Chamber Chats | Housing Solutions in Collier County

In this episode of Chamber Chats, we sit down with Michael Puchalla, CEO & Executive Director of The Housing Alliance, to discuss one of the most important issues facing our region: housing affordability.

Michael leads The Housing Alliance and its affiliated organizations—the Housing Development Corporation of Southwest Florida (HELP) and the Collier County Community Land Trust (CCCLT)—which work together to expand affordable housing opportunities, promote housing stability, and strengthen our local workforce.

In this episode, we explore:

• How The Housing Alliance, HELP, and CCCLT each contribute to addressing housing affordability in Collier County 
• The role of data and research in developing effective housing solutions 
• How The Housing Alliance collaborates with local government and community partners 
• The impact of the Housing Navigator Program on employers and employees 
• Why housing and financial stability are critical to workforce productivity and retention 
• Ways businesses, organizations, and community members can support housing initiatives 

Housing is more than a place to live—it plays a vital role in economic development, workforce retention, and the long-term success of our community. Michael shares valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities shaping the future of housing in Collier County.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:11

In this episode of Chamber Chats, we're gonna sit down with Michael Bujala. He is the executive director and CEO of the Housing Alliance. I gotta look here. And the Housing Development Corporation of Southwest Florida, known as HELP, as well as the Call Your Community Land Trust. Michael, I'm excited to sit down with you today.

SPEAKER_00 0:27

Thank you so much for having me. Really uh appreciate the opportunity.

SPEAKER_01 0:30

Yeah, we appreciate you making the time. You know, this is a topic that keeps keeping everyone up at night. All of our business owners recognize that access to housing that is affordable is a barrier for a strong workforce, right? We've got people that really want to live in this place that we love to call home and they're struggling. Tell us a little bit about kind of the landscape today.

SPEAKER_00 0:47

I would, you know, I've been in this work since 2009. I'll probably get into that a little bit more about uh as we talk about our trio of organizations, but the landscape today, I feel like there's been uh more of an emphasis, people come stepping forward and uh just maybe it's intentional. We're talking about the housing alliance a little bit, and and we've been going out and seeking individuals that are willing to put their hand up and say, I want to be a part of trying to create some solutions. Because it's been decades. We we talk to people who've been here a long time, and they say we've been talking about housing affordability for decades, and we can define the problem very well. We got a lot of stats uh that that indicate it. We hear the anecdotal information from employers. So we certainly know the problem exists, but I think people are are ready to hear what are the solutions? What can we do to move things forward? So we've felt a lot of energy uh around that. Um, we're looking to engage some new stakeholders, uh, really the philanthropic community that has done so much for this community and other areas. So uh excited. I think there's a lot of momentum, a lot of energy.

SPEAKER_01 1:44

Great. Well, to that point, talk to us about the evolution then that brings us kind of to today so we understand what has been developing behind the scenes.

