Mountain Housing Opportunities is a private, non-profit community development corporation whose mission is to build and improve homes, neighborhoods, communities, and lives, and build hope and dignity in the people we serve.

MHO Board of Directors

Chair: Charlie Owen, Fletcher Warehousing Company

Vice Chair: Lynn Cook, HomeTrust Bank

Treasurer: Theresa Piwowar, Biltmore Estate

Greta Byrd, Mars Hill University

Jack Gilbert, Community Housing Capital, ret.

Annette McClure, Mission Hospital, ret.

Ruth Morrissey, Entrepreneur

Constance Proctor, Asheville Housing Authority, ret.

Ryan Rohwer, Eaton Corporation

Elizabeth Teague, Town of Waynesville

Dana Ward, Fundraising Consultant, ret.

 

MHO Staff

To contact a member of staff, please visit our Contact page or send an email to info@mtnhousing.org.

 

Executive

Geoffrey Barton, President & CEO - Joined 2012

Maureen Gates, Office Manager - Joined 2015

 

Finance

Selena Jimenez, Finance Manager - Joined 1997

Kelly Nossiter, Vice President - Joined 2012

 

Community Rental Investments

Rich Olejniczak, Director of Community Rental Investments - Joined 2004

Adeline Wolfe, Real Estate Developer - Joined 2020

 

Asset Management

James Dennis, Vice President, Director of Asset Management - Joined 1995

Liz Booth, Asset Manager - Joined 2023

 

Homeownership

Joe Quinlan, Homeownership Program Manager - Joined 2001

Patrick Hunt, Construction Supervisor - Joined 2008

Megan Kirby, Homeownership Program Specialist - Joined 2015

Trevor Mayton, Self-Help Construction Supervisor - Joined 2022

 

Emergency Home Repair

Lee D., Repair & Rehabilitation Manager - Joined 2002

*Not a complete list of staff. Please call 828-254-4030 to talk to a specific person, or email at info@mtnhousing.org

 

Philanthropy

Allison Rollison, Director of Philanthropy - Joined 2022

Lisa K., Marketing & Communications Manager - Joined 2010

 

Cindy Weeks Community Investment Manager

The History of Mountain Housing Opportunities

Mountain Housing Opportunities was organized in 1988 by a group of volunteers concerned with the declining housing stock and lack of affordable and decent housing units for low-income people.

A group of nonprofit service agencies, local governments and businesses co-sponsored the February conference, non-profit Housing Development for Low Income People, organized by Pisgah Legal Services that was focused on Western North Carolina.

Keynote speaker Dave Lollis of the Federation of Appalachian Housing Enterprises advises the 150 participants not to “spend too much time in needs assessment and networking” but instead to “go out and build a handrail on Aunt Mary’s front porch.”

Five volunteers who have met since the conference began the volunteer work. On a Saturday in August, they brought ladders, tools, and materials and repaired the roof of an elderly homeowner in Leicester. Later that month, the group incorporated as Mountain Housing Opportunities, Inc.

Founding directors were:

  • Helen Cooper of the Council on Aging, craftsman/teacher
  • Norman Earle, architect.
  • Robbie Sweetser
  • Pat Thomson of the NC Division of Community Assistance
  • Gray Wilson and Scott Dedman of Pisgah Legal Services.

The corporation’s registered agent was Jim Barrett of Pisgah Legal Services. Before year end, seven volunteer home repairs are completed. In 1989, MHO hired its first Executive Director, Cindy Visnich Weeks. After serving as Board Chairman, Scott Dedman became Executive Director of MHO in 1993. Dedman was also one of the seven original founders of Mountain Housing Opportunities in 1988.

Our Mission

Mountain Housing Opportunities is a private, non-profit community development corporation whose mission is to build and improve homes, neighborhoods, communities, and lives, and build hope and dignity in the people we serve.

asheville_housing_mission

"We believe that if you work in this community, you should be able to live here in a safe, attractive, affordable home in a good neighborhood, and when you retire or if you become disabled, this should still be true."

- Scott Dedman- Mountain Housing Opportunities Executive Director-

For News and Events

Visit the Mountain Housing Opportunities blog for news, events, and project updates.