Final report for ONE22-414
Project Information
The Hudson Valley is experiencing a housing crisis that affects all working people, with unique and profound impacts on small farms. With workers unable to find housing, and farms unable to find and retain workers, small farms are downsizing, reducing productivity, or shuttering altogether. These extraordinary pressures, on top of the normal risks and challenges of farming, put the agricultural nature of our region in serious question.
This project sought to develop an informed working group of farmers and farmworkers to take action on developing housing solutions. The Hudson Valley Farmer Housing Working Group, a cohort of 16 farm owners, managers, workers, and service providers, was convened to conduct community education, collect critical data, and build a professional support network to address this critical need. In 18 months, the working group was successful in bringing the issue of farmer housing to the forefront and laid significant groundwork for future organizing. Our key accomplishments, including published Farmer Housing Needs survey results and recorded Community Learning Series sessions, can be found on our project website at www.hvfarmerhousing.org.
This project seeks to develop an informed working group of farmers and farmworkers that is prepared to take action on developing housing solutions. Our goals include:
- Convening an active working group of 12-15 farmers and farmworkers to offer feedback and advising on potential housing solutions.
- Disseminating a survey of farmer housing needs.
- Documenting housing needs of the working group members as written case studies for consultants and support professionals to reference.
- Developing a support network of consultants and service providers to assist the farmer working group in pursuing housing options.
- Developing and hosting a 10-session digital community learning series on the subjects of affordable, farmworker, and cooperative housing, attended by the working group and up to 50 additional participants.
- Documenting farmer and farmworker feedback on the types of housing solutions and information presented in the learning series, yielding critical data for next steps.
- Hosting an in-person convening of the working group, service providers and supporters to develop next steps as our project concludes.
- Compiling publicly available research and findings, including (a) the curriculum and digital recordings of the learning sessions, (b) summary of farmer feedback, and (c) a resource list on affordable, farmworker, and cooperative housing information and related organizations.
Farmers and farm workers face extraordinary challenges in accessing affordable housing in the Hudson Valley’s inflated and competitive real estate market. While home prices have been an increasing problem for the last decade in this region, recent Covid-related migration from urban centers has brought a major spike in rent prices, while significantly limiting the amount of available housing. Deemed a “housing crisis,” this issue is well documented by local news sources and is an active conversation in state government.*
The Hudson Valley is home to a rich community of small sustainable farms, largely producers of vegetables, livestock, and specialty products, and many of them first-generation farmers in their first ten years of operation. This community is linked together by social ties and by common services, such as a regional CSA Coalition with 120+ member farms, a cooperative purchasing effort that sources supplies for 63 produce farms, and a well-used listserv run by the Hudson Valley Young Farmers Coalition with more than a thousand members. This well-developed, collaborative community has extraordinary capacity and value - but needs immediate solutions for farmer housing in order to continue.
Responding to increasing housing stress among her colleagues, project collaborator and farmer Leslie Lewis collected interviews and stories with farmers in the Hudson Valley in winter of 2021. The results are moving stories that demonstrate the farmer experience of the broader housing crisis:
“I signed the lease on my current apartment the day after it was listed and it already had six other applicants, which demonstrates how competitive the housing market is. I signed this lease despite the cost of rent being 45% of my income (by definition an individual is housing insecure if 30-50% of income goes to housing costs), with the hopes that by the time the lease was up I would have found something I could afford. I was unable to find another rental to even match my current rent; I actively searched for over three months. I have an agricultural degree. I have served my country for two years in the Peace Corps. I have three years of experience in my field. I have a full time managerial position in my field. And I struggle to afford my rent. “
On top of wider barriers of unaffordability and lack of options, farm workers face special challenges in applying for housing. Low wages, seasonal work terms, informal work commitments, and frequent job changes or moves are all common experiences of working on farms in this region, yet raise red flags for landlords concerned with reducing their risk:
“We don’t make enough money to look good on an application. I’ve been rejected from two places in the past month.”
