Jamie was born at Nantucket Cottage Hospital and grew up in the island’s Hussey Farm neighborhood, where there were lots of year round families with children. He attended public schools on island, and after completing high school, he wanted to explore the world. So he left Nantucket to pursue higher education abroad.

While living in Prague, Jamie met Michel who was from the Netherlands. They moved to England together, and Jamie finished his studies. They knew they wanted to spend their lives with each other.

“The United States federal government had recently legalized same sex-marriage,” said Michel. “We took it as a sign we should return to Jamie’s homeland. But even from across the globe, we heard how people struggled to find suitable housing on Nantucket. It gave us pause.”

“The rental housing market on the island is notoriously tight,” Jamie said. “Friends were constantly doing the Nantucket shuffle. Even my sister and her husband, each of whom have a wide network of friends and family, had to move several times a year because they couldn’t find a stable year-round place to live.”

When a job came up at Nantucket High School as a long-term sub, Jamie decided to make the move. He came back to the island by himself, and moved in with his parents. While he appreciated how fortunate he was to have that as an option, he admits the situation was “not ideal in your 30s.”

After that trial year, the school offered Jamie a full time position teaching English and writing. This was Jamie’s dream job, and he took it. Michel joined Jamie on the Nantucket, and soon was hired as an administrator at the hospital. The couple continued to live at Jamie’s parents’ house, but they longed for a place of their own.

They scoured the real estate listings. Few homes were listed under a million dollars, and those required major renovations. Not practical on the salaries of a teacher and hospital administrator. The couple started to come to terms with the fact that they were probably going to need to leave Nantucket.

“I had a job, it was my dream job, and I didn’t want to leave Nantucket,” said Jamie. “But no matter how great our jobs on Nantucket were, and my close family ties, and how beautiful the island was, we couldn’t make it work. We started to cast our net farther, to Boston and the Netherlands, because we just didn’t know.”

Jamie listened to what other teachers were doing. He heard about Housing Nantucket’s Covenant Program and learned more about it online. Even though it was during the recession, Covenant Homes were selling quickly after they were listed. Jamie knew when they found the right place, they would have to move fast. So they continued to look and took Housing Nantucket’s First Time Home Buyer Ed class to educate themselves on the home buying process.

One day, Jamie noticed a Covenant Home listed on the street where he grew up. The home was being offered into the Covenant Program for the first time. The current property owners wanted to use the Covenant Program to subdivide the lot; under normal zoning, the lot was unable to be subdivided. The Covenant Program enabled the lot to be split, resulting in two lots with separate owners. The cottage would become the Covenant Home, and the main dwelling would have no restrictions.

The dwelling listed as the Covenant Home had been used for many years as a rental, and the sellers had trouble maintaining it from off-island where they lived. There was garbage buried under the porch, an unkempt yard, and a failed septic system.

But Jamie and Michel saw potential. The lot was private, and the house had a sunny back porch. They made an offer, which was accepted.

“We are so grateful that it worked out,” said Jamie. “We love waking up with the birds chirping around us. And our neighbors are pleased, too. As Covenant Homeowners, we are invested in the property and have improved it. The property next door recently sold for $1.6 million. The property on the other side of us is assessed at $3.2 million. There’s no way we would live in this neighborhood without the Covenant Program.”

“We are so lucky,” said Michel. “But finding suitable housing shouldn’t be based on luck. If you work hard and want to contribute to the community, you deserve to have a safe place to live.”

“In the hospital and in the school, there’s a lot of turnover due to the lack of housing,” continued Michel, who now works for the school facilities department. “These essential institutions have some housing, but it can only be offered temporarily, so eventually employees have to find their own housing.”

“Summer people want to see Nantucket as a living, breathing community, too,” said Jamie. “They don’t want a resort that’s a shell in the winter. You need the firefighters, nurses, police, teachers to make the island run. People in these occupations are all being priced off the island. They can find jobs, but they can’t keep them because they don’t have anywhere affordable to stay.”

“If it wasn’t for Housing Nantucket, we wouldn’t be here,” said Jamie. “There is no magic bullet that’s going to solve the housing crisis. But Housing Nantucket’s working on a combination of things- education, buy-downs, the covenant program, Sachems Path, and affordable rental housing. Together, it will make a difference.”