Eureka Home has begun meeting at the Carnegie Public Library meeting room at 6 p.m. on the first Thursday of the month to discuss what can be done to address the affordable housing crisis in the area.
This is a new, grassroots effort, an addition to the work by the Mayor’s Task Force on Economic Development to create a Community Development Corporation to give tax incentives to developers of affordable housing.
“The more people who come in to address this, in my opinion, the better off we will be,” organizer Gia Voorheis, of Holiday Island said. “Different groups have different visions. Younger generations in Eureka Springs are living in poverty. We are seeing parents with young children living in unsafe, unstable situations. We are seeing young women and men in vulnerable living conditions. People are being exploited in domestic situations simply in exchange for a room.”
Voorheis said when she moved back to this area, she connected with artists, single parents, hospitality workers and others who were living in buses or RVs and paying high rents for substandard housing.
“I was seeing working people who don’t quality for government housing assistance but don’t have money to pay for housing,” she said. “This is a problem in many areas of the country. In our area, when housing costs push away tourism workers, what happens to the community? Artists are suddenly finding themselves unable to be a part of the community any longer. Can we come together as a community and first of all ask questions, find out what is needed, and then ask ‘What can be done? What do we need to do?’”
Voorheis said when she lived in Oregon, there were fine tiny home communities, and she added that what ECHO Village is doing in Eureka Springs is appreciated. She acknowledged that Benton and Washington counties have efforts underway to provide more affordable housing, including manufacturing housing and tiny home spaces.
“But I know that each community is unique, and you can’t always import solutions from other communities,” Voorheis said. “I think the solutions have to come from the community. The monthly forum meetings we are having are to listen, share information and try to form a grassroots movement to raise awareness of this problem. If the youth don’t have a foundation to stay, we are entering the death phase for the community because there is no one left to come into the community.”
Voorheis said they are just beginning, and they are learning. They are inquiring into possible sources of funds from many sources, including outside of Eureka Springs. Eureka Springs is valuable to Arkansas and many wish to retain its charm. Arkansans have wed here, honeymooned here, or grown up coming to this area for decades.
About 20 people showed up at the first meeting in December, and Voorheis said she was amazed at the diversity of experience and age at that first meeting. “We had some amazing conversations in these meetings,” she said. “People were glad there was somewhere to express their concerns, and many said they had hopes that this can be addressed for the better.”
A worker in Eureka Springs who makes $15 an hour for nine months a year can reasonably afford $600-700 per month rent or a home purchase of $!00,000. But little exists in the way of inexpensive rentals and the average price of a home in Eureka Springs is now $309,000. The yearly income needed for a home costing that much would be $80,000. Many can’t qualify for a loan due to their income.
“If the current generation fails to co-create a community that empowers the next generation to inherit opportunities to thrive, then that current generation is destroying the future,” Voorheis said. “Eureka Home values the right for people to pursue life in a way that is self-directed, peaceful, regenerative and creative. We believe that persons have the right to a place for living and thriving. We value harmony and sustainability of our living ecosystem, of which we are all a part. We value the diversity of all life. We honor the land and the natural systems as well as the culture of this amazing place we all call home. We believe that, in order for us all to thrive, we must jointly create a community that provides the foundation for individuals and families to flourish.
Eureka Home’s mission is to provide opportunities to access safe, stable and affordable homes.
Dan Connor, a former Eureka Springs Parks & Recreation employee, said he had gone back to St. Louis because he couldn’t find work through the winter, and the rent was too high to sustain him into spring.
“I noticed a lot of the people in their twenties and thirties seemed to have to work more than one job as rent was too high and getting higher,” Conner said. “Most of these people were in the service industry, which Eureka Springs needs. It wasn’t fair that they had to work so much just to get their basic needs met. I would think that all that added stress also perpetuated a lot of substance abuse, as well.”
Peter Graham said he grew up in a tourist town that became too expensive to grow a future in. He said an unhealthy focus on tourism brings hardship to locals.
“Without this awareness, the odds of success while balancing a healthy lifestyle is low,” Graham said. “As a result of this type of growth, these small towns lose the source of the energy. That energy is the people, the locals. We, the residents, are those who have love for the area and source the energy. I’ve lived in three other locations, all of which are struggling with that same issue. Here in Eureka, we still have a chance. The youth still have a chance to grow up in the place they call home. And we’re here to protect all of our futures.”
Madison J. Munn, a stay-at-home mom, said she has seen close friends and valuable families proud to call this community their home pushed out.
“With homes being turned into Airbnbs instead of homes for families and residents, they are being pushed into hotels-turned-small-apartments,” Munn said. “Seems pretty wacky to me that residents are in hotels and visitors are in houses. It’s not healthy; it’s cancerous.”
The Eureka Home group participants have indicated the following interests in regard to housing: Affordable. An acre of land. A natural sustainable home in harmony with the natural world. Mobile tiny homes with a lot. Access to community. Autonomy. Ownership. Less struggle to provide basic living needs. An opportunity for parents to be at home with their children. Growing food and medicine. Renting options. Opportunity to build their own home. Non-traditional options, no mortgage, out of the system. A kitchen to cook meals. A place for their pet family. A compassionate community and joyful living that will blossom from the soil of self-determination.
Voorheis said benefits to improving affordable homeownership and investment in the community can lead to greater economic stability for individuals and the community, access to quality education, increased civic and social engagement, better physical and mental health, improved sense of self-worth, improved sustainable living, an increase in graduation and career education, reduced crime, reduced substance abuse, child development, engagement in community and offering of talents.
For more information or time changes, email eurekahome2024@gmail.com