“This isn’t an uncommon story. At most farms I’ve worked, the hiring process feels casual and contracts and offer letters are often not official. How am I supposed to apply for housing with that? I can’t.”
“It looks bad on housing applications when it says I’ve moved at least twice a year because any job in farming is seasonal so I have a season summer job then a winter job every year. I don’t know how to get out of this cycle and save money and have an application that looks appealing.”
The financial toll is high on farmworkers, and the farm managers responsible for providing their wages. Beyond that, there is a serious emotional toll on workers in an otherwise challenging industry already known for burnout and personal sacrifice.
“It shouldn’t be so hard and so inaccessible and I’m so tired. I haven’t lived in the same space for more than 5 months in 4 years. This year alone, since January 2021 to now, I’ve lived in 4 places. It’s exhausting.”
The result is that in real time, farmers and farmworkers are leaving the region -- or giving up on agriculture altogether.
“We are beginning to worry we may not be able to afford to stay in the Hudson Valley.”
“Truthfully I do not foresee myself remaining in the Hudson Valley for more than one more year. Long-term I will move somewhere more affordable.”
“I have continued to face housing crises though my farming career that basically ended in me giving up on agriculture.”
Our project premise is that members of our robust farming community are capable of pursuing long-term, community-controlled solutions to farmer housing, but need critical support to do so. We intend to support development of an informed working group of farmers, and link them with a network of housing professionals and consultants to take further steps. We will also lead initial organizing efforts - including clarifying housing needs, assessing farmer and farmworker preferences for different types of housing solutions, and hosting a convening on next steps for farmer housing as our project nears completion.
Cooperators
- - Producer
- - Technical Advisor (Educator)
- - Producer
- - Technical Advisor
- - Technical Advisor
- - Producer
- - Technical Advisor
Research
As proposed:
1) Convene an active working group of 12-15 farmers and farmworkers to offer feedback and advising on potential housing solutions.
Building off of existing interest and initial outreach, Leslie Lewis will lead recruitment of 12-15 members of a Farmer Housing Working Group. Working group members will be expected to commit 20 hours to the actions outlined in this proposal, including completing the housing needs survey, attending minimum 8 of the 10 learning series sessions, and filling out feedback forms as described below. Those interested in taking part in the working group will fill out the farmer housing needs survey, which contains an optional set of intake questions for potential working group members.
The project organizers will seek broad representation among the working group, including members who are farm owners, farm managers, and farm workers, and individuals representing a range of racial, socioeconomic, and gender identities. Special effort will be made to include immigrant farmers and those participating in H2A programs, in part by reaching out to local farm worker justice organizations, and by making materials available in both English and Spanish. As housing needs survey responses come in, the project team will review and select applicants for the working group, according to the diversity goals described above, as well as long-term commitment to the Hudson Valley region and the project team’s assessment of their likely contribution to the working group’s progress. Selected participants will be awarded stipends of $700, based on expectation of $35/hr for 20 hours.
The working group sessions will begin with an introductory Zoom call with all participants, to introduce participants and gather feedback on the learning series being developed.
2) Disseminate a survey of farmer housing needs.
Building upon the work done by Chester Agricultural Center (CAC) to survey the region’s housing needs, we will adapt and revise CAC’s existing survey and collect 50 or more responses throughout 5 counties.
The survey will include questions for farm owners, farm managers, and farm workers, and will assess the type and volume of housing needed, along with affordability information. If a survey participant indicates interest in working group participation, they will be presented with additional intake questions.
Survey outreach will be conducted through the well-trafficked Hudson Valley Young Farmers Coalition listserv, personal outreach, and outreach partners including our project collaborators at Glynwood and Co-op Hudson Valley.
3) Document housing needs of the working group members as written case studies for consultants and support professionals to reference.
