(Photo courtesy of Thistle & Nest)
Oregon Housing and Community Services awarded $5,000,000 to Thistle & Nest, a nonprofit organization that provides affordable housing to the Central Oregon workforce.
Thistle & Nest will use the funds to create 38 new affordable two- and three-bedroom homes within the larger Woodhaven Estates development in Bend.
Woodhaven Estates is in the second construction phase and will have 11 homes available by late July, followed by ten more in December. The first phase was completed in March, and a total of 17 homes have already been sold in this mixed-income community located at 61647 Daly Estates Drive and 61646 Pettigrew Road in Bend.
This award will support Thistle & Nest’s mission, which extends beyond Woodhaven Estates. Over the next three years, the nonprofit aims to build 138 homes in Central Oregon — 98 in Bend, 20 in Madras, and 20 in Prineville. These homes will allow many of Central Oregon’s households to avoid displacement and live where they work while realizing housing stability and home equity.
Thistle & Nest is currently matching buyers for the homes at Woodhaven Estates. To be eligible, households must earn less than 80 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI) and meet the program requirements, accessible in English and Spanish through the organization’s website. In the nonprofit’s effort to eliminate language barriers and reach the Central Oregon Hispanic community, Thistle & Nest hired a native Spanish speaker as part of the homeownership services staff.
Additional details about the program are available on the organization’s website.
