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: Anthony Thomas, UpStaff Personnel & Mosaic Realty
Treasurer: Theresa Piwowar, Biltmore Estate
Secretary: Treva Williams, Appalachian Mountain Community Health Center
Greta Byrd, Mars Hill University
Lynn Cook, HomeTrust Bank
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
Scott Dedman, President & Executive Director - Joined 1993
Maureen Gates, Office Manager - Joined 2015
Finance
Victor Anderson, Chief Financial Officer - Joined 2023
Selena Jimenez, Finance Manager - Joined 1997
Kelly Nossiter, Loan Program Manager - Joined 2012
Real Estate Development
Geoffrey Barton, Vice President, Director of Real Estate Development - Joined 2012
Rich Olejniczak, Senior Real Estate Developer - 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 DeVico, Repair & Rehabilitation Manager - Joined 2002
Eric Johnson, Home Repair Specialist - Joined 2022
Joy Wilcox, Home Repair Officer - Joined 2010
Philanthropy
Allison Rollison, Director of Philanthropy - Joined 2022
Lisa Keeter, Marketing & Communications Manager - Joined 2010
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.
"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.
Mountain Housing Opportunities Acquires 75 Units of Special Needs Housing to Preserve Long-term Access and Affordability
With this acquisition, MHO celebrates both Mental Health Awareness Month and Affordable Housing Month. Mountain Housing Opportunities (MHO) is proud to announce an expansion of its affordable housing portfolio serving residents of western North Carolina.... Read More
Homeownership and Healing: Kassandra and Vic’s MHO Journey
Each member of MHO’s current Self-Help Homeownership cohort has traveled a different path to owning a home. This group of six households connected in the Spring of 2022 when they started constructing their new homes... Read More