-labor shortages caused by America’s entry into the war. The Bracero Program brought Mexican workers to Read more…
Construction began on July 13. For the next 18 months, our eight families and their teams will be working every Friday and Saturday at Brenkle Court. A few of our homeowners are single moms. One mother will be joined by her sons every weekend; another mother is relying on her Read more…