Recent inflation reports confirm what most people already know, prices are going up.
While Boise's housing market has begun to cool, many renters and buyers have struggled to find affordable housing. But one local church is doing what it can to help.
Lakeview Church of the Nazarene in Nampa has donated a vacant lot next to its facility to the Leap Housing Trust. The Trust is a community-driven program for Idahoans in need of affordable housing and has built two communities that are held in the trust. The goal of the program is not only to build affordable housing but to keep the housing affordable
"Always trying to find tangible practical ways that we can love our neighbors and be connected in our neighborhood, and this made a lot of sense in that regard, like donating hands off, no strings attached to help somebody have access to something that they maybe wouldn't have before," said Reverand Nathan Roskam of the Lakeview Church of the Nazarene.
The donation is a first of its kind for the non-profit that was started back in 2016. The roughly 3,300-square-foot lot offers excellent access to local transit, jobs and schools.
"Our organization could provide the technical expertise to build and develop affordable housing, and the church, the landholder, we can work together to basically realize our mutual goal, which is the creation of housing," said Leap Housing CEO Bart Cochran.
This construction is a part of a larger effort from Leap called "Yes In God's Backyard," a riff on the "Not In My Backyard" or "NIMBY" mentality that can stifle development.
"Yes In God's Backyard" is an effort to discover and convert under-utilized land into homes for families in need.
