ESCH staff’s broad and diverse skill sets allow the organization to advocate for affordable housing in the Eastern Sierra region. As a community leader, ESCH has worked on local policy development, Housing Element updates, development agreements, and much more in our mission to support affordable housing initiatives. Affordable housing benefits the local workforce, small businesses, prospective employers, and our community and we are dedicated to spreading this positive message. We thank our Board of Directors, past staff members, and community for their guiding inspiration.
Patricia Robertson
Executive Director
DRE #01947504
Patricia has worked for Eastern Sierra Community Housing for 12+ years. During her tenure she has overseen more than $18 million in housing grants, developed two multifamily projects delivering 29 new apartments, and preserved the only general population transitional housing unit in the tri-county region. Her work includes grant applications, real estate acquisitions, entitlements, NEPA/CEQA oversight, property management, subrecipient and partner agreements, financial and program reporting, budget performance, and loan underwriting for State and Federal grants such as HOME, CDBG, CalHOME, and Project Homekey. A proven program manager she identifies and implements efficiencies in areas such as asset management and income qualification processes to ensure the streamlined delivery of housing solutions. A creative-problem solver she works closely with rural jurisdictions, housing developers, and community members to develop and implement programs that meet their unique housing challenges. She serves on the Board of Directors for the regional Continuum of Care, directing the investment of resources into the homelessness prevention network. Her work has directly impacted the lives of hundreds of local households with affordable housing solutions from crisis and homelessness intervention through homeownership. Patricia is committed to outreach and public education efforts, teaching multiple free Home Buyer Education Classes annually, bringing legal aid experts to speak on landlord-tenant’s rights, and diligently providing information in both English and Spanish.
Patricia is passionate about community and economic development. Before joining Eastern Sierra Community Housing, she worked for the Town of Mammoth Lakes where she was part of the inter-departmental team that innovated and launched the first local, large-scale, Transient Occupancy Tax Enforcement & Revenue Collection Program, to enforce nightly rental restrictions in accordance with zoning and tax codes. This work has been critical in understanding the relationship between supply and demand in the regional, tourism-based, economy and workforce housing landscape.
She holds a Master of Arts in both Community & Regional Planning and Latin American Studies from the University of New Mexico and a Bachelor of Arts in Social Thought & Political Economy from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Her interests range from sustainable tourism planning and land use law to participatory economic development strategies. She is an active volunteer and serves on both the Mono County Planning Commission and the Mono First 5 Commission. Patricia, her husband, and their two sons love enjoying the wild outdoors that is their backyard– snowboarding, cross-country skiing, camping, hiking, and swimming. When she isn’t working or playing, she loves to practice creative writing and painting.
Erik Guzman-Rangel
Program and Project Associate
Erik Guzman-Rangel joins our team after successfully completing a year-long internship through a partnership with the California Coalition for Rural Housing. Erik is a first-generation college student and holds a degree from Humboldt State University in Environmental Science and Management with a focus on Policy and Planning as well as a minor in Natural Resource Recreation. Erik’s interest in natural resource recreation, policy and planning, and affordable housing development have drawn him to the public sector where he plans on disseminating the knowledge and social capital he gains into the community, helping people break out of the cycle of poverty. Erik will be working on our First-Time Homebuyer programs, assisting with land and property acquisition, and participating in affordable housing development meetings with architects and property managers, preparing grant/construction draw requests, and assisting with financial applications and loan closings. Erik is bilingual in Spanish and English.
Jerrett Mendez
Housing Navigator
Jerrett Mendez is our newest team member.
Vacant
Housing Navigator
We are currently hiring a full-time, benefitted staff person!
Vacant
Rural Housing Intern
This is a one-year, part-time, paid internship opportunity. This position is open to highly motivated high school seniors, college students, or young professionals looking to change their careers.
Previous Rural Housing Interns:
Recruiting and training qualified community development professionals to work in the housing field in rural California is a role that we take seriously. We strive to hire local community members that are passionate about learning and serving their communities through supportive services, affordable and workforce housing development, homeownership programs, and more. Our partnership with California Coalition for Rural Housing helps make these paid internships possible.
Erik Guzman-Rangel
2021-2022 Rural West Intern
Eduardo Bribiesca
2020-2021 Rural West Intern
Jake Castro
2019-2020 Rural West Intern
Jake Castro is our Rural West Intern for the 2019-2020 program year, through a partnership with the California Coalition for Rural Housing. He is a first-generation college student currently studying Liberal Arts: Math & Science at Cerro Coso Community College, pursuing a career in civil engineering. Civil engineering and affordable housing are particularly interesting to him because he is drawn to service and assisting others to achieve economic opportunity. He is taking classes over the summer and hopes to graduate from Cerro Coso Community College in December of 2020. He will be working at Eastern Sierra Community Housing part-time throughout the program year, learning valuable skills in community lending, asset management, and affordable housing development. In addition, as part of the program he will attend an intensive training at UC Davis as well as professional conferences. We are excited to welcome Jake to our team!
