Collaborating on Workforce Housing

When philanthropy partners on public projects, it’s a win-win strategy. By Cathy Chestnut

Affordable workforce housing for essential personnel in Collier County is taking shape, thanks to a public-private partnership between the county and local foundations.

There are almost 43,000 local households with insufficient incomes that put them “below the survival threshold” and facing “constantly rising costs and rarely rising wages,” according to the United Way of Collier and the Keys. For a family of four, that income is $75,204; for a single person, it’s $26,496. “Of our state’s top 20 professions, none actually pays a livable average wage for residents of Collier,” the United Way reports.

Issues surrounding the high cost of housing were identified in the 2017 Collier County Community Needs and Assets Assessment. This spurred the Community Foundation of Collier County and Moorings Park Foundation to partner with the county to convert the defunct Golden Gate Golf Course into housing that is financially in reach for teachers, law enforcement, first responders, and health-care personnel. The county purchased the 167-acre site through the new Workforce Housing Land Trust and has approved the Rural Neighborhoods affordable housing nonprofit to develop the 350- to 450unit complex, with 10 percent of the units devoted to limited-income seniors and veterans. It will also include a public 12-hole golf course and BigShots driving range. The Community Foundation and Moorings Park Foundation are contributing $10 million toward the project to defray costs so that rents won’t exceed 30 percent of residents’ income. “The price points wouldn’t have been as affordable without those charitable dollars,” says Collier County Deputy Manager Nick Casalanguida.

This public-private partnership for essential workforce housing is the first of its kind in Florida, says Community Foundation of Collier Coun-

force housing is the first of its kind in Florida. “It could be a model for the state,” she says. “Nothing like this has been done.”

This innovative initiative is just one example of the Community Foundation acting as a conduit between private donor dollars and public needs. The organization provided the grant for the Naples, Marco Island, Everglades Convention & Visitors Bureau’s Arts and Culture Study, as well as a mental health needs assessment. It also coordinated the Blair Foundation’s $500,000, threeyear grant to the City of Naples to reforest public spaces with thousands of canopy trees after 2,000 were destroyed during Hurricane Irma in 2017. More recently, it paid for 1,000 COVID-19 testing kits to be immediately dispatched to Immokalee agricultural workers in March. Whereas government procurement and approval processes tend to “move slower,” says Connolly-Keesler, the Community Foundation was able to respond to the urgent need at a rapid pace. “Within 15 minutes, we had the tests ordered. They arrived within a few days so they could start to disperse them.”

Connolly-Keesler understands that government coffers have struggled since the housing downturn of 2008, so additional aid is critical to expedite projects or tackle ones that might not happen at all. At the same time, philanthropists want to ensure their dollars are being spent wisely. “They don’t want to just hand a check over; they don’t always trust government. But they see things that can make the community better, and we can make that happen. Government has to think differently about how to get projects done that aren’t just basic services.”

Both Connolly-Keesler and Casalanguida hope the essential workforce housing project will lead the way to more housing solutions supported with charitable dollars. The county planned to close on an even larger site (967 acres) for income-restricted housing by the end of 2020. “Projects are always better when we put our heads together,” says Casalanguida.

2020 Legends of Philanthropy

Collier County is fortunate that Naples is home to a wealth of generous residents who are planting fertile seeds in Southwest Florida and beyond. For the 2020 Naples Top 100, we honored these local philanthropists who have made this special community a more comforting, healthy, and vibrant place to call home.

Jay and Patty Baker Janet G. Cohen Susan L. Dalton Myra Janco Daniels Lavern “Lal” Norris Gaynor B. Thomas “Tom” Golisano Thelma Hodges Scott B. and Kathleen Kapnick Alan Korest Thomas S. Monaghan Richard M. Schulze Ralph C. and Shelly Stayer Dolph and Sharon von Arx