Join us Tuesday, November 18^th at the North Tahoe Events Center as the Placer County Board of Supervisors considers seed funding to launch Housing Trust Tahoe – a new regional tool that will preserve existing homes for local workers and families through NOAH (Naturally Occurring Affordable Housing) acquisition.

Preserving the Housing We Already Have

The Tahoe Housing Hub is expanding its scope to create immediate, tangible housing solutions for our region. Through our new affiliate charitable non-profit, Housing Trust Tahoe, we can acquire, preserve and finance housing. The Trust is poised to immediately receive land and housing units either in the form of donations or through purchase.

Our primary focus will be NOAH acquisition – existing single-family homes, small multi-family units, cottages and all other types of housing in our region that are already built, might need some upkeep, and can be deed restricted and preserved as affordable and/or workforce housing now and for generations to come.

Why This Matters

The 2023 Housing Needs Assessment identified an 8,200 -unit shortage in the Tahoe-Truckee. Limited developable land and the high cost of construction make new housing difficult – but with only 34% of the homes in our region occupied year-round, there is a tremendous opportunity to preserve what we already have.

NOAH preservation keeps existing homes in local hands, maintains community stability, and delivers housing faster and more cost-effectively than new construction.

True to our core beliefs, all units owned and managed by the Trust will be maintained as dignified, safe and affordable housing in our region. Updating and improving existing housing serves to uplift the surrounding neighborhood. Every unit will be deed restricted in perpetuity and provide housing to local workers at variable income levels.

What This Funding Will Enable

County support will allow Housing Trust Tahoe to:

1. Evaluate properties for preservation through feasibility analysis, appraisals, title review, and long-term financial planning.
2. Engage property owners donate land and/or housing.
3. Develop public-private partnerships with employers, landowners and philanthropic partners to unlock additional housing opportunities.

Be Part of the Solution

To learn more and hear the full presentation to the Placer Board of Supervisors, you can attend in person or listen via Zoom. You can find the agenda and meeting link here. The meeting starts at 9am at the North Tahoe Event Center, 8318 North Lake Blvd in Kings Beach. If you would like to submit public comments you must either do that in person or in writing. Written comments can be submitted 24 hours prior to the meeting by utilizing this link: https://www.placer.ca.gov/FormCenter/Clerk-of-the-Board-29/Public-Comment-Submission-157 or by emailing the Clerk of the Board at BoardClerk@placer.ca.gov. If you are submitting written comment, please be sure to reference Agenda Item 7B: Housing Trust for Eastern Placer County.  

The Tahoe Housing Hub is guided by a set of core beliefs. At the top of that list is the belief that housing should be available to all in our community. What that means to us is stable, dignified housing for our friends and neighbors, local workers, families, retirees and the unhoused. Despite our cold and snowy winters, too many of our neighbors are unhoused, often living in cars, tents, or unstable temporary arrangements.

What is Permanent Supportive Housing?

Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) is a proven, effective solution that helps people exit chronic homelessness by providing affordable housing paired with individualized support services. It is not a homeless shelter, a group home, or a halfway house. It is long-term, stable housing—often apartments—with leases, just like any other housing. What makes it “supportive” is that residents also have access to services like:

• Mental and physical health care
• Employment and job training
• Childcare and food assistance
• Substance use recovery support

These services are voluntary and tailored to each resident’s goals. The PSH model is built on the understanding that stable housing is the foundation from which people can rebuild their lives.

Tenants in PSH sign leases and pay rent—often around 30% of their income, which may include disability or Social Security benefits. An on-site manager or service coordinator helps connect residents to services and ensures the property is well-maintained and supportive. PSH housing looks different depending on the community. In urban areas, it’s often part of apartment-style developments that include a mix of affordable and supportive housing. But in the Tahoe region, we’ve adapted the model to fit the local housing stock and community context.

Does PSH Work?

Yes—and the research backs it up. Studies show that PSH:

1. Reduces homelessness by 80% (Terner Center)
2. Improves housing retention and health outcomes (California Policy Lab)
3. Lowers the use of emergency services, including hospitals and jails, saving taxpayer dollars (SAMHSA – Permanent Supportive Housing: The Evidence (PDF))
4. Does not increase crime or reduce property values (RAND Evaluation, Furman Center Study)

Local Progress: PSH in North Tahoe and Truckee

A 14-unit PSH facility opened in the Kings Beach area in 2024 and is now home to individuals who were already living in our community – some in tents, cars, or unstable situations. The location was intentionally chosen – close to services, groceries, and public transit. Residents now have a foundation for health, stability, and growth. You can watch a video about the project and meet some of its residents here. 

