Hello <<First Name>>

Thanks for tuning in! It's been an eventful month here at Shelter—in large part thanks to YOU. Here’s an update on what we've been working on:

Federal Funding
There are unprecedented amounts of federal funding that will be available for Wyoming, and we need to make sure that community leaders are making a deliberate effort to access as much money as possible. We wrote a letter to our representatives to ensure they are dedicating resources to pursuing these opportunities. Meanwhile, Governor Gordon has presented his Survive, Drive and Thrive initiative to utilize funding. Stay tuned for updates!

Annual Meeting Recap
Thanks to all who made it to our Annual Meeting! It is always inspiring to see members come together to learn about our successes from the last year and strategize for 2022. Didn’t make it? Please email info@shelterjh.org if you’d like access to the recording. We are also looking for feedback from attendees and members about our events and messaging. Please take a moment to fill out a short survey here.

Welcome to our new board members!
One of the most exciting happenings at the Annual Meeting was the election of our new board slate, including three new board members (clockwise from top left): Iván Jiménez,  Whitney Oppenhuizen, and Kelsey Wotzka. We are thrilled to add their experience and passion to our team and are thankful for their willingness to step to the plate! Learn more about them here. Welcome aboard! We also want to thank outgoing board member Mike Welch (pictured with his family bottom left) for his service to ShelterJH and look forward to continuing our partnership with him via the Policy Team.

Silicon Couloir Chance meeting
This month, Silicon Couloir hosted a housing discussion—we’re so glad to have more and more community members deliberately having conversations about housing insecurity. We heard from Housing Director April Norton about the ins and outs of the Housing Department, from Anne Cresswell and her work at the Housing Trust, from Habitat leader Kris Greenville and from Shawn Hill who is working on the west side of the Tetons for Teton County Idaho Housing Authority. Curious? Check out the recording here.

We met our match!
A huge THANK YOU to our esteemed, dedicated, passionate, enthusiastic members for enabling us to reach and EXCEED our matching challenge for our December 2021 fundraiser! A special thanks to Esther Judge-Lennox (ShelterJH member who founded Shacks on Racks) who generously matched these donations. Thanks to you all, we will continue to fight for housing justice in Jackson Hole in 2022. That means: advocating for zoning and parking reforms; watchdogging local projects like Northern South Park and Jackson Street Apartments; fighting for a real estate tax; and most importantly, empowering our members to lobby their representatives directly.

Hot Topics in Housing
ShelterJH members share relevant articles with one another through our Google Group. Here are what our conversations have been about this month:

• JH News and Guide Editorial: Board members deserve compensation

• WyoFile: What will our government do with federal stimulus dollars?

• Viehman Group: End of year real estate report

• NY Times: Good Cause eviction bill in New York state

• JH News and Guide Opinion: We need a real estate tax now!

Join Us!

If you’re not already a member, please join our movement. We suggest a donation of $20 per year; however, we want our membership to be as accessible as possible, so please pay what you can. Members receive access to special meetings, vote on the Board of Directors, and help set the vision and trajectory for the organization. Already a member? Forward this email to five friends who care about the housing emergency! 

As always, I am here to answer any questions. Thanks for your steadfast support of ShelterJH!

Best,
Clare Stumpf
she/her/hers
info@shelterjh.org
(510)418-0654