By Jasmine Hall
Jackson Hole News&Guide
Via- Wyoming News Exchange

JACKSON — Shelter JH announced Tuesday evening at its end-of-the-year celebration in Jackson that it is turning its attention to the rest of the state. The housing advocacy organization that has made a name for itself in the past eight years will be expanding in 2025 across Wyoming. 

Programs under Shelter WY will start in Cheyenne, Sheridan and Laramie as work continues simultaneously in Jackson.

“We know our model works and we know that it is replicable, which is very exciting,” Shelter JH co-founder Mary Erickson said. “Locally, our political advocacy has gotten deeper and more intense, and we’ve faced over and over again the reality that to truly move the needle regarding housing for locals, the most sweeping changes need to be made at a state level.”

She said that because of the political climate and the tendency for state legislators to dismiss ideas coming out of Teton County and “preempt housing progress,” it became increasingly clear a statewide coalition was needed. 

“Not only to support local reform in other municipalities and counties, but create a unified pro-housing front when addressing state-level initiatives,” she said.

Erickson said “significant funding to underwrite this expansion work” was secured for the next two years. The donor and the total amount remain undisclosed at the moment, but she called the funding a game changer. 

Besides starting programs in the three cities, Shelter will be able to hire a full-time executive director and a statewide policy director next year. Erickson said the team will be able to help Advocacy Director Clare Stumpf in her work in Jackson.

The parent organization, Shelter WY, will be established as a nonprofit, and the board will consist of people from the four communities across Wyoming. It will support projects in Cheyenne, Sheridan, Laramie and Jackson.

Stumpf said on Wednesday that Cheyenne, Sheridan and Laramie were picked because they are the homes of potential board members. 

She said it’s imperative to have a base in the capital, and residents in Laramie have continued to work on housing reform such as renters’ rights and habitable living standards.

“It just happened naturally that we had excited people from those regions who want to be a part of the work,” she said.

Priorities in the first quarter of 2025 will be identifying candidates for the new positions and establishing a board. She said there are structural pieces that have to be put in place before Shelter WY can start digging into advocacy work statewide.

Although the housing group is looking to the future, leadership and members took time Tuesday to celebrate wins. A busy year included advocating for more homes for locals in the northern South Park development, securing a “publicly owned” parcel that’s going to have 200 homes at the Virginian RV park and ensuring that endorsed candidates won their races in the primary and general elections, Stumpf said.