Case studies are helpful tools for architects, planners and developers to understand the needs of a population they are designing for, as well as important tools for communicating need to public officials. The project team will develop 6 written case studies from the survey responses and/or working group members to illustrate farmer housing needs in a more personal way.
4) Develop a support network of consultants and service providers to assist the farmer working group in pursuing housing options.
Objectives 4 and 5 will begin with foundational research conducted by Faith Gilbert and Leslie Lewis and supported by their advisors. The organizers will map the organizations and individuals who might support a farmer housing effort, and reach out each with the dual purpose of establishing connections and developing curriculum for the future learning series. Willing parties may be asked to (a) review and inform the content of the learning series, (b) present in the learning series, (c) attend the convening that concludes this project, and/or (d) be added to a resource reference list. Types and examples of organizations include:
- Affordable housing organizations (RUPCO, Pattern for Progress…)
- Farm worker housing organizations (NY Homes and Community Renewal
- Farm worker housing lenders (Farm Credit East)
- Cooperative housing lenders (Cooperative Fund of New England)
- Non-profit developers (Hudson River Housing)
- Architects (Dennis Wedlick)
- Social impact investors (Dirt Capital)
- State and county officials (Assemblymember Didi Barret, State Senator Michelle Hinchey, Representative Antonio Delgado)
5) Develop and host a 10-session digital community learning series on the subjects of affordable, farm worker, and cooperative housing, attended by the working group and up to 50 additional participants.
This digital learning series will take place in the off-season, November through February, and will be hosted on Zoom. Learning will take place through ten one-hour, webinar-style presentations by consultants and practitioners working in the housing field in and outside the region, followed by optional Q&A and discussions. The sessions will be open to any farmers, farm workers, service providers, and supporters who wish to attend; however, working group members will be compensated to take part, and working group members will receive priority in asking questions of the presenters.
Content will include:
- Presentations by several related housing efforts, including Chester Agricultural Center, Ancram Build, and other examples to be identified outside the region
- Definitions of farm worker housing, affordable housing, and cooperative housing, and the state and federal programs associated with each
- Financing and grant opportunities for farm worker, affordable, and cooperative housing
- Possibilities for ownership structures, including homeowners associations, housing cooperatives, non-profits and community land trusts
- Presentations by non-profit developers on the process of single-unit, multi-unit and dormitory-style housing development
- Budgeting information, including profiling the construction costs of other housing developments in the region
- Town planning board and zoning considerations
- Landlord-tenant relationships and deed and lease transfer considerations.
The sessions will be recorded and made public, as described below.
6) Document farmer and farm worker feedback on the types of housing solutions and information presented in the learning series, yielding critical data for next steps.
After each session, members of the working group will fill out a digital feedback form. Feedback forms will be customized to the content covered in each session. For example:
- After a session that covers information on cooperative housing, the feedback form will ask if the participant to note their interest in cooperative housing solutions along a spectrum of 1 to 5, with 1 being “not interested in,” 3 being “open to,” and 5 being “in favor of” a cooperative approach to farmer housing.
- After a session in which an affordable housing project is profiled, participants will be asked to comment. Questions could include “What aspects of the presenter’s project would you wish to see replicated here in the Hudson Valley?” “Were there any aspects that you do not wish to see replicated here?” “Can you imagine comfortably residing in the residences described? Why or why not?”
We expect these feedback responses to yield critical information on what types of housing solutions farmers and farm workers would prefer.
7) Hosting an in-person convening of the working group, service providers and supporters to develop next steps as our project concludes.
Following the learning series, the working group will join others, such as social impact investors and service providers, for an in-person gathering of approximately 40 guests at the Glynwood Center for Regional Food and Farming in Cold Spring, NY. The five-hour gathering will seek to articulate next steps for developing farmer housing solutions beyond the life of the project. The event will begin with a report-back on the survey results, feedback form responses, and other key takeaways gathered to date. The convening will then form clusters of working group participants and non-farming supporters to explore different potential paths forward in breakout groups. After a report-back, the facilitators will invite participants to set near-term goals for steps forward.