Looking ahead, a new PSH project in Truckee will get underway in the summer of 2025 at the former CHP site near the intersection of Hwy 80 and State Route 89. The project is a 55-unit affordable housing apartment complex and will include 10 units of PSH with on-site management and support services.

Why This Matters Now

Each year, about 117 households in the Tahoe-Truckee region access homeless services. But only one-third are placed in stable housing. That means many of our neighbors remain unhoused, cycling between temporary shelters, camps, and emergency care.

The recently released draft Tahoe Truckee Regional Homeless Action Plan outlines a five-year plan to address this issue with PSH as a cornerstone strategy. The action plan recommends solutions like PSH’s as a key tool for success. You can read the full plan here.

PSH is not just about housing. It’s about belonging, recovery, and hope. It’s a path forward for individuals and families who have faced extraordinary challenges—and an opportunity for our community to come together with compassion and care. At the Tahoe Housing Hub, we’re proud to support solutions that work—and to help create a future where everyone has a place to call home.

A tiny solution for a big housing problem in Tahoe

NORTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – To most people, having a mother-in-law unit or guest house on their property would be considered a luxury, something not very common in the Tahoe region. But what if there were more guest houses built here, where local workers could live and thrive and contribute to our community?

It’s something that Amy Meierotto, a third-grade teacher at Kings Beach Elementary wants to see happen. Meierotto, a mom with a young son, currently lives in a small rental unit. Her son sleeps in the bedroom, and she sleeps in the kitchen area. “I have taught third grade at Kings Beach Elementary for 20 years. I love this community. I am a part of this community, and I want to stay here. But as my son grows, we have no real future here without secure housing,” says Meierotto.

Meierotto has tried the many housing programs available to her, but even with downpayment assistance and other incentives, she still cannot afford to purchase a home or find a larger long-term rental in the community she serves. That’s why she’s so interested in ADU’s – or accessory dwelling units. She has been talking to her neighbors about the benefits of building an ADU on their property. It wouldn’t just be a solution for her, she says. And ADU would add value to the homeowner’s property and provide housing for local families like hers. “If one of my neighbors was able to add an ADU to their property, I might have the opportunity to live and raise my son in a small home right here in our community,” she says.

It’s no secret that California, and particularly the Tahoe Truckee region, is in a housing crisis. Thousands of rentals and for sale units are needed for local workers and families to keep our communities thriving. Building large-scale developments is challenging, costly and time consuming. That’s where small-scale ADUs can provide a tiny solution to the big housing problem by sprinkling additional units into already existing neighborhoods.

Until very recently, it was difficult to build ADUs in the Tahoe area. But thanks to a slew of new California laws, all that has changed to encourage more ADU construction. It isn’t an easy process to convert space in an existing home or build a detached ADU in Tahoe, but it’s becoming easier.

The Tahoe Housing Hub has a new program called the ADU Accelerator Pilot Program that provides free technical and project management support from concept to completion. And if you’re curious about building an ADU, now is the time to reach out. “Winter is the perfect time to connect with us to explore your options and get the ball rolling. We can help with design, permitting, choosing a contractor, and securing financing so that the project is ready to start construction in the spring,” says Karolina Scarcia, Housing Development Project Manager at The Tahoe Housing Hub

“Each unit built creates a chance for an individual or family, like Amy Meierotto and her son, to live and work locally. We recognize that ADUs alone won’t solve our affordability challenges or the lack of diverse housing options that people want to live in, but they a meaningful step forward, offering real opportunities to house local teachers, utility workers, snowplow drivers, hospitality workers, and others who have no other choice but to relocate and commute,” says Scarcia.

Meierotto says she’s seen many of her colleagues at Kings Beach Elementary leave the area to find housing over the hill in Reno or Carson City. They try to make the drive back up to the school for work, but it usually only lasts a year or two. For Meierotto’s part, she says she’s hanging on in Kings Beach – for now. “I go through waves where I really believe I can hang on, but then reality hits and I think the only solution is to move to Reno. I think of it every night before I go to bed and every morning when I wake up.”

If you are interested in learning more about how you can convert an existing space (like a rec room, storage, crawl space, etc.) into an ADU or build one on your property, reach out to the Tahoe Housing Hub’s ADU Accelerator program. Contact tahoehousinghub.org, email info@tahoehousinghub.org, or call (530) 581-8711 to get connected with an ADU expert.