HACbeat Special Advocacy Edition, October 2022

And because of this, Cape Cod is rapidly changing as the people who make up our community are forced to move away.

What can we do?

In this special advocacy issue of HACbeat, we'll delve into the problem and a new solution to help Cape Cod build communities that have housing options for all of us.

Official Launch & Summit

November 3, 2022 at the Cape Codder, Hyannis

REGISTER AT hpccsummit org

M H O U S

A N C E

R

O

Our housing shortage has hit crisis proportions.

HOUSING: TOGETHER WE CAN THRIVE

by Alisa Magnotta

The adage “we are stronger together” couldn’t ring more true than when it comes to dealing with Cape Cod’s housing challenges. When we work together, we can accomplish more, faster.

Toward that end, on November 3rd we’re officially launching Housing to Protect Cape Cod (HPCC) with our partners: Cape Cod & Islands Association of REALTORS®, Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, CapeBuilt Companies, and the Home Builders and Remodelers Association of Cape Cod. This collaboration unites us in advocacy to protect our communities from the continuing loss of the people who keep our towns and businesses thriving, while maintaining the culture, communities, and environment we all love. It’s a collaboration in which your voice is critical.

We see the Cape rapidly changing as the individuals who make up our community are forced to move away. The housing shortage has hit crisis proportions and none of us have to look far to find someone impacted.

That’s why we are locking arms with our partners and committed to building a movement with a clear vision and blueprint for housing affordability and attainability on Cape Cod.

Here at Housing Assistance Corporation, the decision to become more engaged in advocacy is an imperative and the logical conclusion of an increasingly frustrating situation.

After 50 years of focusing on affordable housing for low income families, a few years ago we started to see a different type of client asking for help finding housing. These are people with full time, good paying jobs who could pay market rate rent if only there were rentals available. Today it’s nearly 85 percent of the calls we get.

It’s frustrating and demoralizing we have few solutions to offer the throngs of people who are losing their rental housing because their landlord is selling. How can we meet our mission without tools and solutions for our clients?

Today, households making a combined $200,000 are struggling to rent or buy on Cape Cod. Let that sink in. Wages continue to be stagnant compared to the growth in housing prices and, while wage equity is important, we know that restaurants are not going to start paying their cooks or servers over a hundred grand. Nor are long term care facilities going to pay CNAs or schools going to pay teachers that much. Wages are only part of the problem.

Even a housing voucher once the key to housing security for many clients is no longer in and of itself a solution. Voucher holders have a finite period of time to find a place to rent under state and federal rules. It is heartbreaking for us to see someone wait on a list for years, finally get the call that a voucher is available, and lose it because they can’t find a place to rent. We can do better.

Make no mistake We are committed to continually administering core programs servicing low income and extremely low income households We will continue to provide shelter services and respond to humanitarian crises as we did with Hurricane Katrina, Afghan refugees and, this past month, migrants sent to Martha’s Vineyard We will continue to build housing in the region In fact, we have over 200 apartments in the pipeline right now

While we are providing stable, affordable housing for a fraction of the Cape, we just can’t sit silent and ignore the plight of the rest of the population The domino effect is threatening the sustainability of our entire region

That's why we're working with national housing expert Tim Cornwell of The Concord Group to help us codify the economic and community impact of not having enough housing or the right kind of housing At our November 3rd summit, he will define what the future of Cape Cod looks like

The Cape has already lost hundreds of the people who keep our communities functioning You and I see daily the effects of this forced exodus of workers and prospective young entrepreneurs Many of our local businesses are open fewer hours and fewer days even during peak summer season Because the majority of housing here is single family homes, the loss of housing is hidden It’s one family at a time, being displaced But put all those families together, and it's the equivalent of entire neighborhoods

These changes are just the beginning of how our local businesses, schools, police force, and tradespeople and consequently all of us will be affected These changes disrupt the wellbeing of our year round communities and have serious implications for the sustainability of our seasonal economy We can do better

So, what can we do? We can band together to stem the outgoing tide on our own shores. Not only stem the tide, but turn it. Turn it so that there

can be a good mix of housing to help Cape Cod thrive, to build back diverse communities that have housing options for all income groups so a healthy economy can sustain itself

Change is possible if we work together.

We need to modernize the rules by which housing is built by updating zoning town by town to make it legal to build the types of one , two and three bedroom homes that the vast majority of people call our office looking for Creating a legal pathway for smaller units works: we need only to look at a recent example Most towns updated their ADU bylaws and now hundreds of homeowners are building small apartments on their property

We must also close the affordability gap for the rest with new innovative programs, like our recently launched THRIVE program, which provides a shallow subsidy and counseling to childcare workers and those working with people with disabilities

These recent activities are what give me hope that we can solve our housing crisis and lessen the affordability gap with coordinated, courageous actions that support our entire community

Advocacy can be a little uncomfortable for many of us the first time we dip our toes into the water But the truth is it’s just a fancy word for being active in your community

We face no other choice as an organization or as a community We are losing our locals, our workforce, our community character and, at Housing Assistance, the ability to help our clients We have to take action Join us through Housing to Protect Cape Cod and together, we will do better

Let’s save the locals. Let’s save the Cape. Together.