1) Convene an active working group of 12-15 farmers and farmworkers to offer feedback and advising on potential housing solutions.
Building off of existing interest and initial outreach, Leslie Lewis led recruitment of 16 members of a Farmer Housing Working Group, including farm owners, farm managers, farm workers, and service providers, and individuals representing a range of racial, socioeconomic, and gender identities.
Working group members convened all together via Zoom to give project feedback, conduct outreach, plan the online community learning series sessions, and weigh in on organizing strategy in the early months of the project. In addition, individual working group members took on key roles throughout the project, such as:
- Outreach efforts to gather responses to the Farmer Housing Needs Survey (all members)
- Participating in discussion groups at our in-person convening (all members).
- Facilitating breakout sessions to gather community input during our online community learning series (Rica Bryan, Katie Speicher, Sarah Elisabeth)
- Researching and presenting options for low-cost prefab housing units, as part of our “Building On-Farm Housing” community learning series session (Kim Licurse)
- Researching and presenting policy objectives during our policy learning session (Chris Nickell, Jojo Attall and Sarah Elisabeth)
- Contributing technical skills, such as creating an online mapping tool to map the working group network & partners (Jojo Attall)
- Publicly representing the Working Group and farmer housing needs at housing related events (Rica Bryan and Kyle Ellis)
Working Group member Chris Nickell took on significant responsibilities as a researcher, presenter, and networker, and was subsequently invited to act as project co-lead for the second half of the project.
2) Disseminate a survey of farmer housing needs.
In October 2022, project organizers developed and launched an in-depth survey for farm owners, farm managers, and farm workers, to assess the impact of the housing crisis, the type and volume of housing needed, affordability information, and preferences and suggestions for support needed.
The survey was developed by Faith Gilbert and Leslie Lewis, with review by advisors Jenn Hayden and Javier Gomez, and disseminated in both English and Spanish.
Survey outreach was conducted through the well-trafficked Hudson Valley Young Farmers Coalition listserv, outreach partners, and significant efforts by working group members through their professional and personal networks.
The project significantly exceeded its goal of 50 responses, ultimately collecting 80 responses split evenly between farm workers and farm owners or managers. The results painted a compelling picture, identifying housing issues as the most pressing issue for the majority of farm workers and managers, and noting major stressors on the agricultural workforce. Participants weighed in on needs and solutions, yielding critical data on what type of housing is needed.
The results were presented publicly to 80 attendees at the first online community learning series session, and later to 40 attendees at an in-person convening of farmers, housing advocates, and service providers. Additionally, the summary was published on the project website and shared directly with a number of public officials. The summary can be found in our attached documents and on www.hvfarmerhousing.org.
3) Document housing needs of the working group members as written case studies for consultants and support professionals to reference.
The project team originally set out to develop problem-statement type profiles of farmer housing needs, but later pivoted to a single, solution-oriented case study on the advice of project advisor Dennis Wedlick, Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. Dennis worked with the project team to develop a housing development concept addressing the real housing needs of a local farming organization on a promising parcel of land. The resulting case study demonstrated a low-cost development model that met farmer preferences for low density and rural living. The case study was presented publicly to 40 attendees at an in-person convening, as well as reviewed by project stakeholders digitally in detail. Takeaways are included in our “Learnings” section below as well as on www.hvfarmerhousing.org.
4) Develop a support network of consultants and service providers to assist the farmer working group in pursuing housing options.
