An Island Institute grant program
supporting Maine's islands and coast

Testimonials

The $5,000 grant from the Island Institute is helping to upgrade the first building purchased by the Monhegan Island Sustainable Community Association (MISCA). The building houses the Island's first two affordable housing units, two businesses run by year-round residents, Monhegan's Post Office, and its soon-to-be-opened Town Office. MISCA purchased the building through a crash fund-raising campaign - and a large mortgage. The building has needed a number of repairs which have been hard to pay for since it is easier to raise money for "new" projects than for "old" ones. The Island Institute grant will allow us replace defective and leaking windows, old shingles, and some rotten framing on the south-east end of the building.

Respectfully submitted
Tara Hire
MISCA treasurer

The need for affordable housing on Peaks Island is well documented and we have been working as a 501(c) 3 for over three years to obtain a property that could answer this need. HOMESTART is so pleased to be the recipient of an Affordable Coast Fund Affordable Housing Grant. This money is enabling us to purchase our first affordable property on Peaks Island. What an opportunity to provide an affordable home and begin our community participation in this valuable effort of sustaining the diversity of our island. Thanks you for making this possible.

Barbara Hoppin
President, HOMESTART

Long Island voters at Town Meeting have granted the Year Round Housing Corporation several pieces of Town Land to be leased to qualified homesteaders. Before the land can be made available for building, the build ability of these properties must be determined with survey and site plan work. The Affordable Coast Funds will be used to assist in this necessary step to move our fledgling housing initiative forward.

Mark Greene
Housing Administrator
Town of Long Island

Beth Howe
Chair, Chebeague Island Community Association Housing Committee

A group of residents has been working on developing affordable housing on Chebeague since 2003. We had help with an exploratory study from Mark Lapping's Community Development class at USM's Muskie School in 2004. Then we were able to get a Community Development Block Grant for a more definitive study of the demand for such housing in 2005. By 2006-2007 The Chebeague Island Community Association was in a position to develop a five-year strategic plan and a more specific plan for an initial pilot project.

The grants from the Affordable Coast Fund and Genesis' Islands Challenge Fund enable us to go beyond studies and planning to the real test of our first affordable housing project. In specific, we have been able to purchase a charming, recently renovated three-bedroom house that will initially be rented to an eligible household and then, probably, sold to one.

The central purposes of this pilot project are twofold. One purpose is to begin to provide affordable housing to people on Chebeague who need it. The second is to give CICA the opportunity to undertake an initial project that will allow us to work through such necessary learning experiences as developing eligibility criteria and application procedures. It will also give us experience in renting and selling an affordable property. It will demonstrate to the Chebeague community that affordable housing is no different from ordinary housing, and that CICA is able to raise the funds to provide such housing and to manage it.

Coming at a time when Chebeague has just become an independent town, this first affordable housing project is one element in an island-wide effort to insure that Chebeague continues to be a vital and diverse year-round community. Chebeague seceded from Cumberland in large part to insure the survival of the island elementary school. The survival of the school also depends on the ability of young, working families to afford to live and bring their children up on the island. Without housing they can afford, such families are unable to do this.

For the individuals renters or homeowners, the rewards will be less global. Now if a young lobsterman wants to establish a family at the same time that he or she works as a sternman and then invests in a lobstering boat, or a young couple works for businesses or non-profits on the island, there are only a few ways that they can find houses on Chebeague where the housing market driven largely by the demand for summer houses. One is to rent a winterized summer cottage, moving out each year in the summer when the owners come to stay. This assumes that it is possible to stay with friends or family, since summer rentals, though easily available are extremely expensive. Another is to build a house on land provided by family members. This assumes the availability of family land as well as the money, time and knowledge required to build. The presence of children in the family makes either of these options even less viable. For these young people the availability of year round, affordable rental units, existing affordable houses or affordable lots for building will open up opportunities that do not now exist.

The grant from the Island Institute's Affordable Coast Fund helps to provide the first house to begin to meet this need, and enables CICA to develop the capacity to provide more housing in the future.