Alisa Magnotta CEO, Housing Assistance Corporation

In the 12 month period ending June 30 of this year, Housing Assistance received 529 calls from Cape residents who said their landlord was selling their unit and they would need to find new housing, according to Cassi Danzl, Housing Assistance chief operating officer.

The income level of those calling has also been rising. Recent data shows households making a combined $200,000 are struggling to rent or buy on Cape Cod.

“I've been in this business for about 30 years, and this is the worst I've ever seen it,” said Liz Belcher, information and client services manager at Housing Assistance. “There's always been a lack of housing, but it's never been this bad.

“It’s a sellers' market, and people are selling their units instead of renting. That's been one of the major driving forces in the lack of affordable, year round housing. But now, it's just a lack of year round housing at all, affordable or otherwise.

Folks who can afford to pay rent still can't find a place. Vacant apartments are so few and far between that we're seeing droves of people who can't find a place to live, irrespective of their income.”

Born in Brazil, Marcia Lewis moved to Cape Cod when was 23 and lived here for nearly 22 years until she lost her rental and moved from Centerville to North Attleboro.

Lewis, an administrative assistant at Barnstable High School, is the mother of two daughters.

“I just couldn't find anything that I could afford, and to this day I’m looking,” she said. “Rents on the Cape are outrageous. When I found this apartment in North Attleboro, it was kind of a desperate move. My daughters’ dad died a few thing’s on

vide

“There are working people who live in their cars, not because they can't afford the rent but because they can’t find an empty apartment.”

Resources that used to be helpful, such as a list of realtors or large landlords no longer bear fruit with such a tight supply. In years past, housing counselors would ask clients if moving to New Bedford or Fall River was an option.

Folks who can afford to pay rent still can't find a place.

LIZ BELCHER, HOUSING ASSISTANCE CORPORATION

MARCIA LEWIS & FAMILY

“It was cheaper and there was a lot more housing, but that’s no longer the case,” continued Belcher.

“It is cheaper, but not by much, and the units have been filled because that's where everybody went when they couldn’t find a place to live on the Cape. It's as close as they could get and still commute to a job they were trying to keep on the Cape.”

Indeed, Susan Mazzarella, the CEO of Catholic Social Services, which operates shelters in Southeastern Massachusetts as well as Hyannis, is seeing waves of displacement on the South Coast, too. “Three deckers which were once naturally affordable to New Bedford and Fall River families are being sold and redeveloped at a higher price point. But without more overall inventory, that means people with roots going back generations in Southeastern Mass are being forced out. New Bedford and Fall River aren’t viable alternatives for Cape Codders forced out of their homes any more than it’s sustainable for locals.”

Belcher said it was the spring of 2021 when the pandemic accelerated the existing housing shortage reaching a new crisis point. “About a year after COVID shut down everything was when it became clear that there was nothing out there,” she said.

The situation is emotionally draining for her team, she said.

“It's defeating to have to continually say, ‘There's nothing I can do for you immediately. You can get on this waiting list, but right now there's not an immediate solution to your problem.’ It's obviously tough for other people who have to hear it, but to have to say that all day long, day in and day out, is hard. It's just the same every day.”

For Housing Assistance CEO Alisa Magnotta, it’s unacceptable for a housing nonprofit to be unable to provide housing solutions. “It’s really made us look harder at the causes and solutions to the underlying shortage.”

FACES OF THE

SHORTAGE

Uncertainty about the future of your housing is emotionally draining, said Meaghan Mort, an LPN who had been living with her family in a Marstons Mills rental home for three years when she got a big shock.

“I was scrolling Facebook one day and found out our home was for sale,” she said. “That was news to me. That was in the spring and our lease ends next January. So, we've been looking since, and there's just nothing. I mean, it took us two years to find this place.”

Searching for a house on Cape Cod right now is ‘hopeless and depressing,” she said.

“The lowest we found was $2,200, including utilities, for a two bedroom basement apartment. A hundred other people were going for it. They want really good credit and ours is fair.

She knows one street where 11 RVs are hooked up to electric and water supplies. “It’s desperate times when people are forced to live in campers.”

Lisa Goodrich, a writer and editor, lived with her family in the same rental in Brewster for 14 years. Even in the early days of the pandemic, it was idyllic, she said. “It was the kind of street where we'd stand outside each other's houses and bang pots and pans and sing happy birthday.”

Then her landlord told her the house was going to be sold.

“I had done a lot of volunteer work, so I had a lot of contacts,” she said. “I sent out something to every single person I could think of. ‘Our house is being sold. If you hear of anything, let us know.’ There was a whole little cluster of people looking for us.”

In three months, she unearthed only five or six possibilities. “Two of those literally doubled our rent, and we just could not do that,” she said.

