{"id":17527,"date":"2022-03-09T01:40:46","date_gmt":"2022-03-09T01:40:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/?p=17527"},"modified":"2022-03-08T21:29:23","modified_gmt":"2022-03-08T21:29:23","slug":"crisis-pairing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/2022\/03\/09\/crisis-pairing\/","title":{"rendered":"Crisis Pairing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hunger Coalition, City of Ketchum team up <\/i><\/span>to take on housing, hunger challenges<\/i><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

By Eric Valentine<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Source: City of Ketchum<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Development in a capitalist society can make for interesting bedfellows. And when it comes to wrapping one\u2019s head around the overlap here of food insecurity and an affordable housing crisis, any partnership that helps the Valley\u2019s working class can\u2019t come soon enough.<\/p>\n

The Hunger Coalition is partnering with a City of Ketchum task force to help address the affordable housing crisis and resulting hunger crisis in Blaine County. In 2021, The Hunger Coalition provided food for 1 in 4 local people and 2,330 of them were new to the organization, indicating both a population growth and a food insecurity among the working class. Over half of new families reported housing insecurity, compromising their ability to buy food. <\/span><\/p>\n

Last month, Carissa Connelly, housing strategist for the City of Ketchum, attended a food distribution at Bloom Community Food Center, in Bellevue, to get a better idea of the community\u2019s housing needs. That day, Connelly spoke with dozens of people who shared their struggles with housing. She spoke with people living in trailers, couch surfing, or crowding three generations into a single-family home. <\/span><\/p>\n

Hunger Coalition participants are living in poverty, or, put another way, they are Asset Limited-Income Constrained-Employed (ALICE) households. ALICE households can be making the area median income of $75,000 for a family of four, and still living paycheck to paycheck in poverty-like conditions in Blaine County because of the cost of living. In 2018 and pre-pandemic, 41% of Blaine County households were ALICE, and an additional 11% were below the federal poverty level of $26,500 for a family of four. In housing-speak, this means Hunger Coalition participants are low- and middle-income households, many of whom are forced to choose between paying rent and eating. <\/span><\/p>\n

Stories of Housing Insecurity<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Connelly and Jenni Rangel, a resource coordinator for The Hunger Coalition, recorded stories from local people who shared their housing experience. Regarding one family that lives in a two-bedroom house with six adults, Rangel said, \u201cThe adults in the household are single and employed through construction. The two-bedroom and one-bathroom house is being rented at $3,000 per month. Having six people in the home is the only way they could afford rent in the valley. Rent does not include utilities.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c[The community] should look at prioritizing people here for housing, even seasonal,\u201d commented another individual who returned from working on the river to find their rent doubled. \u201cNow living in my car, it\u2019s one-on-one survival.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Another resident shared that their rent increased by $1,000, which they could not afford since the woman recently gave birth and only the husband, who works in construction, was able to work. They had to move or face eviction.<\/span><\/p>\n

Help may not come soon enough for those residents, but Connelly said the The Hunger Coalition and Ketchum partnership means the Valley is taking a step in the right direction. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDuring my time at The Hunger Coalition, I spoke with seniors on a fixed income, an outdoor guide, teachers\u2014including one who retired early due to a disability\u2014tradespeople and professionals, all experiencing housing insecurity,\u201d Connelly said. \u201cThe conversations confirmed what the data says: Low- and middle-income households desperately need housing support. There are professionals experiencing homelessness, people foundational to our economy working three jobs and still low-income, and people who are low-income because they are unable to work. I have faith that we can actually do something, but we need to come together.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Connecting The Disconnect<\/b> <\/span><\/p>\n

Kristin McMahon, communications supervisor for The Hunger Coalition, said her organization and Ketchum city leaders are doing more than just addressing the effects of the crisis. The two entities are working to address the root causes of quality-of-life challenges; namely, a disconnect.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cA challenge in our tourist economy is a disconnect between the second homeowners and year-round locals. So long as the runs are groomed and rooms are clean, it\u2019s hard for a part-time population to really see the struggle of our teachers, housekeepers, first-responders, waitstaff, lift operators, fishing guides, landscapers, childcare and hospitality workers,\u201d McMahon said. \u201cThe lifeblood of our community is being driven out of the Valley and we need to reckon with this crisis before it\u2019s too late.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Enter the City of Ketchum Housing Action Plan. In response to the housing crisis, the City of Ketchum is developing a plan in collaboration with a housing task force composed of a cross-section of community members. Actions being analyzed include: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Rental assistance<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Incentives for converting to long-term rentals<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Preserving existing affordable housing<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Homeownership assistance<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 New housing development<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Zoning changes<\/span><\/p>\n

To ensure adequate funding for these actions, the Ketchum city council is considering putting the Local Option Tax (LOT) on the May ballot. The measure\u2014if approved by voters\u2014would allow Ketchum to use a portion of its sales tax revenues to offset housing costs. An approved measure would levy sales taxes on the following types of purchases:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Lodging\u2014 a 2% increase<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Liquor-by-the-drink (e.g., drinks bought at bars, pubs, etc.)\u2014a 2% increase<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2022 Construction materials (excluding workforce housing construction)\u2014a 1% increase<\/span><\/p>\n

The city has not proposed an increase in LOT for general retail sales. Ketchum\u2019s city council will determine the final ballot language and percentages. Ketchum voters will decide whether to implement those proposed tax increases. <\/span><\/p>\n

A sign that at least some voters are ready to chime in would be a large amount of participation and feedback on ProjectKetchum.org\u2014the city\u2019s new website to find information on significant projects and initiatives taking place in Ketchum.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have received more than 386 responses to our parking survey and are getting multiple views on our housing initiative,\u201d said Ketchum Mayor Neil Bradshaw in his most recent issue of the Mayor\u2019s Missive. \u201cCommunication and transparency remain our priority and we are delighted with the response to this new website.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Editor\u2019s Note: Visit ProjectKetchum.org\/Housing-Matters to see trends, updates, engagement opportunities, and data sources. <\/i><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hunger Coalition, City of Ketchum team up to take on housing, hunger challenges By Eric Valentine Development in a capitalist society can make for interesting bedfellows. And when it comes to wrapping one\u2019s head around the overlap here of food insecurity and an affordable housing crisis, any partnership that helps the Valley\u2019s working class can\u2019t […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":17534,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","_pvb_checkbox_block_on_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[72,8,82,86,88,18,20],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-17527","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-community","8":"category-food","9":"category-housing","10":"category-ketchum","11":"category-local","12":"category-news","13":"category-nonprofit"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17527","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17527"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17527\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17536,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17527\/revisions\/17536"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17527"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17527"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/woodriverweekly.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17527"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}