For many low-income, working families, the dream of homeownership is out of reach. These families who provide agricultural, hotel and tourism industry labor, and other vital services have incomes too low to qualify for traditional financing.
Ukiah, a community with more than 15,000 residents in Mendocino County, has a median household income of $42,609. More than 22 percent of households are below poverty level.
There is a severe shortage of affordable housing in St. Helena and the Napa Valley as a whole. The average price for a modest home is $950,000, which prices many out of the market, especially farmworkers.
Community Housing Improvement Program (CHIP) became a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Mutual Self-Help Housing Program grantee in 1980, and since has helped more than 1,700 families to build their own homes.
The town of Lewistown, like many western rural communities, lacks economic opportunities. Young people are leaving town, jobs are few and wages are low, and decent affordable housing is in short supply.
