Building homes and skills
in the Tetons
Our Mission and Vision
We approach the challenge of making housing affordable in the Teton region from the ground up: We address the problem from multiple angles by building affordable homes for individuals, couples, or families who qualify, we teach sustainable building skills to those who are interested in a career in the trades, and we use materials that contribute to a regional circular economy.
We are working towards a Teton community with people of diverse economic backgrounds. We are providing more affordable housing for our workforce to call home while adding to the pool of skilled tradespeople.
What we do
There are three main components of our work:
Low-income home loan facilitation, construction, and education.
Loan facilitation
We can help you learn if you qualify and help you navigate the process of applying. We "package" USDA Rural Development low-income home loans for qualified applicants. The home loan can include both land and construction costs.
Construction
We provide a qualified General Contractor who will oversee your construction process. Because it is funded through a construction loan, the process and timeline are fairly typical. We supply the plans and engineering for a long-term affordable, energy efficient home, which will be constructed with healthy, natural materials like straw, wood, clay, and lime. Some sweat-equity will be required of you, per USDA loan policy. Our students provide a portion of the labor which helps to reduce the cost of construction.
Education
There is a wealth of opportunity for careers in the trades in our Teton region. We teach best practices of sustainable construction from the foundation to the roof: Passive House methods of air sealing and insulating, carbon-storing, non-toxic and regional materials as well as craftsmanship are all critical to the process. Students also learn how to integrate services, utilities, and high-performance HVAC systems.
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Loan Facilitation
Want to know if you can qualify? We can find out and help you package a loan application.
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Construction
We build homes! We supply the plans, engineering, contractor, and materials. Your loan supplies the funding and our students supply some of the work.
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Education
Interested in learning how to build a home for yourself or to have a career in the trades? We work with trade schools, apprenticeship programs, and construction management programs to offer a rigorous hands-on, ground-up curriculum.
Our Partners
