Olympic Housing Trust
News to Know
The Dundee Hill project is nearly fully funded but we’re not there yet. Your gift will help push us over the finish line!
Visit the campaign page to give today.We have entered into a partnership with the renowned Jefferson Land Trust to explore the feasibility of property in Chimacum to create housing while protecting farmland and habitat. Find out more on our new project page.
We have secured a grant to install rooftop solar across all of the upcoming Dundee Hill homes and reduce the energy costs of the future homeowners, thanks to the WSU Energy Office.
Our work is enabled by gifts, especially of property. Have you ever considered donating land or housing? We are interested in leveraging legacy gifts for permanently affordable housing.
Call To Action!
Our friends at Housing Solutions Network in Jefferson County want to hear from you!
HSN is conducting a survey to quantify the economic impacts of Jefferson County’s housing crisis. The results of this survey will be shared among government decision makers, housing providers, builders and contractors, and the community at large. Specifically we are looking to:
quantify the urgency of housing needs,
better grasp desired housing types, sizes, locations, amenities, and open spaces as they relate to affordability
connect how housing constraints impact the local economy.
Dundee Hill
We are thrilled to be developing our flagship project in Jefferson County. A generous local supporter in Port Townsend has donated land where we will build five new houses that will be permanently affordable to first time home buyers in our community. This project will neighbor an existing community garden space which aligns our commitment to both housing and food resiliency.
Learn more and follow our progress with Dundee Hill here.
If you would be interested in owning one of the homes in our Dundee Hill project, please fill out this survey!
Concept art for the Dundee Hill development combining food and housing resiliency
Dundee Hill community gardeners
Rooted in Community
Olympic Housing Trust is a community land trust serving Jefferson and Clallam County. We serve individuals who live in this area and can qualify for a mortgage, but cannot afford to purchase their own house. By leveraging public and private subsidies, we work to bring down the cost of the house to a reasonable amount, and in exchange the home buyer agrees to a ground lease agreement capping the future resale of the home. This allows for permanently affordable housing now and into the future.
Community land trusts are a model that is rooted in the goal of strengthening a community’s social fabric and resilience through stewarding resources its most vital resources - land and housing.
We are designed to be guided by local needs and priorities through our membership model and board composition: anyone can become a member of Olympic Housing Trust, which gives them the opportunity to vote on important decisions, and one third of our board is reserved for the people who are most impacted by our housing crisis. Learn more on our About page.
Responding to Local Needs
Housing trusts are flexible enough to serve the needs of a specific community, and Olympic Housing Trust aims to be responsive to the local housing landscape. We hope to provide various housing opportunities, including home ownership, workforce rentals, intentional housing developments, mobile or tiny home communities, cooperative housing, and small multi-family housing units. Every home we build or steward will be protected as permanently affordable housing.
Stewardship
Olympic Housing Trust is committed to stewarding community resources. We don’t just help families secure housing, we ensure their housing remains in good condition and homeowners remain housed through providing homeowner support and building a reserve of funds for major home repairs - like roof replacements. Olympic Housing Trust also aims to steward community resources beyond housing. For instance, we hope to enhance local food security through stewarding community gardens.