SPEAKER_00 1:50

Absolutely. Well, I'll I'll guess I'll get into a little bit about our organizations. Um, the housing alliance is the newest, and it's uh it was formed in 2024, and it's it's really designed to be a central hub uh to provide community education on housing needs, uh work on advocacy, um, but also creating uh awareness. Um but it also is the strategic coordinator of all three of our affiliated organizations. Our our oldest entity or longest tenured entity is HELP, as you reference. And I joined in 2009 and we became a local HUD-approved housing counseling agency in that year. And we still serve as the only HUD-approved local housing counseling agency in Collier County. So Helps really the focus is direct services to individuals and households who are seeking information and resources on housing. And we we link them up with that information through what we call our branded housing navigator program. And that's been in the works for several years and continues to grow. Um so, and then with the community land trust, um, that was formed in 2020. And really the emphasis was on long-term affordability through land stewardship, but also creating development partnerships. Because what we've discovered, what we discovered through help is no matter how much education and advocacy or financial literacy, uh, budgeting credit, all that work that we do, no matter how much of that we provide, there's still individuals that are going to face a gap. And we needed access to inventory. So the community land trust fills that role, really partnering, working with developers that are interested in the affordability space and want to come in and help us provide some solutions, uh, whether they be existing units and working on preservation, or if it's developing uh some new uh developments that are the focus in on the affordability piece. So uh very excited about the work we've been able to accomplish with the community land trust. We uh were able to serve as a nonprofit general partner and a 320-unit affordable senior rental development that opened within the last year. Uh, and we hadn't had a truly affordable senior development created in decades in the community. So um that we we found to be a really interesting opportunity. We still are involved, they're fully fully leased up now, and there's obviously some turnover, but we continue to help in navigating individuals who may qualify uh to those units, but also just go out and have some stewardship ongoing activities. We had a chance to go out a couple weeks ago. Uh, two of my staff were there uh participating in a financial wellness bingo uh for the seniors uh through one of our banking partners. So just a lot of exciting opportunities that that creates when we have these developments in the community. Um we're working on something now that I think is really uh interesting for workforce. And it's a pilot project to develop a build to rent to own uh initiative, and it's in collaboration um with some partners, and they've brought the excitement and the energy and this unique model. And what it's going to do is to provide access to that equity-building power of homeownership to a number of members in our workforce. So that's in the works. We we hope to have uh 36 townhome units available within the next 18 to 24 months. So that that's a very specific project we're working on. Wish us luck in the rezoning entitlement process because that's that's a part of it here in the community. Uh so I mean, just when we take a look at that trio of organizations, it is uh we're attacking it from multiple angles. It's education, it's access, and it's preservation of affordability.

SPEAKER_01 5:07

Well, incredible synergies, right? And and very necessary because we need to talk about the need, right? As you said, we've got some great data. It's very quantifiable. We know how many people in our community are housing burden. So tell us a little bit about kind of again where we find ourselves today when it comes to numbers.

SPEAKER_00 5:22

Yeah, and the most recent uh availability of data, there's a number of resources. The one that's probably utilized the most is the Schimberg Center uh for affordable housing based out of the University of Florida. And and they will they'll track housing cost burden, and that's kind of the statistic. When we talk what is what is affordable housing, what's the definition? And it's it's a very hard thing to define, and we can get into percentages of area median income and all the different um stratosphere that that HUD creates. But what we really focus on is if a household is spending more than 30% of their gross income, they're considered housing cost burdened. The most recent studies uh from the Schinberg Center indicate we have over 52,000 households in Collier County that are at that level. So they're considered cost burdened and still around 27,000 that rise to the the level of being severely cost burdened. That means they spend over half of pre-tax gross income just on housing. And so, yeah, as you can imagine, that's just one incident away from financial catastrophe, quite honestly. And we and we hear that quite a bit. Um, so that's that's a little bit about where we're the data that that we try to focus in on how can we reduce that number? Um, you know, we know that median wage is not keeping pace with cost of living.

SPEAKER_01 6:31

Right.

SPEAKER_00 6:31

And and there's a few different statistics. We hear area median income quite a bit, and that's the driver for the levels of affordability developers create. And we we have an inch uh situation in our community where AMI, the area median income, is impacted by passive wealth, passive income. And so the uh area median wage is is increasing uh much more slowly than area median income. And so there's still a little bit of a gap and disconnect in a lot of cases, even when affordable housing programs are created for a number of members of our workforce.

SPEAKER_01 7:00

So what what impact does that have, right? Housing and financial stability and how it contributes to workforce productivity.

SPEAKER_00 7:07

Uh well, I think that's it's it's pretty evident and clear to most employers. I mean, if you don't have to worry about where you're going to live or how you're going to pay your rent, you become a more uh productive employee. Uh there it it creates you know that lack of financial stress, lack of commute times. All of that is going to lead to a more engaged, reliable, and resilient workforce. So, you know, we're strong advocates for it. It's it's not just the housing piece. As I mentioned through the housing navigator program, we're trying to help individuals find that uh housing that more fits their income level uh so they can reduce that stress, reduce those commute times. And honestly, I think it also helps employees to become engaged in their local community if they're not commuting. Coming, you know, we could have individuals that live in or work in Collier County, but obviously live outside, and we hear that a lot. High number of people commuting outside. So then they're not really engaged. A, they're not spending here. That's right. But B, they're not gonna other places. Um, but they're not as engaged in the community itself. And so we want people that that live here to also find this to be their home and and and learn to love it. Uh, but yeah, from the employer standpoint, productivity, there's so many statistics that indicate uh when when you have financial stress removed from someone's life, they're gonna be a more productive uh employee.

