TESTIMONIALS
The Community Housing Trust is building homes for people in our community who make valuable contributions, but cannot afford to live here. This is an issue that impacts everything we care about. Our goal is simple – to develop quality homes so that our nurses, teachers, post office workers, snow plowers, guides, and all others who contribute to our quality of life have stable housing that enables them to stay.
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Mara serves this community as a Registered Nurse. Mara moved to Jackson from Denver back in 2008 leaving her work with non-profits in search of adventure in Jackson. In her first year here, Mara worked for Wilderness Ventures, leading trips for local high schoolers down to Peru in the summer. That winter, she tried out for a role as a ski school instructor, outshined by the vast quantity of pro skiers, but she ended up meeting her husband.
During the 2008 recession, Jackson had the opposite problem – easy to find housing, hard to find jobs. After working for the Amangani and the mountain for a few years, both Mara and her husband left the valley for a few years to pursue higher educational goals and came back in 2014. Mara to pursue her nursing degree, and her husband to pursue a degree in physical therapy.
Mara currently works as a Registered Nurse at Teton Outpatient Services in the operating room, and she also works for St. John’s Urgent Care. She also picks up shifts at the Teton Village urgent care, working with Jackson Hole Ski Patrol in the winter.
Beyond her full-time work helping people on their road to recovery, she enjoys supporting local non-profits and attending community events. Mara loves to help out when she can at the Teton Free Clinic, a local nonprofit mostly staffed by community healthcare volunteers. This work is important to her as it helps under and non-insured patients get primary and urgent care from doctors, physician’s assistants, and nurse practitioners. Beyond that she loves attending outdoor music festivals, all the great children’s activities around town, and building the life skills every Jackson kiddo needs whether that’s through the programing at the Children’s Museum, ski school at Snow King, or swimming lessons at Astoria.
“I feel the impact of the increased cost of housing in my work environment every day. We keep losing nurses which impacts the rest of the staff and providers who are still here, and there’s a trickle down effect on patients like longer waits for care. We get used to working more with less – it’s not like the load has gone down, if anything it’s gone up and that’s in addition to the normal volume increases we see seasonally.”
Having the ability to live where they work and recreate is super important – especially thinking about childcare. The idea that a caregiver can be stuck a county or state away when inclement weather makes it impossible to travel is a common, nightmare scenario. Many of Mara’s co-workers commute from Teton Valley, ID and Lincoln County WY, some as far as Big Piney and Pinedale, which the stress of being on the road cannot be ignored as it hits people on so many levels: mental, physical, and financial.
“My hope for the community is that the development of Affordable housing helps us retain our local workforce and local families. I hope that essential services don’t get outsourced due to the lack of housing. We have an incredible pool of talented, well educated, compassionate healthcare providers – attempting to live locally. This contributes to the amazing quality of life here in Teton County. What would our community look like if we continue to lose our healthcare workforce due unattainable housing?”
MARA
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Brian has served the Jackson community for 25 years as a year-round, dual-seasonal worker who upon graduating college came to Jackson after learning about the Tetons from a friend’s older brother. The friend’s brother came to visit them in Boulder, CO with eyes popping out of his skull after the experience of skiing the ‘96-’97 season, or rather, the “90 sick and 90 heaven” season.
At any given time, Brian wears a lot of hats, working for anywhere between 5-10 employers, depending on the time of the year.
In the summer months, you’ll find him guiding guests – locals and tourists alike – up the Grand Teton and other technical climbing objectives. Come winter, Brian works as a backcountry ski guide for JMHR and as a ski guide for Exum, guiding people on Teton Pass and in GTNP. Brian also has a penchant for keeping people safe and has previously worked as a ski patroller for over 10 years at JMHR and at Snow King. These days, he focuses on teaching avalanche courses with American Avalanche Institute (AAI) and private avalanche courses through Exum.
“Through all those different hats that I wear, I have impacted a lot of people whether that’s through avalanche education or just loving and being able to travel through the mountain environment in both summer and winter, and teaching people how to do it safely, with respect for the environment and other people. I find a lot of meaning in the work that I do.”
In the off-season, Brian can be found working as a carpenter or for local companies like Give’r gloves, or taking a much needed break from the harsh winters of Jackson by heading down south to simultaneously picking up a few guiding jobs to help support his family as the seasons transition in the Tetons.
In his spare time, Brian finds as much time as he can to spend with his daughter, Stella, fly fishing, skiing, biking, and finding meaning in taking part in the community, by giving back to the Hole Food Rescue, Habitat for Humanity Restore, and Coombs Outdoor. He loves living in a community that takes care of each other and feels like family.
As far as housing, Brian moves each season, splitting his time between the cabins near Jenny Lake and an apartment in town. Moving around adds strain and uncertainty each time it comes to transition.
“Last summer, there was uncertainty around my housing which was extremely stressful, especially thinking about having to move far away as it would be very difficult to be able to afford to live here, which is a very scary thought as a father.”
This said, “I’m very optimistic about the future of our community. There’s so much in the pipeline and I know the community cares and our commissioners care, I know they’re dealing with a lot. For me, securing an Affordable home for myself and my daughter would lift an incredible amount of stress off my shoulders.
While I’m not considered a critical service worker, my hope is that folks value other vital members who have lived here for a long time and are recognized for their contributions. If you have taken an avalanche course, hired a mountain guide or a ski guide, ask yourself what value do you place in the people who are with you, teaching you and keeping you safe?”
