A commentary from Island Housing Trust Director Sherry Billings/letters from our readers.

Aug 23, 2026

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What Do We Mean When We Say Workforce Housing?

By Sherry Billings, executive director of Island Housing Trust

When we talk about the housing crisis on Mount Desert Island, one phrase comes up again and again: workforce housing.

But what does that mean?

At its simplest, workforce housing is housing that people who work in a community can attain while living in that community.

A teacher, nurse, carpenter, restaurant employee, childcare provider, small business owner, municipal employee or young family may all be part of the workforce. What they have in common is that they work here and want to live here, but may find that their income does not allow them to compete for housing at today’s market prices.

That matters on Mount Desert Island.

Our year-round community depends on people showing up every day to teach our children, care for our neighbors, build and repair our homes, staff our businesses, maintain our communities and keep our towns functioning. They are not a special population. They are our population and without them here year-round the fabric of our island community is destroyed.

This is where Island Housing Trust comes in.

IHT’s mission is to promote viable, year-round communities by advancing permanent workforce housing on Mount Desert Island. IHT creates housing opportunities that can be attained by people who work here and meet eligibility criteria and earn under 160% of area median income, or families earning less than $168,000.

An important part of IHT’s work is making sure those opportunities remain available over time. When IHT helps create a home, protections are put in place so that the housing opportunity can remain available to another qualified year-round household when the current homeowner eventually moves on. One community investment can therefore serve many families over many years.

IHT homeowners are not simply people who need a place to live. They are middle income workers who might have buying power in another market, but here on MDI there are no homes available that they can reasonably buy. These people are our future and current neighbors. They raise children here. They shop locally. They volunteer. They coach youth sports. They participate in town life. They care for our community. They enrich MDI.

Businesses benefit as well. Employers are better able to recruit and retain employees when those employees can attain housing nearby. Year-round businesses are stronger when there is a year-round community to support them.

That is why workforce housing is about much more than housing.

It is about the future of our year-round community.

At IHT, we believe that the people who work here should have a meaningful opportunity to live here. Our work throughout MDI is about creating those opportunities and preserving them for the future.

Workforce housing is not about deciding who belongs here.

It is about making it possible for the people who help make this place what it is to remain here.

That benefits all of us.

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