SPEAKER_01 8:17

So and then just the retention factor, right? Because if I'm working this number of hours already, then I'm gonna stack that commute time on top of it, it's gonna be a real significant retention challenge for that workforce as well.

SPEAKER_00 8:27

Absolutely. We hear it repeatedly. And and so yeah, we strongly encourage if employers uh, you know, one thing that I've we've seen, we've heard of employers that actually assign someone internally as a quasi-housing coordinator to try to deal with, if it's a larger employer, um, try to deal with those issues with staff, uh, whether it be pr prospective employees or whether it's current staff, um, and and these are individuals that probably don't have a housing background. So we would just encourage employers uh and we've done so. Um, but feel free to refer individuals. We're happy to have a conversation on how we can make that a more uh direct uh opportunity. And uh the best news is there's no cost to the participants uh to participate in a housing navigator session. Uh so we can kind of dig into where the financial uh situation is and try to help to create those opportunities, referrals for opportunities.

SPEAKER_01 9:15

Yeah, let's talk a little bit more about the housing navigator program because I'm hearing you say, right, rather than try to hire a coordinator on your team that doesn't have that background in housing, you all have an opportunity that you're presenting to employers. Employers can call you, right, and connect their talent to make sure we're understanding. I think the great example you gave is you're looking for an apartment, you're paying an application fee, you don't know there's actually a really long wait list already. So you're throwing your money away. Yes. And your team can help us um kind of get around and navigate that.

SPEAKER_00 9:43

Absolutely. Uh I mean, first and foremost, individuals need to know eligibility requirements for various uh whether it be rental developments or maybe they qualify for a homeownership opportunity that they weren't aware of. I have a reference to our build to rent to own. That's going to have its own unique set of eligibility criteria. We do great partnership with Habitat for Humanity. There's a number of homeowners are individuals, households that probably don't realize they they could uh qualify uh and get into homeownership in this community because there's some great uh new developments that are coming online with Habitat. So uh yeah, it's absolutely a resource that we want to encourage employers uh to make that referral. It starts with an individual session with a HUD-approved housing navigator. Um, they're housing counselors, we call them navigators. And uh they're gonna they're gonna sit down and do a customized action plan for that individual. But our our focus is on working with these new developments. We'll probably talk about them in a little bit, as uh what's the what are what are we doing from a government standpoint or a policymaker standpoint to create access? Uh, there are units that have income restrictions. So we're working to have those relationships, know where these units exist, align availability and affordability. So uh the household doesn't have to go through the stress of multiple applications. Where do I look? Where do I find these this information and resource? So um that's that's been a focus. We added a staff member this past year that really is focused in on workforce and senior housing advocacy. Okay. Uh, and that's going to be her role is really finding out where do we have these units, and we all work together as a team, but um trying to really coordinate and align access and availability.

SPEAKER_01 11:14

Well, and alongside the strategic approach you have for the different entities working together for solutions, a lot of the work you do is data-driven, which is what I really love. So talk to me about how data drives the work you do.

SPEAKER_00 11:23

Well, it's it's foundational to the work. We uh it informs our you know policy recommendations, it informs program creation, it informs community outreach. Uh, and and really we're focusing now on creating additional access. Uh, we have an exciting thing that uh we just started working on within the last couple of months. We're looking to create a an AI-driven affordability, housing affordability and data portal. So the goal would be to have as many people participating, but it's really to, again, to provide access. There's not a centralized site right now where if you're seeking uh information and resources on the rental communities that are coming in that maybe have some level of affordability where you can just go and do a search. The I think the state has tried to put something out, but uh, unless you get a concerted effort from the development community and their property managers to let us know when their units are available, what are their income levels, what are their rent levels, um that that has to come together. So we're we're looking to align all of that, but it will also there'll be a footprint uh left behind by those consumers that are coming in and just letting us know where did they sit? Are they living in the community already? Are they looking to move here? What are how many people in the household, what income level are they at? So when if we can pull that information together, we truly believe that's gonna help our uh all of our stakeholders, whether you're a community resident or you're uh a policymaker, you're gonna make informed decisions by recent trends that we're seeing uh in terms of aligning that affordability and availability.