She looked at one in Foxborough that was in total disrepair yet 30 people were waiting to look at it. “They were from everywhere from the Cape and the South Shore up to Boston. The only thing we had in common was how miserable our predicament was.”

Through a friend of a friend, she eventually found a rental in the Western Massachusetts town of Blandford.

"The location doesn't work at all, but the space worked, and the rent worked, and we could have our pets, so we grabbed it," said Goodrich.

"It's forced this domino effect. Literally everything in our lives has had to shift. You don't think about it when you're looking for housing, but all your doctors have to shift. Your dentist has to shift. Your work has to shift.”

“I'm really clear that we are not the only people this has happened to, and in many ways, we were fortunate I have a friend in her 80s who’d been on the Cape since she was 3 years old and now, she's staying in Florida with her sister because she could not find housing I know of two young adults living in vans on the Cape because their families lost

housing They have nowhere else to go I know of pastors and librarians whose rents doubled, and they're commuting from off the Cape

“It caused enormous grief The Cape was the only place I ever wanted to live since I was a little kid I feel like I got voted off the island ”

LISA GOODRICH

The Cape was the only place I ever wanted to live since I was a little kid I feel like I got voted off the island.

LISA GOODRICH

LOW SUPPLY = HIGHER PRICES

In April, there were only 324 single family homes for sale and 95 condominiums for sale across the ENTIRE Cape.

Esin Sozer, her husband Chris Grove and their son JT were renting a condo for $2,400 a month, when they got an email from their landlord's lawyer informing them of plans to sell the Cotuit unit “We told them we really like living here and we wanted to figure out if we could buy it,” said Sozer “We knew he bought it for $370,000 at the beginning of 2020, but the market was going crazy "

They offered him $500,000, which they thought was a fair offer, but he still wanted to put it on the market.

Sozer and her husband started to look for other options. She is a professor in the bioengineering department at Northeastern University.

Her husband works remotely for the California Institute of Technology With professional positions, they thought homeownership was realistic with half million dollar budget

"But months went by," she said "Every weekend, we went to open houses and I was making phone calls, but we could not find a house to buy or rent I started looking up to $3,000 a month, just looking for any option, although that would've been extremely tight for us.

"What was astonishing to me was there were no options for rental. We have good income and we've always been good renters. There's no reason any landlord wouldn't want us as renters, but there were no options.”

Lewis, the mother who moved her family to North Attleboro, would love to return to Cape Cod.

“I would do it in a heartbeat. I would do it today if someone said, ‘Hey, Marcia, I have a house that you can afford.’ It's very different from any other place in Massachusetts or any other place that I've been. It’s beautiful and it’s comfortable. It feels like home.

“I hope something can be done, because I see people moving away from the Cape all the time because just like me, they can’t find a place.”

ESIN SOZER & FAMILY

Chart data from the Cape and Islands Association of REALTORS® Rental prices as reported by Housing Assistance staff

HOMEOWNERSHIP

OUT OF REACH

Two years ago, 1,045 houses on Cape Cod were for sale for under $1 million; in March 2022, that number had plunged to 149, according to the Cape Cod & Islands Association of Realtors (see chart)

“Even more than housing prices, what worries me and what people don't understand is what the pandemic era has done is stripped our housing supply,” Ryan Castle, chief executive officer of the Cape Cod & Islands Association of REALTORS® “We went from a little over 2,000 homes for sale, pre pandemic and even that was an all time low on the Cape. We were seeing supply shortages, pre pandemic. Now, in the bottom of the inventory levels, we got down to about 300 homes for sale on the market. We're hovering around 600 now. I don't think people understand that we’re at a crisis level of inventory.”

"This creates three problems," explained Alisa Magnotta. Empty nesters who would like to sell their homes have nowhere to downsize to. This leads people staying put rather than having mobility and a mismatch of housing need. “If you’re only using one out of three or four bedrooms, that’s inefficient. That home could go to a growing family, but the homeowner can’t get out of it because they can’t find anything smaller. What new one or two bedroom units do come on the market have to go through such an expensive permitting and building process, the price doesn’t leave them with the expected profit they planned to use for retirement. So the choice is to stay put or move off Cape.”

Homeowners who do sell have hundreds of interested buyers. “You see an open house for a home priced under $500,000 and there’s a line down the street of people waiting to get in,” said Magnotta. For tenants, they often find the buyer of their home is a second homebuyer, further decreasing the supply of rentals.

“Most realtors do what they do not to sell million

HOMES FOR SALE: Barnstable County

dollar houses, but because they believe in the value of home ownership,” said Castle. “If you ask any realtor, their most rewarding client has always been helping a buyer buy their first home or helping someone who's worked hard and saved up get into that home and create a stable house for their family. Those are the rewarding times for our members. Our members understand the value and the joy that come with home ownership more than anyone.” But those times are increasingly rare.

First time homebuyers relying on loans are consistently outbid by second home buyers who pay cash, pay $40,000 to $50,000 over asking price and waive contingencies like inspections. “The American dream of homeownership is becoming more and more of a pipe dream for those who don’t already own or stand to inherit property,” said Magnotta.

