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When Dane and Tammy Winslow set out to buy a new home for their
growing family several years ago, they came face-to-face with the
harsh realities of home buying in Camden, Maine.
A native of the Midcoast region, Mr. Winslow soon realized that
families in his income bracket were being priced out of the local
housing market. "We had been looking for four years,"
says Mr. Winslow, a corrections officer at the county jail. "We
could afford to buy the house, but we needed to put another $30,000
to $40,000 into it to make it a solid one."
Over the past eight years, the housing market in this coastal community
has skyrocketed, challenging home buyers who earn less than 100
percent of the area's $47,000 median income. In Camden, a family
needs to earn at least $65,460 annually to afford a home selling
at the median price of $292,000.
Ranked as one of Maine's least affordable communites, Camden has
become an attractive destination for retirees and vacation-home
buyers, who now compete with long-time residents for a fixed supply
of land and housing. The area is also home to the MBNA Corporation,
the world's largest independent credit-card issuer. MBNA brought
higher-paying jobs and other economic benefits to this seaside community,
but the sudden influx of new workers also raised the cost of housing
for long-time residents.
With many low- and very low-income residents being squeezed out
of the housing market, the all-volunteer Camden Affordable Housing
Organization decided to tackle the affordability issue head-on by
asking MBNA to donate a 2.5-acre site in Camden for new affordable
housing.
After the credit-card company agreed to the organization's request,
the nonprofit began the process of building Megunticook Estates.
It sold two existing houses on the donated property to low-income
families and used the proceeds to buy an adjacent 1.12-acre parcel.
Then it built three single-family homes on the newly acquired parcel
and eight homes on the original, donated property. Of the 11 homes
built on the site, nine were targeted to very low- and low-income
families.
In addition to financing about $340,000 in 30-year mortgages at
4 percent for four very low-income home buyers, member Camden National
Bank also provided the initiative with a $300,000 construction loan.
"The bank made a significant financial commitment," says
Joanne Campbell, who played dual roles in the development, serving
as vice president of Camden National Bank and president of sponsor
Camden Affordable Housing Organization.
Another key source of Megunticook's financing was the Federal Home
Loan Bank of Boston's Affordable Housing Program, which awarded
the initiative a $311,102 grant. "If we hadn't received the
Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston grant, we really didn't know where
we would have got the money to create the road and infrastructure
(water and sewer)," says Ms. Campbell.
Other key financial partners included the Maine State Housing Authority,
which provided additional permanent financing, and the town of Camden,
which provided a grant. The nonprofit also partnered with the Coastal
Community Action Program to provide family services and homeownership
counseling for the home buyers.
Ms. Campbell notes that volunteers guided the development of Megunticook
Estates from start to finish. "It was a big project for a volunteer
organization," says Ms. Campbell. "But we had a very active
board that worked collaboratively and met weekly - sometimes twice
weekly - depending on what needed to be done."
"We've just had tremendous response to the initiative because
people realize what the need is," adds Ms. Campbell. "Everywhere
you go on the Midcoast, people are saying that housing is a factor.
Now I think people are rallying around a solution."
The Winslows Find a Home
As of June 2004, most of the residents had moved into their new
homes,
including Dane and Tammy Winslow. "We've been in the house
roughly eight months now, and the house is great," says Mr.
Winslow. "My youngest daughter is going to grow up knowing
only one house, which is how I was raised. My other two girls have
their own bedrooms and just love the house. My wife's got the big
kitchen that she wanted, and we've got a beautiful yard, where we're
putting in flower beds. Without this program, we'd still be looking
for a house."
With the successful completion of Megunticook Estates behind it,
Camden Affordable Housing Organization has exercised an option on
a 10-acre parcel in Camden where it plans to build an additional
25 to 30 homes. "The board is not out of steam yet," says
Ms. Campbell. "They're very excited to take on a new project.
We still feel the need is strong."
"If you can do affordable housing with a group of volunteers
in a community like Camden, I think it's something that can be duplicated
in other high-cost New England communities facing the same issues,"
adds Ms. Campbell. "This is a model that is relatively easy
to re-create. This doesn't solve the whole problem, but it starts
to make a difference."
See a multimedia Web documentary on Megunticook Estates in the
Profiles section of our Web
site at www.fhlbboston.com/profiles.
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