MLH is excited to announce the release of the 2020 Annual Report. Download the report to read about some of the great things we accomplished under extraordinary circumstances and what we have to look forward to in 2021!
Leadership Message, March 2021
Dear Friend,
Looking back at 2020, it is amazing to remember what we have endured – a worldwide pandemic, isolation, devastating wildfires, political turmoil, personal struggles, and more… it seems like an eternity ago and yet like no time has passed at all.
Through all this, our homes have transformed into more than a place to relax from a day’s work. They have become our offices, gyms, schools—and continue to be the sanctuaries we need to recharge for another day. At Mammoth Lakes Housing we take the responsibility to provide housing stability to our communities seriously, as demonstrated by the implementation of emergency programs and the increased workload in existing programs that we have shouldered during this trying time.
During the early days of the public health response, Mammoth Lakes Housing took the lead to implement and raise funding for an Emergency Rent Payment Assistance Program. By the end of the year, we had raised nearly $1,000,000 and written almost 1,000 partial rent payments. We undertook an unprecedented level of service for our community members, assisting clients with applications in both English and Spanish, making thousands of phone calls to anxious landlords and tenants, and providing online application functionality to our website. Our clients are grateful. As one wrote,
“Thank you for the assistance from the bottom of our hearts. We were very uncertain on when we would have our normal income flow. Though it has not recovered fully and we only needed 2 months of assistance we couldn’t be more appreciative of the help when we needed it. Thank you for keeping us afloat and keeping our family here in our beloved community!”
This program also played a significant role for local landlords that would not have been able to collect their usual monthly rents. By the end of the year, our program had sent payments to more than 150 different landlords. One landlord expressed, “I am just proud to be a resident of Mono County right now, and just really appreciate the [program] is helping…”
Despite the unpredictable increased workload, including a 55% increase in homeownership programs success, we continued progress on our multifamily development and submitted $4.5 million in grant applications. We remain committed to our vision that communities in the Eastern Sierra thrive because everyone has access to safe, affordable, quality housing.
We have continued to strengthen and expand our partnerships. This year, we entered into an agreement with Inyo County to develop a rehabilitation loan incentive program to increase the long-term rental housing stock. Partnerships remain critical in the work that we do and we are committed to working together to produce regional housing solutions.
As we move into 2021, we have a lot of things to look forward to including a 20th anniversary rebranding initiative, new homeownership programs, and progress on our commercial conversion project. In closing, I hope you will subscribe to our newsletter, attend a Board of Directors meeting, or stop by the office to learn more about the programs we offer, ways to get involved, and fundraising opportunities. It’s a different world now, and we are all changed, but our mission remains to support community housing for a viable economy and a sustainable community.
In solidarity,
Patricia Robertson
Executive Director