Esin Sozer and her husband eventually managed to purchase their rental for $510,000, but the challenges of the experience spurred her to become an advocate for affordable housing.

"We got help from our parents for the down payment, which is not a luxury everybody has,” she said. “I don't know how people who have less income live here. “It felt like we would have to squeeze into my in laws’ place or move away from Cape Cod, although we really didn't want to do that. I'm sure this is happening all the time to all kinds of different people."

Barnstable County: $999,999 or Less, Single Family Detached Each data point is one month of activity Data is from September 19, 2022 Alldata providedbyCapeCodandislandsAssociationofREALTORS®

A

SHORTAG EQUALS A WORKFORC SHORTAGE

“Help wanted apply only if you already live o Cape Cod.”

Beth Marcus, co founder and business manage Cape Cod Beer, hasn’t posted a sign like that y but it could happen.

“We had a great lead brewer who was going to move down from Maine. He couldn't find a pla to rent, so he declined the job,” she said. “It's b so bad in the last five years that it’s hard to hire anybody who’s not from here.”

After extensively searching for a place to live, another job candidate told her, ‘People have been showing me literally utility closets that they've turned into apartments.’ There was nothing,” she said.

Fortunately, that story had an increasingly rare happy ending. Marcus posted on Facebook on his behalf and found someone who was moving off Cape and was able to sublet to the new brewery employee, who eventually signed his own lease for the apartment. But Marcus stressed that businesses can’t plan on luck when it comes to hiring.

“The bottom line is that unless you know somebody, it’s almost impossible to find a place,” she said. “When you're trying to hire a production manager or an operations manager, you really want somebody with some experience, but how do you move somebody like that here and expect them to find a place to live?”

That’s led to a shift in Cape Cod Beer’s business model. Instead of trying to hire people with experience, they train existing employees to become professional brewers. The head brewer started as a summer retail employee many years ago.

“Part of the problem is that nobody wants affordable housing in their neighborhood, but they don't really understand that affordable housing is workforce housing. If the average one bedroom apartment is $2,000, how do workers manage that?”

There’s one question Ken Taber gets asked by every potential employee: “Where am I going to live?”

“During the interviewing process, it always comes up,” said Taber, president and CEO of Hole in One, Inc., which operates the Hole in One Bakery and Coffee Shop in Eastham, the Hole in One Breakfast & Lunch in Orleans and the Fairway Restaurant & Pizzeria in Eastham.

“Housing is the number one concern,” he said. “If they do find a place, can they afford the rent? Can they sustain themselves? For them to justify the move, it comes back to what they can find based on what they can afford.”

More and more, Taber finds that he’s become a housing coordinator on top of his other duties. For example, he puts up notes at his businesses, asking local customers to rent a spare room to one or two of his employees.

“I tell them we’re hiring good people and all they want to do is work, so the chances are, you won't see them that often. They just need a pillow to put their head on. So not only am I offering employment and training people and putting them in a position to earn an income, but I’m also working with the folks who are hosting them.

“If those resources dried up, where do I go? My options are very, very limited, if anything. What do I do? If I lose four people, you just work with what you have. We have to cross train employees, moving employees from a job at one restaurant to a different job at a different restaurant. That's where I spend most of my time.”

A board member of the Orleans Chamber of Commerce, Taber said every Cape business owner he talks to has employees who are struggling to find housing

“The people who are moving here want the restaurants, the medical services, a good police and fire department, but that's going to become difficult,” he said “Their life will be impacted based on whether all these other industries can find employees ”

“There’s a direct nexus between housing and labor supply that my members are most concerned about,” said Paul Niedzwiecki, chief executive officer of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce “The labor supply shortage in every industry at every level is unprecedented

“For example, Cape Cod Community College has great programs for dental hygienists and nurses If they could increase the capacity of their programs, local employers would hire everyone that they graduate, but they're limited by faculty They can't bring people here to teach because of the cost of housing Everywhere you look, the housing market is impacting, in a very negative way, the labor supply situation on Cape Cod ”

Whether it’s in conversation with neighbors, friends or local business owners, housing is the most talked about topic, said Kristen Roberts, whose family owns and operates Truro Vineyards.

“It's a problem that stretches far beyond Truro or any of our businesses,” she said. “Anybody who owns a business on the Outer Cape has housing issues. It's a market that is too expensive.

“(Home)owners are renting weekly instead of seasonally, or weekly instead of year round. You can't blame them because that's what the money is, and their mortgage rates are higher and houses are more expensive, and so it's just a vicious cycle.”

Roberts has felt the effect in her own business.

KRISTEN ROBERTS, TRURO VINEYARDS

“We’ve had employees who were able to find housing one year and wanted to come back and work the next year but couldn’t because they didn’t have any place to live People who want to rent or buy a home can't and end up moving off Cape because it's cheaper and finding jobs that are closer to where they live

“Every piece of undeveloped land that pops up, people worry about density and people worry about the rural nature of the town, but the fact remains there won't be much of a town if there aren't any businesses that are open There has to be a balance ”

There won't be much of a town if there aren't any businesses that are open.

