The year started with a small group of housing advocates who came to JCF for help. They had
identified a 17-acre parcel of land in Port Hadlock that seemed ideal for building affordable
workforce housing. They knew that fast action was needed to vet the opportunity and get the land off
the market before it was lost to private market-rate development. The group also wanted to see if
this could be turned into a mixed-income neighborhood for local working people, but they were not
sure how to proceed with such a large project.

JCF reached out to the wonderful team at Habitat for Humanity East Jefferson County to see if they
might partner on this exploration. Unsurprisingly, they too were aware of this land and were interested
in working on it. One obstacle, though: as a member of Habitat for Humanity International, our local
Habitat is allowed to build houses only for folks making around $55,000 a year or less. What about
those other workers? Those making between $55,000 and $110,000? That range includes folks like
nurses, teachers, nonprofit and maritime workers. Creative solutions needed to be found quickly.
In the following 16 weeks, Habitat and JCF worked together to:

• Get agreement from the International Habitat that the local Habitat could own all of the land as
  long as the houses they directly built were for low-income families, allowing other developers
  to take on the higher income level housing;
• Vet the land via environmental studies and meetings with the County;
• Engage local donors to raise $4.5 million to purchase the land and cover the costs of
  infrastructure like streets and sidewalks costs could be kept low.

On May 23, 2022, the purchase was completed! This will be future home of a vibrant neighborhood of
mixed single and multi-family housing adjacent to Chimacum Creek Primary School and close to
Jefferson County Library with amenities such as community gardens, green spaces, and childcare
opportunities that create community and blend into and enhance the Tri-Area.

Thank you to the advocates, donors, Habitat team, County Commissioners, County Planners and
volunteers who came together with such agility and trust to make this happen!