Trust for Community Housing: Opportunity Fund Apps Open Now

07 Jan Trust for Community Housing: Opportunity Fund Apps Open Now

Applications for the Trust for Community Housing are now available on TCH’s website. To qualify, link to SMRHA’s website and choose the application that applies to your situation (location of unit, rental or buyer), go here.

For more information about the trust for Community Housing, to donate or to get involved in any way visit here and here (for a deep background on the organization) and/or contact Amy Levek at Amy@trustforcommunityhousing.org.

Working and living in the Telluride region is challenging, especially when it comes to finding and affording housing. The Trust for Community Housing is excited to announce a Housing Opportunity Fund designed to help buyers and renters working in the Telluride region with costs of securing housing.

TCH’s new grant program will make it a little easier for qualified employees to move into their housing of choice. The Fund offers grants that can be used for down payment or closing costs for buyers or for first and last month’s rent or moving costs for renters.

To qualify, buyers and renters are required to meet the qualifications for purchase or rent of deed-restricted units in the jurisdiction in which their housing is located (although their housing does not need to be deed-restricted), including proof of employment within the Telluride region.

TCH is accepting grant applications for the Housing Opportunity Fund beginning immediately. Applicants will complete a two-step process: 1) The San Miguel Regional Housing Authority (SMRHA) will pre-qualify applicants; 2) Applicants will then submit a copy of that application along with TCH’s application. The Trust for Community Housing will then evaluate applicants to ensure they meet income and work qualifications. Grants to qualified applicants will come directly from TCH.

Housing Opportunity Fund grants are made possible by the generous donations of neighbors in the Telluride region. Since its inception in Fall of 2018, TCH has received over $50,000 in contributions to the fund from 61 families, individuals, local businesses, as well as several foundations.

TCH, more:

That the larger Telluride community urgently needs affordable housing is supported by the recently completed San Miguel County Housing Needs Assessment, which concluded, among other findings, that:

• The community-wide perception of the housing issue as a critical problem has risen to a new high as 39 percent of survey respondents who ranked affordable housing for regional workers as the most serious issue compared to 15 percent of those surveyed in 2011.

• The current housing need in the county is defined by the existing deficit (“catch-up”) of 441 units and the projected need over the next 10 years (“keep-up”) of 325 units.

• Employers too are concerned about the lack of available housing, with 57 percent saying rental housing for year-round employees is their biggest concern. There are currently about 150 unfilled jobs in the county.

The goal of TCH is to preserve our community through increasing regional housing opportunities. Through collaboration with others, the non-profit Trust expands resources available for housing, helping to ensure a diverse and vital community. As the only non-profit dedicated to housing in the region, TCH brings the necessary resources and results to this ongoing challenge.

TCH is a grassroots non-profit (501-c-3) organization supported by diverse community members, a broad spectrum of full and part-time residents who treasure what makes our shared home unique.