The organizers gave significant effort to mapping and establishing connections with organizations and individuals who might support a farmer housing effort. These efforts were fruitful in building a diverse support network, including:
- Affordable housing developers including RUPCO, Hudson River Housing, and Habitat for Humanity Columbia County
- Policy and advocacy organizations including Pattern for Progress, Hudson Valley Affordable Housing & Conservation Strategy Group, Columbia County Housing Task Force, Columbia County Sanctuary Movement, Rural Housing Coalition, American Farmland Trust, and the Hudson Valley chapter of the National Young Farmers Coalition
- Technical assistance providers including Berkshire Agricultural Venues, Glynwood, Cornell Ag Workforce Development, and Community Resources & Housing Development Corporation
- Agencies involved in farmer housing including NYS Homes and Community Renewal and NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets
- Land banks and land trusts including Scenic Hudson, Columbia Land Conservancy, Kingston Land Trust, Taproot Community Land Trust
- Cooperative incubators and housing lenders including Co-op Hudson Valley and Cooperative Fund of New England
- Architects at BarlissWedlick and TAP Inc.
- Elected and appointed public officials including Ulster County Legislator Phil Erner, Assemblymembers Didi Barret and Donna Lupardo, State Senator Michelle Hinchey, NYS Commissioner on Rural Resources Corey Moshier, Attorney General Tish James, and Representative Antonio Delgado
The project was successful in making the issue of farmer housing clear and urgent to these various groups, and in generating a high volume of new connections. One key theme emerged over the course of the project: farmer housing is highly interdisciplinary, and while no existing organization in our region has it clearly stated in its mission, it fits easily within the missions of many organizations. The organizers see it as a key success to have cross-connected a broad variety of stakeholders to bring this “orphan” issue to the forefront. This success was seen most clearly at the in-person convening that concluded the project, in which participants remarked on the novel and diverse set of organizations that had never before gathered in person.
Out of this combination of groups emerged a cohort of 5 nonprofit farms interested in building housing. Each organization was at a different stage of development spanning brainstorming through late-stage pre-development. All identified a need for support in putting together financing and managing such a project through construction and through rent-up. The project team connected this cohort with technical assistance provider Jo Untiedt from Community Resources & Housing Development Corporation regarding USDA Rural Development farmworker housing funding programs. This connection has jump-started several of the nonprofit farms to move forward in their plans to build housing for farmworkers.
Another important outcome of this network building has been the development of a concrete set of policy goals the project team will pursue moving forward. With the help of advocacy partners from across the agricultural, rural housing, and environmental conservation spaces, the project team will continue fostering farmer leadership through local, state, and federal advocacy campaigns to increase funding and support for the development of farmer housing in the Hudson Valley and beyond.
5) Develop and host a digital community learning series on the subjects of affordable, farm worker, and cooperative housing, attended by the working group and up to 50 additional participants.
Originally envisioned as a series of 10 brief sessions, organizers pivoted to fewer, more in-depth sessions. The Working Group researched, organized, and facilitated 4 2-hour online sessions in February & March of 2023. The sessions were well attended, with over 100 unique attendees, and had between 40 and 80 participants per session, including farm business owners, farm workers, service providers, and community supporters. Sessions were recorded and posted along with their supporting materials on hvfarmerhousing.org. Session titles and content included:
- Session 1: Community Context & the State of the Issue
- Session 2: Envisioning Centralized Housing
- Session 3: Building On-Farm Housing
- Session 4: Policy Objectives
6) Document farmer and farm worker feedback on the types of housing solutions and information presented in the learning series, yielding critical data for next steps.
This goal was originally envisioned as a survey-based approach, in which working group members would fill out feedback forms after each learning series session. To reduce the burden on working group members, gain broader feedback from more community members, and to better build relationships in the network, the project instead moved toward discussion-based public feedback sessions at various points through the project. Our feedback methods included:
- Open-ended questions in the Farmer Housing Needs Survey, in which participants could share their reactions, preferences, and stories. In addition to the numerical data, the survey responses provided rich and compelling statements, many of which were quoted in later presentations and materials.
- Breakout rooms during 3 out of 4 learning series sessions. Working group members took JamBoard notes while all participants (working group members and members of the broader farm community) shared their questions and insights. Those notes were made publicly available alongside the session recordings.
