(May 21, 2024) As we celebrate the remarkable milestone of 30 years since our nonprofit’s incorporation, we’ve enjoyed reconnecting with people who have helped us get to where we are today.

Last month, our Executive Director Anne Kuszpa interviewed one of our organization’s founders, Norman Chaleki (pictured left). In his cozy living room filled with nostalgic treasures, Norman reminisced about the genesis of Housing Nantucket. Polka music played from a phonograph in the background. A film crew from Semester Cinema, who is currently working on a documentary on the island’s affordable housing crisis, captured the origin story on film.

A Journey Back in Time: The Genesis of Housing Nantucket

It was the early 1990s, a time when the island’s affordable housing crisis loomed large, forcing teachers and other essential workers to leave due to soaring rent prices.

“Even back then,” said Norman, “the problem was evident to everybody. Good people left. But public housing was not very popular at that time, as I’m sure it isn’t now. People just kept discussing the problem, mulling it over and over. I was ready to swap a thousand plans to get one house on the ground.”

Challenges and Innovation: Building a Solution Beyond Public Housing

By then, Norman had already spent a decade on the Nantucket Housing Authority board, keenly aware of the limitations of public housing in addressing the island’s diverse housing needs. Frustrated by bureaucratic hurdles and the slow pace of development, he embarked with other like-minded individuals on a mission to create a more encompassing solution. They recognized the need to help not only the very low-income families served by the Housing Authority, but also moderate and middle-income residents as well.

The Birth of Housing Nantucket: A Stealth Strategy for Tangible Results

Norman and his group founded a private nonprofit, NHA Properties Inc, which is Housing Nantucket’s corporate business name. They honed in on a purpose, as reflected in the organization’s Articles of Organization:

• To relive the burdens of government as they relate to the issue of affordable housing for the Town and County of Nantucket.
• To promote and carry out the purchase, sale, leasing, financing, development, construction, management, control and regulation of diverse types of housing designed to provide safe, sanitary and suitable living accommodations of any and every type and kind to all persons of low, moderate and middle income households residing year-round on Nantucket.

The group deployed what they referred to as a stealth strategy, focusing on house-recycling initiatives to create affordable rental units that Housing Nantucket would own and manage. They used local banks to secure project and operational funding. By saving dwellings from the landfill and using them for affordable housing purposes, they were able to sidestep potential opposition for tangible results. In one case, they even went so far as to move a home over the Nantucket Memorial Airport’s airfield at midnight to avoid disturbing neighbors. Talk about flying under the radar!

Eventually, the board began to tackle creating homeownership solutions. They sponsored a zoning article at the 2001 Annual Town Meeting, the impetus for the Nantucket Housing Needs Covenant Program. The purpose was to maintain Nantucket’s diverse community, create a stable housing option for year-round islanders earning less than 150% of the Nantucket median household income, and generate a supply of housing that will remain permanently affordable. To date, the Covenant Program has captured 116 units forever obtainable by year-round residents.

A Vision for the Future: Norman’s Enduring Legacy

Our thirty-year story came full circle this month as Norman used the Covenant Program he helped design to create housing for a new young family as well as provide for himself. Norman carved off a portion of his own property to create the 116th Covenant home, providing a new homeownership opportunity for year-round residents in need. In turn, he will use the proceeds to enable himeself to continue to reside on Nantucket in his later years.

The Affordable Rental Program has also come a long way through house-recycling and new builds. In just a few short weeks, we will welcome tenants into Wiggles Way, our 22 unit development of mixed-income rental apartments. We also embarked on our latest build this month, a 2-bedroom affordable rental created through house-recycling and expected to come online by the end of the year. These units will bring Housing Nantucket’s inventory of total rental units under management to 61. See how our organization has grown in the chart below.

Norman’s vision for Housing Nantucket extends far beyond the present. He envisions a future where sufficient affordable housing isn’t just a lofty goal but a tangible reality. By emphasizing the importance of community housing in meeting the state’s affordable housing requirements, Norman underscores the ongoing need for collective action and persistence in tackling the housing crisis.

Norman has truly demonstrated that keeping the ball rolling is not just a strategy but a moral imperative, driven by the belief that building housing for the community is simply the right thing to do.