Terri Schaal knew she had the dream property — it was just the dream home her family lacked. Moving a house from Mutiny Bay to Greenbank wasn’t the only hoop the Schaal family would have to jump through to find an affordable housing solution on Whidbey Island.

Terri and David Schaal had purchased their 2.5 acres in 1980 while on a trip visiting from California, long before their three children were born. They would later try to sell the acreage after they realized building their dream home was not something they could afford.

In 1998, the Schaals made the move that changed their lives. With three children in tow, they moved to their Greenbank property with the intentions of eventually building their own home or moving a manufactured home or trailer to the property.

“I really didn’t like the materialism that was surrounding us,” Terri Schaal said about living in California. “I think it’s the best move we’ve ever made.”

They built a small barn-like cabin, but it lacked heat and running water, so the living situation quickly grew old.

“It was a very long camping trip,” she said and laughed. “A little too long.”

Her children’s reactions were just as incredulous.

“‘You’re moving us into a barn?’” she remembers them asking.

They had lived in the cabin for over three years before owning their first home became a reality in June 2001. After exhausting their resources for a place to call home, the Schaals met Linda Moore, executive director of the Goosefoot Community Fund. Less than a year later, Goosefoot had moved a Mutiny Bay home to the Schaal’s Greenbank property and given them an opportunity to finance the loan to buy it.

The 1,250 square foot home, built in 1955, came at a total cost of $26,000 to the Schaals. They did most of the remodeling work themselves, and did not have to pay to have the house moved. Families who receive a “recycled” house from Goosefoot now must pay for the move.

Looking back at the whole experience this week, Schaal does not have any regrets — but realizes the good fortune they had that many families on Whidbey Island do not. One up on working families looking for a place to build a home, the Schaal’s had owned their property for over 20 years.

“I’m really glad nobody bought it because it worked out very well,” Schaal said about the decision to take it off the market.

Seeing families like the Schaal’s isn’t something new to Linda Moore, executive director of the Goosefoot Community Fund. She said local hardworking people — like the Schaals — can’t buy into the housing market because of the increasing gap between their salaries and the cost of housing in Island County and the state.

“What may be affordable to one certainly may not be affordable to others,” Moore said.

In 1998, both Terri and David Schaal began as employees of the Harbor Holly Farms in Freeland, but are now managers. They also raise oysters and are vintners at the farm. Without affordable housing programs like the one Goosefoot operates, working families like the Schaal’s are forced out of the housing market or off of Whidbey Island, Moore said.

“Employers won’t come without housing,” she said.

Many families pay more than 30 percent of their gross income towards housing — which is the percentage the government deems housing as affordable. Goosefoot targets families most in need, those that earn 50 percent or less of the county’s median income. When unexpected bills or family emergencies arise, families are left with few options because their income has been soaked up by their housing costs.

“Any little bump in their system puts them at risk for losing their home,” Moore said.

Creating economic diversity and affordable housing opportunities will become the focus of the Goosefoot Community Fund this fall, when they will host a two-day forum on putting a face and a focused effort on affordable housing in October.

“The need for housing is no longer limited to people who have special needs,” Moore said.

People who can benefit from affordable housing range from teachers and grocery checkers, to waitresses and bus drivers, she said, and are invaluable assets to the Whidbey Island community.

Debbie Torget, administration manager at Goosefoot Community Fund, said the organization has seen a trend in applicants for Goosefoot’s Affordable Housing Program. Applicants who have purchased inexpensive land in Greenbank then turn to Goosefoot looking to find and finance a home to move.

Many put a manufactured home or trailer on the property “temporarily” Torget said, which eventually turns into a long-term housing. Searching for a livable trailer was also something Schaal had searched the island to find. The conditions and sizes of the trailers she found were unacceptable for a family of five.

“The things they give away or sell are so gross,” she said. “I just can’t see five of us in a single-wide trailer.”

Looking over her property Wednesday, Schaal reflected over just how rich her life has become. By raising awareness about the struggles to find affordable housing, she hopes other working families can attain the same good fortune.

“I will never move again,” she said looking around her home. “I’ll never leave it.”

Editor’s note: This is the Place I Call Home will highlight a number of individuals and families who live in affordable housing in Island County.