Author(s): Mackenzie Stagg, Rusty Smith & Elizabeth Farrell Garcia
In the wake of natural disasters, barriers to equitable housing access are exacerbated in under-resourced rural communities. This paper will describe a disaster recovery pilot project that 1) is developed in partnership with local organizations, 2) leverages the hidden value of nonstandard lots, 3) increases the inventory of high-performance homes,1 and 4) cultivates the local workforce necessary to build them. This project is made possible by a strategic partnership between a housing provider (Chipola Area Habitat for Humanity), a workforce development program (Chipola College Building Construction Technology), and a university research team focused on housing affordability (Auburn University Rural Studio Front Porch Initiative). Borne of necessity and limited shared resources, this partnership embodies a particularly rural response: cooperative innovation generates greater success than can be achieved individually. The local community benefits from development of a skilled local workforce; increased access to resilient, energy efficient, and healthy housing; and economic stability generated by homeownership. This case study aims to demonstrate how—through the sharing of knowledge and resources—strategic partnerships can address complex issues such as housing affordability and demonstrate how to increase access to high-performance homes and reduce post-disaster displacement, closing the economic and social opportunity gap.
https://doi.org/10.35483/ACSA.AIA.Inter.21.12
Volume Editors
Rico Quirindongo & Georgeen Theodore
ISBN
978-1-944214-39-5