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Habitat speakers urge Salem Housing Authority to transfer 33 homes for rehabilitation and affordable homeownership
Summary
Habitat for Humanity representatives and future homeowners told the Salem Housing Authority that rehabilitating 33 publicly owned homes and selling them through Habitat’s program will preserve affordable housing and produce lasting community benefits. Speakers cited financial-qualification rules and the affiliate’s low foreclosure record.
Katrina Osborne, director of programs for Habitat for Humanity of the Mid Willamette Valley, told the Salem Housing Authority on July 27 that Habitat’s homeownership program focuses on households earning 50 to 80 percent of area median income and couples affordable mortgages with financial education and a silent second mortgage designed to preserve affordability over time.
"Becoming a homeowner through the Habitat program means stability and empowerment and the ability to plant deep roots," Osborne said, citing Habitat’s local record of partnering with 103 families since 1991 and noting a higher graduation rate among children raised in Habitat homes.
Jerry Ambriz, executive director of the local Habitat affiliate, described the practical challenges of producing new affordable homes — rising lot and construction costs, infrastructure permitting, and long timelines — and said rehabbing existing scattered‑site units is a faster, lower‑cost route to homeownership.
"By rehabbing existing homes, we can avoid most of these hurdles, reduce costs, and bring affordable homeownership to working families in a shorter amount of time," Ambriz said, adding that the 33 homes the partnership would take on currently require substantial repairs, including new roofs, HVAC and sometimes structural work.
Paul Hamalian, a longtime Habitat volunteer and former Habitat International staffer, described the fund model Habitat uses to recycle equity from sales so that subsidy can be used to build additional homes. "The equity in the properties sold by the housing authority to Habitat will provide 33 units now and recycled as affordable housing in this community for generations to come," Hamalian said.
The speakers urged the authority to prioritize preserving naturally occurring affordable housing rather than selling the units on the open market, which volunteers said would likely shift them to market‑rate ownership or short‑term rentals. The Housing Authority approved its consent calendar earlier in the meeting; the partnership proposal was presented during public testimony and will move forward through whatever formal agreements the authority and city staff require next.
