According to The Jericho Project Executive Director Mary Anne Bowie, FAICP, “We believe everyone deserves a permanent and safe place to live that is within their budget.” The Helpful Hopeful Housing Campaign will engage the full community; build a wide network of multi-sector partners; assist 10 cities and two counties in streamlining their regulations; partner in a design-build competition; partner in creating a unique public/private financing pool; and result in 35 existing homeowners leasing new homes to new residents for one dollar a square foot. Accessory Dwelling Units, or ADUs, are placed in the yard of existing single-family homes. Variously called granny flats, garage apartments, guest houses, extra living spaces, cottages, and recently “tiny” homes, they are distinguished by legally having a stove, as well as a bathroom and kitchen facilities. The ten cities and two counties in our region all have different requirements for ADUs, sometimes with confusing and conflicting language. Usually, the process to actually obtain or build an ADU is difficult for homeowners to implement. HHH Campaign 2020 wants to turn local governments into advocates for ADUs, by encouraging streamlined regulations and processes. HHH Campaign 2020 seeks to stimulate the local small building industry with a dream of having small homes made widely available for placement inside or rear yards by local contractors. Most importantly, HHH Campaign 2020 wants to add to the inventory of homes for two cohorts most likely to live in an ADU: the elderly and the one or two employed people who need a home close to their work. The Helpful Housing Summit was held on February 18, hosted by The Arlington Park Neighborhood Association and The Jericho Project, both 501c3 organizations. To request a speaker for your organization, contact Mary Anne Bowie at HelpfulHopefulHousing@gmail.com. To see a portion of the proceedings, youtube.com/watch?v=QrfmttDQAXw.

To view the entire HHH Campaign 2020 document or to make a donation