BRIAN
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Joe serves our community as a Teton County Integrated Solid Waste & Recycling Senior Recycling Operator. Joe came to Jackson six years ago after the oil field he was working at in Williamsport, Pennsylvania closed up. There was not a whole lot going on after the oil field closed and his mom, who remarried and moved out to Jackson, suggested he come out, and now he couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. He loves the changing seasons and getting outside as much as possible, enjoying skiing and mountain biking.
“What I love about the community is the small town feel – even though we don’t have a lot of people, you see people you know wherever you go. There’s a great community atmosphere and people remember your name, it’s just nice. I tell you what, the post office is always the place to see people.”
Joe oversees the recycling operators which is responsible of gathering the recycling that the community puts in the community sites, empty out the roll offs, sort the product on the new Revolution system which was a recent SPET initiative.
“We are so thankful for the community support for this machine, it improves the operations of our work, helping us sort the product for a better end product.”
Joe lives in Alpine with his family and the commute is a large part of his day.“The commute is tough, especially in the winter time. We have a lot of seasonal traffic and when there’s bad weather it just stretches an hour long commute even longer. Having the opportunity for an Affordable home would give me peace of mind and make me feel even more part of the community. Having something to call my own and invest in would be phenomenal. Everyone wants independence and a place to call home. It would be great if there was more housing that aren’t just 500 sqft apartments, which are hard to be able to grow into.”
Affordable homes are in great demand especially during times of economic uncertainty. Support of development not only helps people find stable housing, it also helps keep our community intact.
JOE
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Stephanie serves this community as a nurse St. John’s Health Urology Clinic. She moved to Jackson in 1993 from upstate New York. Stephanie studied conservation and ended up working at the Blackrock ranger station. She would have been happy anywhere working with public lands, but as fate would have it, she landed in the Teton Wilderness. She quickly fell in love with the area, living in Moran for her work.
In 2013, Stephanie got her nursing degree as she wanted to do more and advance her career. She loves being outside and engaging with all of the public land around Jackson. She loves skiing, hiking, biking, camping, and giving back to the community through supporting multiple non-profits, volunteering at Hole Food Rescue, and instructing at the Therapeutic Riding Center, and participating at the People’s Market.
Stephanie and her partner first moved into a Community Housing Trust home in 2006 and ended up moving into a larger place in 2011. Having a housing opportunity has given Stephanie a reliable and stable situation.
“Being able to wake up in my bed in my own small house and knowing that my housing situation will be stable and secure until I decide to make a change. I’m grateful that I am able to live in Jackson and bike to work 8 months of the year. My hope for the future is for large business developers to consider the “health” of the community and if the business they are proposing is really something that is needed and would contribute to the community as a whole while also considering the amount of staff it will take to run the business and what their housing situation will be.”
STEPHANIE
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Christine has served this community since 1985 as a musician playing in bands across the valley including the Shelley & Kelly Band, the Cow Patsy’s, an all-female led band who performed twice for Hilary and Bill Clinton, and of course the famed Stagecoach Band. Christine grew up with two sisters, as a daughter of a miner in Pocatello, ID. She moved to Jackson when she was 28 years old. People would ask her “Don’t you want to have a baby?!” She’d say “I don’t want a baby, I want a band!”
Christine’s younger sister moved to Jackson Hole in 1983 to work as a clerk at the Post Office. Six months later, on Christmas Day, Christine also moved to Jackson from Aspen, CO. She had majored in vocal music at Utah State with the intention of teaching, but set her sights on becoming a professional musician after hearing bluegrass and country musicians in Aspen. At that time, Jackson was still a quiet town on Christmas Day – no restaurants or grocery stores were open which meant Christmas dinner was from the only open convenience store.
“The main things that drew me to Jackson are the beauty of this place, the outdoor activities, and the music opportunities. I’ve played many different Jackson Hole venues, from the Cowboy Bar, The Wort Hotel, the Stagecoach Bar to private parties, weddings, and dude ranches. What I love about the community is that we’re a fairly small town with so many cultural opportunities – whether that’s great restaurants, art galleries, and events at the center for the arts – it’s the amenities of a larger town in a small town.”
Christine participates in the community through her talents as a musician, playing Old West Days on the Town Square, programming with Dancer’s Workshop and the Senior Center, and fundraisers for various local organizations, to name a few.
Christine met her late husband, John Hess – love at first sight – while skiing at Targhee. At the time, John owned a music store and worked summers as a commercial salmon fisherman in Alaska. The music store was located in one of two historic buildings on North Glenwood Street that had once been housing for St. John’s Hospital nurses. A years-long saga regarding the fate of the property ended with one building being moved to a West Bank property and the other being demolished. The eight units in the nurses’ quarters had been home for many locals. Luckily, Christine and John were selected for a home in the first Community Housing development, Mountain View Meadows, and became home owners in 1994.
Besides the music store, Christine’s husband had worked as a driver for START bus for 13 years, a guide for Dick Barker Scenic Floats, as a landscaper, and as a carpenter, before his passing.
While things have changed as a result of a multitude of factors since Christine moved here in the 80’s, she believes that if the housing crisis is left solely up to the open market, the situation would be much worse.
“The people who are in Affordable homes are contributing to the community in a meaningful way and provide the diversity – ethnicity and wealth – that every town needs. I recently visited Aspen to visit a friend I knew from when I used to live there years ago and I was shocked to see that there’s no nightlife anymore. It’s turned into a shell community where everyone comes into work but then goes back to the community where they live. It’s killed the vibrant scene that used to have music, hopping restaurants & bars, and art galleries. We can’t afford to have that happen to Jackson otherwise we wouldn’t have the interesting things we love going on in town.”
CHRISTINE
