Working Homes states its mission as advancing economic vitality “through investments in workforce housing that is accessible and affordable for the current and future workforce of Wallowa County.” Its own reading of the problem is that retirees, absentee owners and remote workers have moved in, that promotion of the county as a tourism destination has turned part of the housing stock into short-term rentals, and that much of what remains is in poor condition and over-priced. It aims at households earning between 60 and 120 percent of area median income, the band it calls the missing middle, which neither market builders nor subsidized housing serve.
Its largest project is the EM&M building on Main Street in Enterprise, 27 apartments and six commercial spaces, which it reports acquiring in July 2024; electrical, heating and fire-safety work has been reported under way since. The organization’s percentages about second homes and housing need appear on its site without sources and are not repeated here; its description of its purpose is its own.
