Fort Collins, CO, March 30^th, 2009 – Funding Partners, a not-for-profit Community Development Financial Institution, is proud to announce their partnership with Eagle River Water & Sanitation District, who recently implemented a home ownership benefit program that provides purchase assistance to eligible employees.  With home prices in resort communities priced beyond the means of the local workforce, employees in the Vail Valley and Roaring Fork Valley are typically subject to long commutes, small living quarters and heavy competition from part-time residents for housing.

 

The District is now extending to employees the benefit of down payment and closing cost assistance for the purchase of their home.  Employers that have implemented the EHOP program benefit from the attraction and retention of a qualified workforce, reducing the high cost of personnel turnover. To date, Funding Partners’ EHOP program has supported 95 individuals achieve home ownership and has partnerships with 10 participating employers around Colorado.

 

Eagle River Water & Sanitation District, located in Vail, serves the entire Vail Valley with water and wastewater utility services, in an eco-friendly manner.  Their district encompasses 54,400 acres of Eagle County and serves up to 40,500 residents during peak tourist demand.  “The District has a long term commitment to employee housing. The importance of the housing program has grown as we focused on recruitment and retention of employees, but we found that many employees had difficulty transitioning from our rental program to home ownership,” says Angelo Fernandez, The District’s Human Resources Director,  “The down payment assistance program through Funding Partners is a welcome addition to our employee benefits. Several employees are interested in using the program immediately. We value the ability of organizations like Funding Partners to develop creative solutions in difficult housing environments like ours.”

 

“While we all recognize that owning a home isn’t the right choice for everyone, it certainly should be option for many who have demonstrated the capacity, but priced out of the market”, according to Joe Rowan, Executive Director of Funding Partners.  “To their great credit, the District and several other employers in our mountain communities have truly embraced the idea of making stable, affordable housing a high priority for the long term success of the organization.”