Local Builder invites clients to give back to affordable housing fund

Published 1:30 am Friday, March 6, 2026

By KATE POSS

Special to the Record

Everyone talks about how expensive it is to live on Whidbey Island these days. In order for regular people to afford living here, a number of innovative programs and funding sources have evolved to help meet the need.

Affordable housing program helping to make South Whidbey a little more affordable include Island Roots Housing, which is building Generations Place; Tiny Homes in the Name of Christ; Upper Langley Co-Housing; In Home Suites; Habitat for Humanity of Island County; Housing Authority Island County; and Sunny View Village Oak Harbor.

Meanwhile, Dan Neumeyer, owner of Jade Craftsman Builders, offers an approach that sustains his company while offering his clients the chance to add to a fund promoting affordable living for others.

“At first I thought of Jade’s contributing a certain percentage. But a problem came up,” Neumeyer explained. “The donation loses 25-35% in income taxes before I donate. This posed an inefficiency to giving. I thought, ‘What if we made this more direct?’ We could ask if someone building a home could donate without being taxed. What I found was homeowners felt good about doing this.”

His clients feel fortunate to be able to build a home and are willing to help those who cannot.

Neumeyer invites his clients to make a tax deductible donation of a half to 1% of their building costs to the Whidbey Affordable Housing Fund, or WAHF, which is managed by the Whidbey Community Foundation. The funding program has been in place since late 2023.

The WAHF website notes: “the Whidbey Affordable Housing Fund helps connect nonprofit organizations with donor dollars to support their work on affordable housing projects on Whidbey Island. The primary objective of the WAHF is to support the creation of more perpetually affordable dwellings on Whidbey Island by nonprofit entities.”

A portion of the WAHF funds was used to finance building of two homes in the Upper Langley Co-housing Community, which is a a permanently affordable, deed-restricted community of 16 lots on 10 acres. The key to permanent affordability is a deed restriction limiting the appreciation of the lot and home to 1.5% a year.

In addition to making tax-free donations to WAHF, Jade Builders contributes in other ways by donating labor for various nonprofit projects, such as providing finish carpentry for homes at Upper Langley Co-Housing.

“A core idea of this fund is efficiency of financing,” said Neumeyer. “What we found is people we build for care about the community. We’re building for people who are concerned and want to live in a healthy community.”

A healthy community requires housing for teachers, firefighters, police, restaurant staff, store clerks, health care providers, librarians, construction crew, senior citizens and more. Nowadays, making housing affordable often requires innovative approaches.

The Island County Housing Authority has prepared a plan for 2025-2030. It notes the difficulty of living affordably in Island County: “Like Washington State’s Department of Commerce, Island County shares the core value that everyone deserves to be housed. Food, shelter and water are the fundamental needs that all people require to survive and grow from. … Since the last plan was written in 2019, a global pandemic occurred changing people’s lives, communities and resources. The cost of living especially housing has gone up dramatically. A Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Study showed that 48.9% of Oak Harbor renters are rent burdened, paying over 30% of their income towards rent. Almost 20% are severely cost burdened, meaning they pay over 50% of their income towards rent.”

Given the housing challenges faced on Whidbey Island, contributing to a solution is appealing.

“The people we choose to build with were receptive,” added Neumeyer, noting that his “ask” is similar to the example of sitting down and writing tax deductible checks to various organizations, which collectively provides thousands of dollars.

Living on Whidbey Island since 1999, and moving from the San Francisco Bay Area, Neumeyer and his wife Elise Miller, who is Goosefoot’s executive director, each support giving back to the community.

Goosefoot is a nonprofit which runs the Goose Grocer and manages the Bayview Cash Store site. Goosefoot helps fund community needs, such as housing and education, while supporting local economies, the environment and families that need child care.

“Both Elise and I have been concerned and are looking for ways to help,” Neumeyer said. “She joined Goosefoot when Generations Place was taking off.”

Generations Place, now under construction, will provide housing for 14 families. The first project of Island Roots Housing, Generations Place is expected to house residents by this summer. Island Roots Housing is but one branch of the Goosefoot Community tree, which supports “an economically thriving, environmentally resilient and socially inclusive community for all.”

“We were discussing this and we were on the beach reading,” recalled Neumeyer. “We read about a socially conscious builder named John Abrams in Martha’s Vineyard. They’re experiencing something similar to Whidbey. It’s an island. Wealthy people are moving in. They want services. Yet, there’s an increasing divide between wealthy residents and making the island run. Abrams moved his company to Martha’s Vineyard from Vermont and engaged in building affordable homes.”

Abrams serves on the board for the Housing Bank Fund, which helps “preserve the Martha’s Vineyard community by establishing a Housing Bank that provides significant permanent funding to advance year-round housing,” according to the website.

Abram’s approach in Martha’s Vineyard struck a chord with Neumeyer, and he set up the WAHF, which is overseen by the Whidbey Community Foundation.

Neumeyer is looking at expanding the model he helped create and is inviting other builders to come aboard.

“We’re looking to attract other builders, suppliers and realtors,” he added. “We’ve had morning coffee meetings. It was hard to make the first ask. Other builders are enthusiastic and see the wisdom of what we’re doing. In a couple of years of success, the fund has earned $63,000 without too much work. There is recognition that the idea is strong.”

For more information, visit jadecraftsmanbuilders.com

Curious about the Whidbey Affordable Housing Fund? Visit this website at whidbeyfoundation.org/whidbey-affordable-housing-fund-eligibility-criteria-and-guidelines.