Chris Flanagan, executive officer of the Homebuilders and Remodelers Association of Cape Cod, has seen a striking change in recent years as housing prices climbed and housing inventory shrank.

“What we've noticed is that a lot of people retire, but there isn't that younger generation that's following them to replace them. A lot of people have aged out and there hasn't been a newer workforce to replace them. There are very few people who work in the skilled trades that are able to live here.”

A shortage of employees meant Cape Quality Plumbing & Heating in Wellfleet refused to take on new customers this summer and couldn’t handle weekend emergencies for existing customers.

Before the pandemic, the company had 11 employees. Now they’re down to three licensed plumbers, one apprentice, owner Jamie Meads, who is a master plumber, and his wife, office manager Erika Meads.

Some employees retired, but others moved off Cape.

“People had to move off Cape because they can't live here anymore,” said Erika Meads. “The cost of living has increased so heavily on Cape Cod, that it’s easier for them to live off Cape where they can find housing at a cheaper rate.”

Several of the company’s employees live in the Mid Cape and the company has to pay them extra for their driving time.

“We’ve lost a few employees from the Mid Cape because they have families and the car ride to come this way was too much. If they work closer to home, they get two hours shaved out of their work time to spend with their family. That's part of the challenge. The other challenge is housing is just too expensive this far down the Cape. A plumber’s salary does not pay for an $850,000 house.”

When new customers call for help, she said she can’t even suggest who else they should call.

“There were a few plumbers who lived nearby and they’re retiring. Once they're out of the market, there's no one to fill that void because no one can afford to live here.

“The housing market has put us in a crisis situation where we're not getting any new families with people looking for careers here. If all we have is a seasonal community with no employees, how do we exist?”

Magnotta hears this regularly. “People ask, ‘Is anyone going to do anything about it?’ The answer is yes. We are. With our Housing to Protect Cape Cod colleagues.”

If all we have is a seasonal community with no employees, how do we exist?

ERIKA MEADS

CAPE QUALITY PLUMBING & HEATING

THE SOLUTION

Introducing Housing to Protect Cape Cod

With Cape Cod experiencing an unprecedented crisis in housing, local leaders are looking for new approaches.

“We can't keep doing the same thing and expect different results,” said Alisa Magnotta, Housing Assistance chief executive officer.

That’s why Housing Assistance Corporation is launching the Housing to Protect Cape Cod (HPCC) initiative in partnership with the Cape Cod and Islands Association of REALTORS®, the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, CapeBuilt Companies, and the Home Builders and Remodelers Association of Cape Cod.

“Sometimes it takes a crisis to bring everyone together,” said Magnotta.

The HPCC coalition is a community organizing initiative that mobilizes residents in support of policies that foster year round housing while protecting our critical environmental resources community character.

“A lot of people have talked about these issues said Paul Niedzwiecki, chief executive officer o the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce.

“There's been a lot of conferences. There's been a lot of planning, but what we need is action. HPCC is different and that’s why it's going to make a difference.”

At a summit on November 3, the coalition will formally launch its vision for solving the Cape’s housing crisis and how the public can get involved.

“We need residents, employees, and employers to amplify our message and advocate for solutions,” said Magnotta. “Our aim is to protect the Cape we love for generations to come.”

To that end, a key component of the Coalition’s strategy is approaching housing in a manner that protects and preserves the environment, particularly the wastewater crisis.

Niedzwiecki served for 10 years as the executive

FROM LEFT: DEVAN BOLINDER AND MARGOT CAHOON AT THE CAPE COD YOUNG PROFESSIONALS BACK TO BUSINESS BASH IN SEPTEMBER

HOW SOLVING THE HOUSING CRISIS HELPS PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT

Niedzwiecki said, “The single greatest threat to water quality on the Cape has been the ever expanding footprint of single family homes. What we need is a diversity in housing typology. We need more smaller units, multi family units, apartment complexes, year round rentals. Those are the things that we need in order to support the middle class, support the seasonal workers who come, support police officers and firefighters and teachers.”

Magnotta agrees. “The policies of the last several decades have gotten us McMansions, sprawl, decimated forests that could have been preserved for open space. And a wastewater problem that’s more expensive to fix because we insist on only single family homes far away from one another.”

HOW WE SOLVE THE HOUSING CRISIS WHILE PROTECTING CAPE COD’S CHARACTER

Ryan Castle says legalizing forms of housing other than just single family homes is actually a return to Cape Cod’s roots. “The prettiest parts of Cape Cod are illegal to build under today’s zoning. Drive down Route 6A or through downtown Chatham. Those charming multi-family homes, dense village centers with top-of-theshop apartments? They’ve been illegal to build for decades.

“If we want more of the things we like, we need to make it legal to build them. That’s basic and the foundation of our approach.”

