This week, the Oregon non-profit group First Story held a wall-raising ceremony for a new home in Spokane’s Five Mile Neighborhood. It has been sold to a woman named Amanda Cole, a single mother with two boys.
Amanda Cole: We live in our duplex right now, and they keep upping our rent and they're not updating anything. And I feel like this home here in this community is not only affordable for us, but it's in a safe area. And no matter what, we're not going to have to worry about them selling it under us like a lot of rental people do.
AC: Without some kind of help, Cole was likely not going to be able to find a home that fit her budget and her family’s needs. I’m the type that doesn't ask for help, and so I was like, you know, I'm just going to look it up, and they had one house available, and I was like, OK, maybe I'm just going to try it and see where it goes, and yeah, we were accepted.
DN: Cole says the application process was less onerous than if she’d gone to a bank to apply for a home loan.
AC: They just wanted, like, I think a month of pay stubs, an application, why we wanted to be selected for the program, and I feel like that's about it. Bank statements, that's about it.
A couple months ago, so they called us up and just said, we're going to have a little just meet and greet kind of thing, and asked me to come up with the boys, and I was like, 'OK, well, I just don't like to tell my kids that we're doing something, just in case they're let down,' and she's like, 'Well, we'll talk about it when we get up there,' and then they're like, 'You're accepted, you're now a first-time home buyer.'
DN: What was your reaction?
AC: I was super excited, trying not to tear up, you know. My son's like, you totally teared up, Mom. I was like, stop it.
Right now we're in a duplex right off of Busy Street, so it's with no yard. I mean, they have like a little front yard, but it's right off of Busy Street. So playing ball, which they like. He's a soccer player. He likes to play baseball, basketball, all that kind of stuff. It's kind of hard right there. This will have a yard. This has a two-car garage, so we can keep our car protected. A lot of the time where we live is not the greatest neighborhood, and I'm super excited to be here in a community that feels safer.
Claire Duncan is the executive director of First Story.
Claire Duncan: First Story was founded by Hayden Homes over 25 years ago to bridge the gap to home ownership for low- to moderate-income families who might not otherwise be able to achieve the dream of owning a home. Through First Story, we partner with Hayden Homes to provide 30-year, zero-interest, zero-down, zero-cash-to-close loans on new, move-in-ready Hayden Homes.
DN: I assume this is all Hayden Homes development?
CD: Yes. Out here in Forest Grove, these are all Hayden Homes. The First Story home is built just alongside all of the other homes with the same aesthetics, and so our homeowners feel right at home when they move in.
DN: How do you choose the folks who get to be part of this?
CD: We work with local and regional housing providers to work with families who have reached out to them to help get them prepared for the big responsibility of home ownership. And that journey is different for everyone. They could be working on credit repair, they could just be working on getting more income, and then as soon as they're ready for that opportunity, we'll connect with them and provide our mortgage application.
I think all of our families would say they would have never owned a home without First Story. It just wouldn't have been possible. And so we try to inspire families to let them know that all of our families at one point never believed the dream was something that they could dream, but with a little bit of help and with the private-public partnership that Hayden Homes and First Story have formed, this opportunity is available to so many families that wouldn't otherwise ever, ever, ever have the chance.
DN: First Story says it has sold more than 120 homes to people of limited means in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana. Amanda Cole is the 13th in Spokane. Another five live in Kootenai County.
Alex Scott, Spokane’s city administrator, expects to see more of this kind of arrangement as Spokane addresses its shortage of affordable housing.
Alex Scott: I would say that our primary role with this is creating the regulatory framework, creating an environment where we're trying to reduce the burdens on development as much as possible, where we're trying to permit smaller lot sizes, smaller setbacks, so that homes can be maximized in those lots, and then also working closely with developers and homebuilders on all the surrounding infrastructure, things like connecting streets and utilities, things like that, moving things through the permitting process quickly, that kind of thing.
DN: There are other affordable housing models, besides First Story. One of the best known is Habitat for Humanity, which this week kicked off its 24th annual Blitz Build, a two-week intensive effort to build 45 homes for new homebuyers in Spokane Valley. Individuals and businesses are invited to join. Contact the local Habitat office for information.
