ABOUT HSN
We’re so glad you’re here.
Housing Solutions Network builds community and strengthens economic sustainability in Jefferson County through facilitating connectivity, communication and the co-creation of new strategies to increase housing opportunities for local workers. We work alongside local housing champions – both individuals and institutions – by providing support and capacity building to ensure success.
HISTORY
Housing Solutions Network (HSN) was first initiated in 2018 in response to the growing workforce housing crisis in East Jefferson County, Washington. Formed and incubated by the Jefferson Community Foundation, HSN embodied a grassroots effort brought forth by many community members concerned about affordable housing for the local workforce.
HSN fundamentally works to grow a network of housing champions using the Community Network Building approach. We value creative and lateral thinking with much of our work driven by community members who volunteer their time and energy to identify obstacles to affordable housing and then craft and implement strategies to create new solutions (often in groups).
Today our network continues to expand and is guided by a Steering Committee of volunteer community members and a small staff, while JCF remains a key partner and fiscal sponsor.
Will you join us?
To get a sense of our work, check out some of our past accomplishments:
Staff
Eric Jones
Director
Eric Jones
Director
Eric is here to build community; he knows without community the future doesn’t look so bright. He brings an eclectic mix of experiences and perspectives through degrees in visual communications and international studies, work in the non-profit sector at both the staff and board level, helping grow several small businesses, teaching English as a foreign language, and succeeding at several years of stay-at-home parenting. He is enjoying pushing the boundaries of low impact, small-scale living with his partner, two daughters and their collection of animals.
Lara Petersen
Development Coordinator
Lara Petersen
Development Coordinator
Lara brings years of experience in operations, event management, and fundraising administration from mission-driven organizations, including producing large-scale events with hundreds of partners and attendees. She’s comfortable managing budgets, tracking details, and making sure nothing falls through the cracks.
Lara lives in Port Townsend and is glad to now be part of sustaining and growing the work that once helped her.
Steering Committee
Joel Carben
Chair
Joel Carben
Chair
Joel is a builder and developer based in Port Townsend with a focus on sustainable, affordable housing. He has lived in the Pacific Northwest for nearly 20 years with his wife, Rachel, and two daughters. Joel has been professionally involved in real estate since 2007, originally managing green building projects for Seattle Public Utilities, including the Bullitt Foundation’s Living Building and SHA Yesler Terrace redevelopment, prior to launching Carben Footprint GC and joining Windermere Port Townsend. Joel and Rachel also own and operate the PT CoLab, “Coworking from the best place on Earth.” In his spare time he can be found in the water paddling or up in the high-country snowboarding. Joel has been involved in HSN since 2021 as a HAT member and believes affordable workforce housing is critically important to keeping PT a diverse and culturally vibrant community.
Scott France
Member
Scott France
Member
Scott joined the HSN steering committee shortly after moving to Port Townsend in late 2022. Scott has worked in the public, private, non-profit and academic sectors in areas including teaching, public health, legislative policy work, newspaper reporter, environmental advocacy, marketing, and writing.
He is currently a reporter with the Jefferson County Beacon. Scott and his wife, Gillian, were drawn to Port Townsend’s vibrant and eclectic community spirit, proximity to nature, and small town feel. Scott believes that creating solutions for affordable workforce housing is vital to keeping Port Townsend a place where anyone may live and thrive.
Wayne Bleier
Member
Wayne Bleier
Member
Wayne Bleier is a mental health professional who worked at Jefferson County Community Counseling service from 1985-1993 as a Child & Family Therapist.
He worked as a Child Protection Specialist running programs for children affected by armed conflict and refugees in 13 countries from 1994-2019.
Today you can find Wayne running around Fort Worden, backpacking, sea kayaking, and backcountry skiing.
Elise Wright
Committee Member
Elise was born and raised on the Olympic and Kitsap Peninsulas and has had family ties to Port Townsend since childhood. She was fortunate enough to find both work and housing in Port Townsend in 2019 and has been an increasingly involved and committed member of the community since that time. After over 12 years in applied physiology research, she pivoted her career during the pandemic and has since held roles in grant writing and administration, and now works at Jefferson Healthcare in Population Health and Government Affairs. Elise also sits on the Jefferson County Farmers Markets Board of Directors. She is a passionate advocate for strong and vibrant local food systems and affordable housing for the local workforce. In her spare time, she can be found hiking or mountain biking the extensive trails of the area, or at home knitting and reading.
Bill Wise
Member Emeritus
Bill Wise
Member Emeritus
Bill co-facilitated and led the successful 2008 voter initiative to authorize electrification for our PUD. He worked on the County’s Climate Action Group to develop the Jefferson County industrial emissions inventory. Bill is a co-founder and former chair for Jefferson County’s economic development council, “EDC Team Jefferson”.
Bill has worked with HSN for the past three years.
Fred Kimball
Member Emeritus
Fred Kimball
Member Emeritus
Educated as a geological engineer and mining engineer, Fred spent 15 years in mining industry tramping around the west and Alaska. Fred claims he walked out of a tunnel and moved to Port Townsend to be a “hippy carpenter”. Fred has lived in PT Since 1986 and owned and operated Kimball Woodworks a general contracting business and cabinet shop for 30 years. He have been active with Habitat for Humanity for over 20 years, was a board member, past board president, construction committee, advocacy committee, finance committee. Fred was also a member Jefferson County Affordable Housing Task Force and currently active with Housing Solutions Network as HAT member and Support council. Fred claims he is also ‘currently trying to be retired’!
Jane Armstrong
Member Emeritus
Jane Armstrong
Member Emeritus
Jane and her husband relocated to Jefferson County in 2014. Jane managed a variety of food processing operations for the last 20 years of her career. Having made multiple moves herself, finding home and community have always been important to her. The Housing Solutions Network provides the opportunity to collaborate with others interested in digging in and in finding solutions to these difficult challenges . And in the process, to appreciate even more how special, talented and creative our communities and people are.
Housing Solutions Network and Jefferson Community Foundation
HSN was initially incubated at JCF as a field-of-interest fund in order to meet a gap in the housing landscape: a space for new community leaders to develop new solutions for affordable workforce housing. It was the founders’ intention to pilot the effort in a measured, low-overhead environment and then, if successful, to build the governance and operating structures needed to become independent from JCF.
HSN currently operates as a distinct initiative from JCF as a set of programs that are unique from JCF’s core programs and services. HSN is self-directed and responsible for its own staffing, strategic planning, program activities and fundraising through the support of a volunteer Steering Committee. JCF still offers HSN support through administrative support and offers strategic feedback and guidance upon request. Please do not hesitate to reach out with any additional questions regarding the nature of our relationship.