- Post-learning series interviews with Working Group members in March and April 2023
- A recap session of the Working Group’s efforts to date with farm business owners and farm workers in January 2024, sponsored by the Hudson Valley Young Farmers Coalition
7) Hosting an in-person convening of the working group, service providers and supporters to develop next steps as our project concludes.
In December 2023, the working group hosted an in-person convening at Glynwood in Cold Spring, attended by 40 individuals from the Working Group, affordable housing organizations, community land trusts, cooperative development groups, farm service providers, and members of local government.
In the five-hour gathering, project co-leads Faith Gilbert and Chris Nickell summarized all Working Group research and learnings to date, and presented a two-part strategy for future work that includes (1) an advocacy platform, and (2) pursuing development of a scattered-site farmer housing development.
The event also included:
- presentations from project partners Dennis Wedlick, Lucinda Poindexter, Emily Hamilton, Rebecca Gillman Crimmins, and Steve Rosenberg
- Breakout groups to discuss next steps for developing farmer housing solutions beyond the life of the project.
- Lunch and networking time for participants.
A write-up of the convening content and discussions can be found on our website, hvfarmerhousing.org.
This project was successful in convening and empowering farmers to take action on housing issues, gathering necessary data and professional contacts to take meaningful next steps.
Education & Outreach Activities and Participation Summary
Participation Summary:
As a community organizing project, outreach has been woven into most project activities, including those previously described. In addition to the community engagement efforts described above, project organizers have shared the core learnings of the project in these ways:
- A project website at www.hvfarmerhousing.org that provides all key project information, including recordings of learning sessions, write-ups of survey results, summaries of public feedback, and all materials prepared by project partners and advisors. The website has had 174 unique visitors spending an average of over 5 minutes on various pages of the site.
- A shareable summary report of survey results, in digital and print, shared directly with several elected public officials, over a dozen project partners and advisors, and 40 attendees of in-person events.
- Presentation of project findings at our 40-attendee in-person convening
A digital, farmer-focused follow-up event online, hosted by the Hudson Valley chapter of the National Young Farmers Coalition, attended by 25 participants.
Learning Outcomes
Of the farmers who participated in our project as working group members or online learning series attendees, and shared their feedback with us:
74% told us that participation provided a sense of community or opportunity to connect with others.
70% felt better prepared to take action toward housing solutions.
63% had important questions answered about housing.
63% were made aware of resources relevant to their needs.
53% felt more hopeful about housing issues.
Project Outcomes
This project’s signal contributions have been 1) creating a survey data set that illustrates the dire need for farmer housing in the Hudson Valley, 2) networking a broad set of stakeholders who now view this need as a priority for their organizations, and 3) centering farm workers, farm managers, and farm business owners as both the locus of need and the generators of solutions. Most of the 40 participants in our December convening identified some combination of these contributions in their assessment of the project team’s efforts to date, describing the work as “thoughtful,” “impactful,” and “accessible.”
The overall approach to this project worked well to identify the housing needs for agricultural workers in the Hudson Valley and generate solutions. The project team gathered the right organizations and individuals to answer the big questions we set out to study about farmer housing needs and solutions. In so doing, we also created a shared language to frame these needs and solutions that did not exist before.
The survey reached a large number of farm workers and business owners, but gaps exist in demographic coverage, especially with non-domestic farm workers and those in agriculture whose primary language is not English. Additional work should be done to fold in groups that organize with these farm workers so their housing stories, needs, and solutions can be incorporated.
The project team plans to seek additional funding to continue this organizing work along two tracks: 1) fleshing out development pathways that will get brick-and-mortar farmer housing in the ground and 2) continuing to develop farmer leadership by pursuing advocacy campaigns at the local, state, and federal levels that will make the development pathways we’ve identified more viable. These tracks will benefit farmers in the Hudson Valley and, hopefully, in other agricultural regions of New York State.