SPEAKER_01 12:48

Well, it is so important, right? So you can measure it, right? And you know you're making the right progress. Absolutely. Uh and then it's facts and not feelings, which is really important. And and that goes to the question about policy, right? Working with our elected officials and our talented staff in county government, city government. Talk to me about how that works with the work you're doing.

SPEAKER_00 13:04

Absolutely. We we make a cons well, we have a number of county um alignments, I guess if you will, on initiatives, but we we make it a point of participating in the how affordable housing advisory committee meetings. Uh, I will let people know those have been happening every other month, and that's open to the public, and you can typically access via Zoom, but we try to be there to provide input. Um they look at me as kind of a regular contributor in the uh when they have the public uh opportunity for uh comment and uh very happy to do that. We have a really good open communication uh and dialogue with the housing policy and economic development division, which it's such a critical part of our our county government. People don't maybe don't realize that that exists. Um and they have a very strong leader in Cormac Giblin who uh I communicate with regularly. And you know, we're they're also keenly interested in easily accessible housing data. So um we're definitely having strong communication and and hope to have some real alignment with this portal that we're working on. Uh we have a direct funding relationship with the community and human services department through help. Uh so they provide funding support for the housing navigator program. So that uh creates uh real it it's it creates real impact. So we're able to keep, grow, and enhance that program um through the funding support that they provide, and they see it as a critical public service need within the community. Uh and then lastly, I would say our board of county commissioners, they've taken a very active role over the last several years as current uh uh board in approving income restricted units. Uh so we're currently tracking over 1,200 units that have an income restriction, an income requirement. Uh it needs to be an individual that has gone through income certification that's residing in these units. And uh we want to take an active role in ensuring that we're aligning those units to the workforce. So again, if somebody's reaching out, um these these are in various stages of either already in service, they're under construction, or they've been approved, and we'll be starting construction in the near future. So we're gonna continue to monitor that and make sure that we can again help align folks to these units as they become available.

SPEAKER_01 15:08

That's great. And then how many are kind of in the pipeline? Let's talk about solutions, right? You mentioned a build a rent-to-own program and and talk about what else is coming online.

SPEAKER_00 15:16

Well, we uh when you talk about the various levels of affordability, I referenced that there's over 1200. Most of the units that we've done local restrictions on, they're gonna be more in the uh moderate income level. I would say they're households that are earning up to 80% of area median income, and then some between 80 and 100% of area median income. So you have some households that maybe if they're dual income, maybe they're priced out of certain things. This is an opportunity where they might find something that more suits uh their income level. We have there's a couple of units, our partner in the senior development I reference is McDowell Housing Partners, and I know they're working on approvals for two more truly affordable developments in the community. Those will be our our um they have to income average to 60% or less of area median income and have some set asides to even lower thresholds. Uh so they're working on a second phase of the Ecos Santa Barbara project, um, which would be right at the entrance of Calusa Elementary School. And they also have the Ecos Creekside Development, which is on 951, uh, probably pushing down towards Marco Island a little bit more. It's a little south of 41. So it it kind of works into a new area. Uh there may be some access to employees on Marco as well to work in that to live in that community. So they're going to be producing 160 proposed units there. And again, those will be uh truly affordable. And I will say there's uh other things that aren't quite as far along, but we've had other developers that have come in and they're really focusing in on those lower levels. I'm excited that there are three to four developers that are really um that that's their expertise. They know how to find the right capital stack, resources uh to finance and fund, whether it be acquisition of an existing affordable development, and we're gonna do some rehabilitation and take that affordability commitment out a number of more years, but also uh improve the property. That's a more immediate uh fix, I would say. It you don't have to go through the entire process. You don't have several years until units become available. Uh so I'm excited that we have some uh preservation developers looking to do some work in the community and then others that are um some things that are coming up in the Amachali market as well.

SPEAKER_01 17:14

Fantastic.

SPEAKER_00 17:15

Yeah, a lot. There's a lot happening.

