John Harney Jr., President, and Jennifer Kronholm Clark, Vice President, of the Salisbury Housing Trust.
By Hannah Pouler
The Salisbury Housing Trust (SHT) is a nonprofit focused on creating affordable home ownership properties for Salisbury Township workers, residents, and volunteers. SHT is governed by a Board of Trustees.
I spoke with John Harney, SHT President, and Jennifer Kronholm Clark, SHT Vice President (and SAHC Chair), about the SHT’s work.
How did you get involved with the Salisbury Housing Trust?
Jennifer Kronholm Clark: I moved to Salisbury in 2005, and was renting at the time. I later met my husband and we had two kids, but we were still renting. We wanted to buy a home, but paying for rent, bills, and childcare made it difficult to find anything we could afford. But we had roots in Salisbury and wanted to stay. I met Leo Gafney, who was then President of SHT, and worked closely with the Trust for about a year until we found a home. Afterwards, Leo called me and asked me to join the SHT board.
John Harney: I was inspired by the work I did in Denver volunteering for a homeless shelter. Helping people got in my blood. I later moved to Salisbury with my boys, where I realized that real estate is nice, but it doesn’t address affordable housing. I was pulled into the trust by Leo as well. The SHT has a marvelous group of talented people on the board, and it’s an honor to work with them.
Can you describe the process of getting an SHT home ready for move-in, from start to finish?
Jenn: There are two different scenarios. First, the SHT builds a house from the ground up. This takes a while because we need to receive a land donation, acquire funding for construction, get approval from Planning & Zoning, draft building plans, and find contractors.
John: The second scenario is finding something on the market. If a house is in our price range, we need to act quickly before it’s bought by house flippers. Once a house is flipped, it will never be affordable again. We usually need to renovate these properties. Luckily, we’ve gotten a lot of support from local contractors, who are willing to make time in their busy schedules because they support our cause. They are very generous with the pricing of materials and work. Herrington’s and Lindell’s also donate materials. It gives us great confidence to know these local businesses are behind us.
Jenn: Once we’ve gotten the property to the point where it’s ready to be sold, our applicant families must qualify for a mortgage. This process can be harrowing, but there are groups that help with down payments and closing costs, like the Salisbury Family Services. It takes a lot of people to stitch together a financial package, but after this is in order, we can move a family in.
Why is affordable housing important to you?
John: For me, it’s about getting back to what Salisbury was when we grew up. In the 60s and 70s, Salisbury was a middle-class community. There were shops, tons of kids… I had an unbelievable childhood! We’ve seen that morph into a luxury community, a sort of mono-culture. Affordable housing is an opportunity to rebalance the scales.
Jenn: I’d echo a lot of what John said. Raising my family in a strong community is important to me, and you need diversity of people to have a strong community. We need diversity in income levels, occupations, interests, races, backgrounds… with the current market, diversity won’t happen by accident. We must be intentional.
How did COVID impact the need for affordable housing?
John: COVID ignited the market and put most homes out of reach for middle-class, local buyers. But a lot of people who came up during COVID have grown attached to the community and have stayed. They will become part of the solutions.
Are there any SHT projects in the pipeline?
Jenn: There’s three main projects. At Perry Street, which is land that the town voted to give to SHT, we have preliminary site plans drafted for two homes. We’re applying for government funding for the first time, since building costs post-COVID cannot be met by individual donations. Then there’s the Grove Street School property across the road from the White Hart, where we plan to put a few houses. The next step is to get approval by town vote to transfer the Grove Street land from the Town to SHT. Finally, there’s the Pope property, where we hope to build a significant number of houses.
If community members want to get involved with the affordable housing movement, what can they do?
Jenn: Donate money and land! We accept donations online. It’s helpful to have money in the bank, so we can move quickly when a property hits the market. We also use these funds to help subsidize mortgage costs for our applicants. And when someone donates land to the SHT, it’s forever deemed affordable, so it’s hugely helpful.
John: And the most important thing anyone can do is vote. Pay attention to when Town meeting votes arise, and make your voice heard at Planning & Zoning meetings. Financial donations move projects forward, but to get them off the ground we need votes. We need the support of the community.
What is your favorite thing about Salisbury?
Jenn: The people! And, the Grove.
John: For me, it’s the connectedness of everyone and everything that’s been here before. I’ve known families that go back generations, and I have memories going back 60 years. This is what I don’t want to lose.