THE

PARTNERS

The Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce’s number one policy goal is addressing housing. “The core reason for assembling this group of organizations is to act so that we can preserve the Cape and everything that makes the Cape unique, preserve its economic vitality and preserve the middle class,” said Niedzwiecki. “We need to keep this special place special.”

“All these organizations look at housing through different lenses, so I think it says something that we're all coming together,” said Chris Flanagan, executive officer of the Homebuilders and Remodelers Association of Cape Cod. “We all recognize that there is a housing crisis and that there is a critical need for people to be able to live here and work here. Pre pandemic and throughout the pandemic, we've seen a huge shortage of workforce and a huge increase in housing prices, and the issue has only gotten worse. We’re recognizing that we need to do something about it.”

Ryan Castle, chief executive officer of the Cape Cod & Islands Association of REALTORS®, said the time has come to get serious about housing and housing affordability.

“The housing strategy over the last 20 to 30 years created a wide gulf for middle income housing. We have a zoning policy that encourages large lots and more expensive homes, and we have a housing affordability strategy that focuses exclusively on the most in need. We need both a ‘Capital A’ strategy and a strategy for the missing middle. We need a comprehensive approach."

'Capital A' is income based housing, usually deed restricted, which requires funding to offset the rest or sales discount provided.

“The future of a vibrant, viable Cape depends on supply housing opportunities across an entire spectrum of forms and markets and incomes,” said Rob Brennan, president, CapeBuilt Development. “We need housing for the women and men and families who are the soul, who are the engine and who are the creative class that makes Cape Cod such an attractive and inviting home and destination.

“We're strong believers in everyone’s right to secure housing and also the importance of that for the economic and social vitality of the Cape as a region.”

A COALITION OF

Whether

Join

Speakers

This

Cape

BUSINESS OWNERS ARE SPEAKING UP FOR HOUSING

Long time supporters of Housing Assistance, Cape Cod Beer hosted a housing happy hour and Advocacy 101 training in September (Another Advocacy 101 training will be offered after the Housing to Protect Cape Cod Summit on November 3 )

“You can't just stand around and complain that there's no place for people to live,” said Beth Marcus, co founder and business manager of Cape Cod Beer “You have to get involved You're either part of this problem or you're part of the solution ”

Marcus attended a housing advocacy class a few years ago and has since gone to several town hearings and written letters to town councilors in support of housing

“Until you start to understand what the problems are, you can't actually talk to people about it, so I wanted to get educated,” she said. “We need more people who can be advocates and convince people to have less of the NIMBY attitude about housing. So, we're more than happy to provide space and encourage people to attend.”

Ken Taber, president and CEO of Hole in One, Inc , encouraged several of his younger employees to become housing advocates

“I mentioned it to one of them and he was all over the idea,” said Taber “He said, ‘All my friends are talking about the same thing How can we live on Cape Cod? We love Cape Cod We want to work here We want to live here How is it going to work?’ He wants to become more educated about housing and share information with his friends ”

Kristen Roberts of Truro Vineyards encourages people to get involved in town government at whatever level they can “There are positions you can run for and ad hoc committees that are less time consuming There's lots of ways where people could and should get involved, even if it’s showing up at town meeting twice a year. But absolutely, housing advocacy has to be at the top of everyone’s list.”

FROM LEFT: BETH MARCUS, KEN TABER, DAVE AND KRISTEN ROBERTS

GETTING INVOLVED

The thrust of HPCC is that local action is the answer. “Most housing decisions are made at the local town level, which means each of us can make a difference just by civically engaging,” said Stefanie Coxe, chief external affairs officer for Housing Assistance.

To get involved, she recommends you start by going to housingtoprotectcapecod.org and taking the following steps:

• Sign the HPCC petition, to let local leaders know that increasing workforce housing is important in your town Once you do so you’ll receive resources about how and when to speak up for housing

• Spread the word by sharing the Housing to Protect Cape Cod petition on social media and talking to neighbors about the importance of increasing workforce housing on Cape Cod.

“So often there is a fear when we talk about housing production of folks not knowing who is going to be living there. The truth is that people who own their primary and secondary homes on the Cape already know who needs the housing because it's the workers that they interact with on a daily or regular basis. The people who turn out for town meetings ought to be there to advocate for housing opportunities, for the people that they depend on.”

Flanagan said the Homebuilders and Remodelers Association of Cape Cod encourages its members to speak at town meetings and planning board meetings.

“What's interesting is that NIMBY ism tends to be very well organized, so people tend to put not only bodies in seats who will speak out against something, but also some will put funds toward legal action to stop a project,” he said. “Housing to Protect Cape Cod allows us as a community to become more organized around issues that we can get behind, and to be proactive in terms of creating more housing that's affordable, both capital A and lowercase a affordable.”

SCAN TO SIGN THE PETITION

housingtoprotectcapecod.org

Coxe emphasized that advocates do not have to become public policy experts or know an issue inside and out. “You just need to tell your housing story to decision makers.”

