Adirondack Roots, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping individuals and families put down roots and stay in the North Country, has hired Essex native Ben Breckenridge as its new community development director.
Adirondack Roots, AdkAction and LivingADK are offering owners of short-term rentals (STRs) a stipend to convert their properties to long-term rentals — a pilot program meant to help alleviate the region’s persistent housing shortage.
Adirondack Roots will build four new, single-family homes in Keene aimed at moderate-income families. Applications for homes in the Both Meadow Trail development are now being accepted.
Adirondack Roots will provide all the same services, including homebuying assistance, housing rehabilitation, manufactured home replacement, emergency repairs, foreclosure prevention, and administration of the Section 8 housing voucher program in Essex and Clinton counties. It will also continue to administer Adirondack Community Housing Trust to develop permanently affordable housing throughout the region.
The Housing Assistance Program of Essex County Board of Directors is pleased to announce the hiring of Megan Murphy as HAPEC’s next Executive Director effective immediately. Megan is a longtime resident of Essex County and will replace interim Executive Director Alan Hipps. She will manage a $2.8 million dollar budget and $2 million dollars in assets which include 29 rental housing and commercial units.
On Wednesday, June 8, Housing Assistance Program of Essex County (HAPEC) celebrated NeighborWorks Week with the residents of Lee House apartments in Port Henry. HAPEC staff delivered four wicker chairs for Lee House residents and their guests to enjoy on the front porch. They spruced up the porch and yard and enjoyed a barbeque lunch. Decker’s Flats Greenhouse provided the flowers.
Renters in Clinton County can now receive some rent relief if they have had a loss of income because of the covid-19 pandemic. The Clinton County Board of Legislators recently approved the reprogramming of CDBG funds to create a program that will provide rental assistance for up to three months. Current renters or those who have been made homeless by the pandemic can apply. Applicants must show a loss of income since the start of the COVID crisis, have a current income less than 80% of the area median, and currently paying more than 30% of their income toward their housing costs. Payments will be paid directly to the landlord.
The Adirondack Community Housing Trust, in coordination with the Housing Assistance Program of Essex County (HAPEC) plans to move a donated modular home from the outskirts of Lake Placid and erect it in the Otter Landing development within the village. This summer, a contractor is breaking the structure down into two large sections for transport, along with its attached 2-car garage.
Full-time residents of the Adirondacks face long commutes, limited housing options and rising prices. Accurate data about housing and market trends will help HAPEC and its partners plan future projects to bring Adirondack housing, economies, and transportation into better balance.
It’s a little hard to believe that fall is here. In reflecting on what just happened since the snow melted the thought in Community Development that “it takes a village” jumped to mind. The majority of work as HAPEC’s Community Development Director is overseeing our home “rehab” programs. This and the rest of my work takes getting out and meeting with other community leaders, participating in important discussions, and then trying to determine what and how to get other important projects off the ground to meet community needs. Home rehabilitation is also village rehabilitation. Rehab is a piece of the pie for overall community development needs, but also directly ties into why our organization came into existence. It was because of low income household housing, and repair needs.
103 Hand Avenue
PO Box 157
Elizabethtown, NY 12932
Phone: 518-873-6888
Fax: 518-873-9102
info@adirondackroots.org
