TRUCKEE, Calif. – Sierra Community House is celebrating its fifth anniversary with renewed dedication to addressing the critical workforce housing needs in the Tahoe region. Executive Director Paul Bancroft, along with key team members, Director of Legal Assistance, Crisis Intervention, and Family Advocacy, Elizabeth Balmin, Housing Coordinator, Denisse Vega Zarate, and Operations and Communications Director, Shannon Falker, shared insights on the organization’s achievements and future goals. 

Over the past five years, Sierra Community House, which provides hunger relief, legal aid counsel, family strengthening programs, and supports victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse, has expanded its reach significantly, operating from five offices across North Tahoe and Truckee. In this period, the organization has delivered nearly 100,000 services to more than 7,000 households across Nevada County, Placer County, and Washoe County. This includes providing $2 million in rental assistance to help local families stay in their homes and serving 1.6 million meals to ensure community members have access to nutritious food.

“Where we are today is lightyears beyond where I thought we might have been,” Bancroft said. 

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The COVID-19 pandemic posed unique challenges and opportunities for SCH.

“We had just merged four long-standing local non-profits to create SCH. COVID brought both the increased demand for services and the increased ability to provide services because we had more ability to increase programming during COVID,” Balmin said. Despite the surge in demand, SCH had to upscale quickly and has maintained high levels of service.

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Balmin highlighted the ongoing demand for legal support and rental assistance, which has not decreased post-COVID. SCH’s housing support is comprehensive, addressing emergency rental needs, conflict resolution, and transitional housing for survivors of domestic violence. 

However, the reduction in pandemic-related funding has strained resources.

“The ability to serve at the demand is not equal to the level of resources and supply of the organization,” Bancroft said.

In response to the growing housing crisis in California, other parts of the state including Half Moon Bay, San Jose, and Humboldt County have implemented mobile home park conversion ordinances to protect residents if a park owner decides to close. Over 90 jurisdictions have adopted rent stabilization ordinances to prevent extreme rent hikes that could displace residents. Additionally, Newport Beach and the counties of Trinity, Ventura, and San Mateo have established mobile home zoning districts to preserve existing parks.

“People are faced with the decision to leave the area or face homelessness. We are working on keeping people local,” Bancroft said. 

While the Truckee/Tahoe community has successfully created 249 new housing units, the 500 mobile homes currently occupied by local workers are at risk of conversion to non-affordable housing. Without local action to protect these units from conversion and rent increases, efforts to address the housing crisis will fall short.

“We see the impacts of our region’s housing crisis every day as working families struggle to afford rent while also meeting their basic needs. Many more leave the area for more affordable housing in Reno. While we are encouraged by the creation of new affordable housing units (249 units over 4 projects in Truckee), we are concerned about the risk of loss to our region’s more than 500 affordable mobile home units through park conversions. We urge our local decision-makers to replicate mobile home conversion and rent stabilization ordinances established in other California communities to protect this vital form of workforce housing,” Bancroft said. 

SCH is immensely grateful for the financial support from several key funders, which is crucial in helping local workers secure and maintain affordable housing.

Recently, SCH received a $400,000 commitment for the upcoming year from the Martis Fund, a collaborative effort of Martis Camp landowners, DMB/Highlands Group, Mountain Area Preservation, and Sierra Watch. This grant enhances SCH’s ability to help local workers avoid evictions and sustain housing through advocacy services and direct payments to landlords, utility companies, and other housing-related costs.

Additionally, over the next three years, SCH will benefit from $900,000 in funding from the North Lake Tahoe Tourism Business Improvement District (TBID) and Placer County Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT). This multi-year commitment supports SCH’s Housing Advocacy and Direct Assistance program, helping local workforce households secure housing and stay local. 
Learn more about SCH and get involved at https://sierracommunityhouse.org/

Zoe Meyer is a reporter for the Sierra Sun, a sister publication for Tahoe Daily Tribune. She can be reached at zmeyer@sierrasun.com.