Personal stories can be very powerful at public hearings, agreed Brennan. “I think that one of the greatest services HPCC can do is to personalize the face of housing need on Cape Cod,” he said.

Karolyn McClelland lives in the first house Habitat for Humanity built in Chatham. A single mother of two, she was grateful to have a permanent place for her family and she decided the best way to show her gratitude was to help others have a chance at an affordable home.

For a time, she juggled several jobs and worked seven days a week. When her children were grown, she had time to learn more about local housing issues and became a Habitat volunteer and housing advocate. “It's really important to bring people together and have creative conversations and let people know that this is a problem that can be solved,” she said.

“Our biggest adversary to being successful with housing is apathy. I could go door to door with a clipboard and probably get a super majority of support for any housing initiative. They’d say, ‘yes, I support that.’ Are they going to come to town meetings? No. If you're someone who stands there and says, ‘I’m for this,’ but you don’t show up at town meetings, then you're the problem. Your no show is a vote against.”

McClelland said the Cape’s housing crisis is “everybody’s problem. Whether it's the people you hire, your coworkers or your friends, everybody knows somebody in this situation.”

Today, McClelland serves as chair of the Chatham Community Housing Partnership. She has used her voice to propose affordable housing warrants at Chatham town meeting and was a vocal supporter of the passage of a better accessory dwelling unit (ADU) bylaw.

Often, people's personal experience with the housing market is the best motivation for engaging in advocacy.

“It’s a very scary feeling to not know where you will live in a month or two, especially when you have a toddler at home who's 100% dependent on you for their safety," said Sozer. "This was the hardest thing we experienced through the pandemic.”

That’s why Esin Sozer, who plans to undertake advocacy training, sent a letter to the Cape Cod Commission in support of the 312 unit Twin

Brooks housing development in Hyannis.

“I wrote that I didn't want to raise my son in a place where his teachers and pediatric nurses cannot afford to live. I want to live in a middle class environment where there's a lot of cultural activity. I don't think that's possible if it's only multimillion dollar houses and no rental options. Right now, it seems impossible for Cape Cod to be a community where young professionals can live.”

“At the Twin Brooks hearings, I heard people say, ‘Why 300 units? Let's do 60 units. Let's do 50 units.’ The reason is we actually need thousands of new units across Cape Cod because the people who call this place home are being pushed out every day.”

Marstons Mills resident Meaghan Mort said she got started with housing advocacy “out of sheer frustration with the lack of affordable or attainable housing.

"A big push was reading and hearing all of the comments against literally every housing project, big or small, that was proposed on Cape Cod. Reading the Letters to the Editor in the Cape Cod Times really ground my gears, so I started speaking at town council for housing and on behalf of hard working people who were being brushed aside. All I did, to start, was tell my story.”

“The most effective way for people to help make change is to speak up and share their stories. It makes a huge impact. Too often the loudest people in the room live securely in homes they own. The more stories they hear, the harder it is to ignore us and the easier it is to get more housing projects approved and underway, whether it be two family duplexes or proposals like Twin Brooks.”

Karolyn McClelland

Our biggest adversary to being successful with housing is apathy

KAROLYN MCCLELLAND

Tara Vargas Wallace is a former Housing Assistance client and employee who is now on the agency’s board of directors. She also is the founder and CEO of Amplify People of Color (POC) on Cape Cod. That group’s mission is to eradicate the racial wealth gap on Cape Cod and beyond.

While not everyone's an expert on housing policy, everyone's an expert on their own life experience. "You don't have to have a degree in politics," she said. "You just have to have a story and a voice and a willingness to share your experience."

She sees advocacy as a step by step process Once people feel more comfortable sharing their story, they may join a committee or a board. She encourages people impacted by the housing shortage to get their feet wet and keep learning.

"I also want to specify the importance of people of color stepping up and getting more involved because there are larger inequities for us than there are for others, and they're detrimental. It's important for all of us to stand up and utilize our voice, but it's especially important for folks of color.”

“Your voice has power,” said Tara Vargas Wallace, founder and CEO of Amplify POC. “Your experiences and your input matter. Especially when you've been impacted by these issues, it’s really important for you to speak up.”

Your voice has power.

Tara Vargas TWallace ARA VARGAS WALLACE

NIMBY, YIMBY & BANANA

The acronym NIMBY (Not In My Back Yard) has been used since the 1980s to describe resistance to everything from housing developments to live music at the neighborhood bar. A more extreme version is BANANA short for Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone.

Of course, every trend has a counterforce and that’s where YIMBY comes in. An acronym for Yes In My Back Yard, YIMBY has become a rallying cry in communities across the country in need of new housing options

Among other things, YIMBY proponents seek zoning changes to legalize multifamily housing and allow denser housing in village centers

Housing supporters encouraged to take the YIMBY Pledge

“People’s support of housing tends to be directly correlated to how close it is to their backyard,” explained Stefanie Coxe, Housing Assistance’s chief external affairs officer.

