The Hughes Charitable Foundation has given an unprecedented $10 million gift to the Housing Trust to support human service professionals in Teton County.
The $10 million dollar gift made by the Foundation is the single largest private donation toward affordable housing in the history of Teton County.
Wayne and Molly Hughes said, “We wanted to do something meaningful to support our community’s safety net workers. They are the unseen heroes of our community, and we want to help ensure that they can continue to meet our community’s needs in perpetuity.”
A recent survey found that more than half of all Human Service Council (HSC) employees are paying more than 50% in rental rates than what they can afford. HSC comprises the 10 non-profit human service agencies that work together to meet the needs of our most vulnerable community members.
Anne Cresswell, Executive Director of the Housing Trust, said “It is disturbing to know that so many of our essential human service providers are priced out of Jackson. The fact is, we need these frontline workers to live in Jackson, so they can continue to handle 24-hour crises with our community’s at-risk children and families. This historic gift will make it possible for dedicated human service professionals to come home to stable, proximate, affordable housing at the end of a long day.”
Sarah Cavallaro, Executive Director of Teton Youth and Family Services, said “This gift is a game changer for essential professionals who need to live where they work. The impact of this gift is twofold: we can attract and retain human service workers, and we can stabilize essential services for our community’s most vulnerable populations.”
This generous gift will enable the Housing Trust to accelerate its next project and break ground in the summer of 2022. By 2023, 10 essential human service organizations and three public service entities will have the opportunity to offer stable, secure housing to key employees.
The 10 Human Services Council organizations are: Senior Center of Jackson Hole, Community Entry Services, Community Safety Network, Curran-Seely Foundation, One22 Resource Center, Teton Literacy Center, Children’s Learning Center, Climb Wyoming, Jackson Hole Community Counseling and Teton Youth and Family Services. The Human Services Council, formed in 1984, strives to bring non-profit human service agencies together to ensure that urgent, core and essential services are available, integrated and accessible to vulnerable, at-risk, and in-crisis community members in Teton County. The three public service entities are: Teton County Sheriff Department, Jackson Police Department and Teton County-Jackson Fire/EMS.
The Jackson Hole Community Housing Trust is a non-profit affordable housing developer dedicated to cultivating a vibrant community through housing. Since 1991, the Housing Trust has developed or acquired 181 homes that have served more than 525 people in Teton County.
The Hughes Charitable Foundation is Wyoming-based and dedicated to funding projects that serve our state’s vulnerable populations. You can learn more about the foundation at hughescf.org.
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