Home Ownership Opportunities

“Decent, affordable housing should be a basic right for everybody in this country.  
The reason is simple: without stable shelter, everything else falls apart.”
Matthew Desmond

Pulitzer Prize Winner and Professor of Sociology, Princeton

Affordable Essential Workforce Housing

Smoky Mountain Housing Partnership (SMHP) is the affordable housing division of Mountain Projects, Inc., a community action agency that has served the southern mountains of Western North Carolina since 1965. Mountain Projects has several long-running initiatives to assist homeowners in need, and Smoky Mountain Housing Partnership is the newest addition to its lineup of programs. SMHP generates affordable housing and home buying services and counseling for essential workers in Haywood and Jackson Counties.

SMHP understands the rising costs of home ownership in Western North Carolina. It is our promise to continue as a force in the effort to provide mountain residents with affordable, safe and clean places to call home. We have embarked on an ambitious drive to build affordable homes throughout the region including micro-homes and family dwellings.

You can join our effort to address the lack of affordable housing in Haywood and Jackson counties by donating funds, materials, and time.

Market Analysis

Housing Facts

Housing is affordable when it comprises no more than 30% of the family’s income. Families that spend more than this on housing are cost-burdened.

HAYWOOD

1
of Households are cost-burdened
1 %

JACKSON

1
of households are cost-burdened
1 %

FULL-TIME

1

HOURS

PER WEEK

 needed to work to afford a 2 bedroom apartment

minimum wage

National Low Income Housing Coalition

 

the need for

Affordable Housing

Aging Population

Elderly populations face numerous housing challenges due to health concerns, fixed-incomes, affordability, and accessibility.

Poverty and Low Paying Jobs

A tourism based service economy and lack of relevant career skills prevent some individuals and families from obtaining a high paying job.

Lack of Affordable Homes Impacts Work-Force Housing

There is a lack of homes in the current market that are $150,000 and lower for our Teachers, Police Officers, Firemen, Single Parents, and other Public Servants.

SMHP Nondiscrimination Statement

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination against its customers, employees, and applicants for employment on the bases of race, color, national origin, age, disability, sex, gender identity, religion, reprisal, and where applicable, political beliefs, marital status, familial or parental status, sexual orientation, or if all or part of an individual’s income is derived from any public assistance program, or protected genetic information in employment or in any program or activity conducted or funded by the Department. (Not all prohibited bases will apply to all programs and/or employment activities.)

If you wish to file a Civil Rights program complaint of discrimination, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, found online, or at any USDA office, or call (866) 632-9992 to request the form. You may also write a letter containing all of the information requested in the form. Send your completed complaint form or letter to us by mail at U.S. Department of Agriculture, Director, Office of Adjudication, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410, by fax (202) 690-7442 or email at [email protected]