“Being a YIMBY requires mindfulness: Am I living my values? Maybe I feel a little discomfort with change, but my mindset is ‘How do I get myself to yes’ instead of that knee jerk ‘no’ reaction.”

THE CAPE COD YIMBY PLEDGE

Sign the Housing to Protect Cape Cod petition at housingtoprotectcapecod.org

Respond to outreach from Housing Assistance staff when notified of opportunities to train, engage, and make your voice heard on housing

Commit to not oppose or diminish housing proposals in your community

HERE ARE THE GUIDING BELIEFS OF HPCC:

We can add more housing to our region and protect our natural resources.

We must look beyond the monoculture of single family homes on large lots to embrace the housing options that meet the needs of our workforce

A committed group of concerned citizens however they may be personally affected by housing issues can change policies for the good of our community.

WHAT IS ADVOCACY?

“Advocacy is just civic engagement,” said Stefanie Coxe, Housing Assistance chief external affairs officer “It’s an extension of what we already do: coach little league, volunteer with a local non profit, vote

“Advocacy is showing up at town meeting and voting for housing proposals It’s telling your housing story to your elected officials during public hearings or public comment or even when you see them in the grocery store It’s serving on a town board or committee It’s as little or as much as you have time for ”

PATHWAYS FOR ADVOCACY

Whether an old hat at advocacy, a first timer, or a business owner looking to make a difference, there are multiple pathways to making a difference on the Cape’s housing crisis.

New to advocacy?

Start by signing the Housing to Protect Cape Cod petition today and share your housing story at housingtoprotectcapecod.org.

"Housing Assistance staff will provide training, tips and resources and reach out to you as issues arise in your town,” said Coxe. “You’ll be asked to speak at public comment or submit an email on a zoning change or on a particular housing project that will

add inventory We’ll give you the who, when, where, what, why, and how All you need to do is make your voice heard; tell your story of why housing is important to you ”

A little more time to dedicate?

Consider becoming an Advocacy Ambassador, a year long engagement opportunity for committed individuals to help Housing Assistance build capacity to track what’s happening in their town related to housing

Advocacy Ambassadors serve as housing champions by:

Staying abreast of local issues impacting housing within their community, including proposed zoning changes and individual housing projects.

Reporting issues to Housing Assistance staff. Spreading awareness of engagement opportunities as well as news of upcoming events, programs, or housing availability to their colleagues and friends.

Business owners for housing: First and foremost, advises Coxe, business owners and leaders can begin by signing the petition. From there, Housing to Protect Cape Cod will provide tools for engagement. Businesses can encourage their employees to sign the petition or even host an advocacy training at their business.

TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ANY OF THESE PATHWAYS TO ADVOCACY,

contact Ann Schiffenhaus, Housing Assistance’s Director of Community Relations and Advocacy, at aschiffenhaus@haconcapecod.org.

ANN SCHIFFENHAUS

UPCOMING CLASSES

AND WORKSHOPS

All classes are virtual unless otherwise noted. Learn more and register at haconcapecod.org.

FIRST-TIME HOMEBUYER

Overview of the homebuying process. Topics include money management, mortgage loan programs, insurance and more.

October 11, 13 and 18

November 1 and 5

HOMESAFE

Fulfills the post purchase education requirements and provides a forum to share experiences with other homeowners.

December 3

MONEY MATTERS

Free two night workshop that will help you set financial goals, make a spending plan and identify ways to create an emergency fund.

October 4 and 6

November 9 and 16

GROW SMART MAP WORKSHOP

Learn about a joint mapping project with the Association to Preserve Cape Cod that identifies priority areas for natural resource protection and affordable moderate density housing development.

October 13

ADVOCACY EVENTS AND WORKSHOPS

This fall commit to taking one action to address the housing crisis.

TOWN MEETING ROUNDUP

Learn what housing issues are up for debate at your town’s (Special) Fall Town Meeting during this virtual training.

5:30 p.m. October 12 via Zoom

HOUSING TO PROTECT CAPE COD SUMMIT

Organized by Housing Assistance, the Cape Cod and Islands Association of REALTORS®, the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce, CapeBuilt Companies, and the Home Builders and Remodelers Association of Cape Cod

8 a.m. November 3 at the Cape Codder Resort

ADVOCACY 101 TRAINING

New to Advocacy? We're here to help! Housing Assistance Corporation Chief External Affairs Officer, Stefanie Coxe, will run an Advocacy 101 training to teach you how to make your voice heard and feel comfortable civically engaging in your town

Stay for lunch and advocacy training following the November 3 summit, 11:45 a.m. 12:30 p.m. Please indicate during summit registration if you're planning to attend.

Official Launch & Summit

November 3, 2022

at the Cape Codder, Hyannis REGISTER AT hpccsummit.org

460 W. Main Street Hyannis, MA 02601 508 771 5400 haconcapecod.org

@HACONCAPECOD

FOUNDATION

VISIONARY

VISIONARY