SPEAKER_01 17:16

There is, and that's great. I I uh I want to rewind just briefly for a second, because I know we talked about the percentage that are housing burden, but I want to put some numbers to this because I I get frustrated hearing statements like, no one gave me a free house. We're talking about working class, often dual income families, right? And so what is AMI and talk to us about that percentage of what you need to make kind of to be in that affordable category.

SPEAKER_00 17:36

Absolutely. So when we talk about our area median income, that uh currently the 2025 chart, a family of four uh supposedly earns $113,600. So you can derive your percentages of area median income off of that figure. Um so we're looking at uh over $90,000 for a family of four earning 80% or less. That's considered to be low income. Um so then when we break down to the lower categories, um, there's different definitions. A household earning 30% or less is considered to be extremely low income. If you're half 50% of that 113,000 figure, then you're in the very low income category. And then as I referenced, 80% moves up to low income. Um so and and we've we have the other definitions in our community for certain programs. If you're you can earn up to 120%, you're considered to be moderate income. And certainly we have households that if they're sometimes single income, they're gonna be in those lower thresholds. And then we have some dual income households that sometimes they'll feel like, hey, we're priced out of everything, there's no opportunity because we don't earn below that low income threshold. But that's where some of the programs that are created to go up to moderate income can can impact. And even when it comes down to certain down payment assistance programs like the SHIP program, there may be some options available. Um we've heard of Hometown Heroes, which is a state program. They'll allow households all the way up to 150% of AMI, try to get to uh some down payment assistance resource because as we know, I mean we haven't talked about homeownership a lot yet, but median home price is around $575,000. Um recent statistic that we looked at, it takes north of $150,000 in gross income to buy a home, a conventional uh fee simple home. If we're not working with any uh additional outside incentive or resource, that's that's a healthy income to be able to become a homeowner. So that's where the rent to own, I think, is a is a unique way to help people maybe bridge that gap. I referenced habitat, another opportunity where where households that maybe aren't earning as much, and that's their full their their sole focus. Let's get people into homeownership who maybe are never gonna have that opportunity. It's it's a reach to get people from rent to homeownership in this community.

SPEAKER_01 19:42

Okay. Well, and that makes total sense, right? I mean, that that gap exists, and I'm thrilled to hear that there's significant progress in the right direction, a lot more units coming out of the ground, a lot that exist. Uh the political climate is allowing for that. So we're so grateful for our elected officials that share the value of understanding, right, how important ensuring that we have access to for our workforce, right, here in our community. So I'm thrilled to hear that. You indicated the opportunity potentially for philanthropy to have an element in this. Talk to me more about that.

SPEAKER_00 20:08

Well, uh certainly as nonprofit organizations, we always are are open to people coming in and talking about it we're supporting the work that we're doing. But we're there's some unique things that have happened. The community foundation has really gotten behind this. Collier Community Foundation created a housing impact investment fund. So we had the opportunity to assist in putting together some applications, getting some bridge funding for that senior development that I referenced. Um, and I know that they're working to build up uh a pool that can serve as local gap funding. So that's just another resource to incentivize developers to come in and say, let's create uh some the housing affordability that we need. They're willing to be creative and flexible with some financing to uh solve some of that gap that exists for most developers. So we're really excited about the support that the community foundation is putting behind housing. Um, we're also with, I will reference the Bill to Rental Own initiative, is one of the unique ways in which these units will be developed is through utilizing donor advice funding. We have a significant amount of money that resides in in donor advice funds. These have uh been contributed, they've already taken tax exemption, and it's funds that just can be deployed at some point for a charitable purpose. Um, and and our partners with the in the B2R2O initiative, they they had this idea to use recoverable grants. Let's use impact investing, let's put some of this uh donor advice funding to work to create uh units that can really they're they're really geared for workforce um to get people stabilized in the community. When they don't probably have an option to get to homeownership, this is going to create a unique structure. So that's that's the catalyst behind finding the money for the site acquisition and development of these units uh and being able to keep them at an affordable level where we can rent affordably for up to three years, uh, take a portion of that rent, go towards a down payment reserve, and help individuals transition to homeownership uh of that unit and already have a down payment and some equity built into it.

