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
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.
New Cohort of Self-Help Homeowners Start Building Their Homes Together
Six new households started building their way to homeownership in early February. They are the newest cohort of MHO’s Self-Help Homeownership program. They are constructing their new homes in Spring Garden, one of MHO’s latest... Read More
Service Recognition: Thank you, Anthony & Treva!
We wish to recognize Anthony Thomas and Treva Williams as they complete their service as members and officers of MHO’s Board of Directors. Treva joined MHO’s Board in 2018 and Anthony joined in 2019. Their... Read More