History & Accomplishments: 2005-2011

Our Community Land Trust for Housing

• NeahCasa organized as an Oregon non-profit membership organization and created initial Articles of Incorporation and By-laws. (2006)
• Under the sponsorship umbrella of Fulcrum Community Resources, NeahCasa received a $3000 grant from US Bank Foundation for capacity building as well as a $5,000 grant that made it possible to hire the Community Development Law Center to help with the process of becoming a 501c3 and to revise the organizing documents to become a housing land trust. (2006-2007)
• Received IRS tax exempt status. (2008)
• Adopted Strategic Plan as well as a Conflict of Interest Policy and other organizational policies. (2008-2012)
• Eunice Massie did advanced trainings in CLT bookkeeping at a National CLT conference and through NeighborWorks.
• Board Members Edith Rohde, Tom Bender & Lane deMoll attended an initial Community Land Trust training in Seattle. (2006)
• Board Members began attending Northwest Community Land Trust regional network gatherings. (2006)
• Newsletter (2007)
• Edith Rohde took year-long NW CLT Capacity Building Institute with a scholarship. (2008)
• Achieved a membership of over 80 individuals. (2008)

Housing Advocacy

• Began on-going public policy advocacy with city councils as well as Tillamook County and city planning commissions. (2005)
• Spurred a Joint City Planning Commissions Meeting on Affordable Housing at Rockaway Beach City Hall. (2006)
• Tillamook County Housing Summit – NeahCasa organized an all day conference at the Bay City Arts Center attended by 100 people (including county commissioners and our state senator and state representatives) for a discussion of the challenges and possibilities around housing affordability issues. (2006)
• Tillamook County Landlord Support Network kicked off at the Pine Grove Community House with speaker Norton Cabell from Eugene. The purpose of the group was to offer support for landlords and tenants to improve the quality and availability of affordable long term rental housing. (2006)
• Lane deMoll joined the three county Board of Northwest Oregon Community Development Collaborative (NOW CDC). (2006)
• Clatsop County Housing Solutions Conference – Lane deMoll helped organize this well attended event in Seaside at which she and Tom Bender both spoke. (2007)
• Lane deMoll spoke to the Manza-Whee-Lem Kiwanis Club on housing affordability issues (2007)
• Mike Cook took a lead in publicizing and advocating for the low-income renters caught in the Northwest Oregon Housing Authority (NOHA) funding shortfall for Section 8 Housing. (2009)

Student Family Housing Project

• Organized by Mike Cook and Louise Christianson, this project provided emergency funds to over 40 Neah-Kah-Nie School District families to secure or retain family shelter and utilities. (2005 – 2011)
• The project was kicked off with $9,600 from the Meyer Memorial Small Grants program that was matched by local contributors.
• The first of these funds was awarded to family of 4 having stressed finances between jobs, and facing risk of eviction and loss of utilities.
• Additional funds over the years came from grants from Windemere Manzanita, US Bank, the Hope Chest Community Fund, the Eugene Schmuck Foundation, and Juan Young Trust. Other funds for the program came via raffles and private donations.
• The successful project was turned over to CARE (with funding) and out of NeahCasa’s responsibility. (2010)

Land & Houses

• Tom Bender designed the remodel for Redwing House in Nehalem as a private remodel/flex-home conversion demonstration project. (2005)
• Got close to moving some Seaside motel cottages that were slated to be demolished southward for starter homes but were foiled by the Arch Cape Tunnel. (2006)
• Brokered an affordable home acquisition by matching a family with a local investor. (2007)
• NeahCasa was in conversation with Tillamook County, Habitat for Humanity and the City of Manzanita about possibly developing a piece of land next to CARTM Recycling. In the end the County Solid Waste Department decided that CARTM needed to keep the land as is.
• Kelly Benson, LeeAnn Neal and Tom Bender assisted the Tillamook County Women’s Crisis Center in funding, obtaining, and designing remodel for an emergency shelter. (2007)
• Tom Bender participated in Northwest Community Land Trust Efficient Housing initiative. (2007)
• Open House & Tour gave the public a chance to learn about potential solutions to housing affordability issues in our community. It was held at the North County Recreation District, RedWing “flex rental” in Nehalem, and the 10th Street/Coyote Ridge property in Nehalem. (2007)
• A Housing Trust Potential Client Orientation “Coffee” was held at the home of Natasha Stevens and Rex Harter. (2007)
• Tom Bender created a Flex Home design that can provide a 1500 sq.ft. factory-built duplex delivered to site on single trailer.
• Nehalem 10^th Street Project – aka Coyote Ridge:
  • Tom Bender and Lane deMoll purchased 10.5 acres at the north end of 10^th Street just outside the Nehalem Urban Growth Boundary (UGB). The idea was for NeahCasa to raise the funds to buy the land from them for the community land trust and for the property to come within the UGB to make it possible to build multiple dwellings and be on the sewer system. It turned out that neither state nor private funding was available for a small rural affordable development and the City has so far proved unwilling to allow the property into the UGB.
  • The S.S. Johnson Foundation awarded NeahCasa $5,000 for the concept development phase for developing innovative housing and the potential community land trust project on 10 acres on Nehalem’s 10th Street.
  • Green Charette 2010 – A collaborative all day session at the Nehalem Methodist Church funded by the Enterprise Foundation to move forward on creating a model neighborhood on the 10th Street property. The day was attended by 30 potential homeowners, investors, builders and interested community members.