SPEAKER_01 21:58

Incredible. So, in addition to supporting Philanthropically or getting involved in the housing committee, right? What are some other ways community can help support you?

SPEAKER_00 22:07

Well, there's a number of ways. We we are always looking for collaboration. I think we we referenced that businesses can certainly help host housing initiatives, uh, just refer employees. Community members, we will welcome you to always come out to our workshops. We're we're trying to do uh a lot more community engagement this year, uh just speaking engagements. So come out and learn. Uh, we're happy to engage one-on-one as well. Uh, but certainly joining our board. Uh we have three boards and uh committees for all three organizations. So I think we have ample opportunities for people if they want to serve in that capacity, but also just simply spreading awareness. Advocacy is huge. We're we're always looking for more people that will stand up and say, we understand that there's an a challenge here, and we're willing to uh voice our support for the some of the creative solutions that are that are coming forward because unfortunately there's still a lot of negativity that comes when we're when we're looking to create these affordable housing solutions. So we we welcome people of uh from all walks of life. Come on in to have a conversation, and uh we we certainly have opportunities for you to be engaged.

SPEAKER_01 23:06

Wonderful. We're also seeing a a rise in employer subsidized housing. Talk to us a little bit about the projects that we're seeing and and how if an employer is interested in exploring this, they might start.

SPEAKER_00 23:16

Well, certainly we're always open to having a conversation. We had an event last night and and we heard a little bit about NCH. Absolutely. They're excited, they're working towards this uh uh creative 250-unit uh rental development. That's a large-scale development, and uh we've offered our support in any any way that we can as they're working through the process. Um, but it's a lot of it is just learning what needs to happen. If you have a site identified, uh obviously there's zoning and entitlements that have to be determined of what can be built there. Um, and we we can help to connect to various funding resources, to developers. Uh, that's really the focus. Um, I haven't even referenced the mission. The mission of the housing alliance is to unite residents, policymakers, funders, and developers to create attainable housing solutions. So uh we certainly can can help in in putting some of those pieces together. Um the other piece that we'll mention is I think for smaller employers, there's opportunities to get involved as we work on this build to rent to own. We're looking at creating uh there's going to be a preference for employers, employees who are working with an employer who's willing to participate with some level of down payment assistance. So they're making a contribution to help secure that individual even longer term, but also helps to even bridge that gap even further to affordability. So we truly believe there's ways in which employers can create uh some internal uh employee assistance programs to help people move towards home ownership. So that's those models are created. It's not all that difficult for people to plug into. So we're happy to have those conversations.

SPEAKER_01 24:45

Well, it sounds like there's a lot of momentum in the right direction to help us solve this problem. Is there anything we haven't talked about that you want to make sure that our viewers know? Covered a lot of ground that we've got.

SPEAKER_00 24:52

We we did, and I feel really good about everything that we talked about. So I thought the questions were great and it really kind of directed us in the way we needed to go. Um, just again, we we're very appreciative of the support that we've received to this point. Anybody else that's listening that that says, you know, I I really am sitting on the fence, but this is something that's important to me. I want to get involved. Um, we're happy to have you connect. Uh, certainly visit the website. Our main website is thehousingalliance.org. I'm happy to uh engage directly. My email is Michael at collierhousing.com. Um, and then I can help direct people uh to ways in which they can get involved.

SPEAKER_01 25:28

Well, Michael, on behalf of the business community, on behalf of the residents that are seeking home ownership and the opportunity to thrive in our community, right? Because that contributes to overall mental health, workplace productivity, reduction in child poverty, all those important indicators that indicate, you know, that help support a good quality of life. We want to say thank you to the work that you and your team are doing, and just to make sure our viewers understand how they can get involved in supporting the work that you do, utilizing your housing navigators. Um, and we just want to continue to see you thrive. So, on behalf of the business community, thank you for everything that you and your team are up to, and we're excited to help continue to support your work.

SPEAKER_00 25:59

Well, we really appreciate it, and thanks for having me.

SPEAKER_01 26:01

Absolutely. Thank you, Michael. If you or your organization have a story to highlight, reach out to the Greater Naples Chamber. We'd love to continue the conversation. We'll see you next time on Chamber Chat.