Housing Resources Bainbridge

09/03/2026

Thank you, Kitsap County Commissioners Christine Rolfes, Katie Walters, and Oran Root, for taking the time to tour our newest development—the 100% permanently affordable Ericksen Community. This project received $1.66M from the county in HOME funds—federal block grants provided by HUD to local governments for distribution to affordable housing projects. We are grateful to the county for their faith in HRB to build high-quality housing and administer it in compliance with all regulations.

There are so many thoughtful touches to the Ericksen Community—the latest and greenest heating technology, ample storage, beautiful landscaping, an airy foyer, EV chargers, and comfortable and efficient layouts—everything one would hope for in a new home. It was a pleasure to see our guests notice and appreciate every such detail.

08/21/2026

It feels so good to be with people who can relate. That's just what the Memory Cafe is all about. Once a month people with memory loss and their care partners, be they spouses, children, friends, or professional caregivers, get together for community and amusement. For this month's cafe, we invited the dogs (and their caregivers) from Assistance Dogs Northwest. We got to talking about childhood pets and the various animals which have touched our lives (camels, ponies, giraffes... today's cafe guests had some pretty unusual stories to share). Some people opted to stay quiet, and that's OK too. The cafe is relaxed and accepting of you, however you're feeling that day.

Want to learn more? Contact Misty Mountford, program director for HRB's Independent Living at Home, at [email protected] or 206-842-1909, ext. 18.

Hosted in partnership with Bainbridge Island Senior Center, Bloedel Reserve, Island Volunteer Caregivers and The Aubin Aphasia Speech & Language Center, LLC

Thank you Assistance Dogs Northwest!

08/04/2026

Such fine work, BARN - Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network. So deeply appreciated by HRB -- and the future residents of these permanently affordable (and beautiful!) homes.

08/03/2026

The fourth cafe in our series for people with memory loss and their care partners is coming up. Join us for coffee and community with special visitors from Assistance Dogs NW.

Friday, August 21, 2026
10:00 - 11:30 AM
Fire Station 21
Bainbridge Island
8895 Madison Ave NE

Register for free tickets on Eventbrite or reach out to Misty Mountford at [email protected].

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/august-memory-cafe-tickets-1994716330240?aff=ebdssbdestsearch

All guests with memory loss are welcome, no matter the underlying condition or stage of disease. Care partners can include spouses, children, friends, and professional caregivers.

This is not a drop off program.

Offered in partnership with Island Volunteer Caregivers, Bainbridge Island Senior Center, Bloedel Reserve, and The Aubin Aphasia Speech & Language Center, LLC.

07/21/2026

Missed the Ericksen Community open house? Take a look inside. Permanently affordable, green-built -- and beautiful. (Staging by Kitsap Staging)

07/20/2026

HRB hosted a community open house last Friday (7/17) for the Ericksen Community. Visitors were delighted by the woodwork by BARN volunteers--decorative live-edge wood panels outside each of the apartment doors made from trees harvested on site (a lobby bench is under construction). “We are always looking for a way to bring a piece of nature inside our designs,” said Ericksen architect Charlie Wenzlau.

The project required 300 volunteer hours. What a beautiful expression of community support for affordable housing and a testament to the generosity of these talented woodworkers and to the creative energy of this island institution. Thank you BARN - Bainbridge Artisan Resource Network.

Read the blog to learn about the genesis of the project and the intentions of the participants.

Thanks to a herculean effort by BARN volunteers and HRB’s commitment to building homes that are not only affordable, but also beautiful, wood from trees harvested on site will grace the halls and foyer of the new building. (Photos courtesy of BARN) BARN woodworkers Wayne Chang and Mike Rehder have...

07/14/2026

We're just shining the windows and sweeping the floors to get the Ericksen Community ready for its debut this week.

Drop by during our community open house.

Friday, July 17, 4:00 - 6:00 pm
680 Ericksen Avenue
Bainbridge Island, WA 98110

(Please use street parking.)

HRB staff will be there to answer your questions about our newest 100% permanently affordable rental building. We're eager to show it off before our residents move in.

Questions? Contact Kaylee at [email protected] or 206-842-1909, ext. 17.

07/13/2026

Jeff Bouma and Jeff Peterson of Fischer Bouma Partnership created the landscaping for the just-finished Ericksen Community.

Bouma created a formal landscape along Ericksen Avenue, incorporating ornamentals, like Japanese maples and climbing hydrangea, and planting the street trees typical of historic neighborhoods to break up the façade.

After paying his respects to the neighbors with a well-designed streetscape, Bouma created a housewarming gift for future residents of the Ericksen Community—an intimate garden along the terrace outside the vestibule, which won’t be so visible from street level but which will greet residents as they come and go throughout the day. It will be “their front door, their front porch, their front yard,” emphasized Bouma.

The lot is small, noted Bouma. “So it was important to make those spaces pedestrian scale, whether you’re walking by on the street or through the site or parking in the lot, filling every little small space we can with something that’s got texture and color and interest to make people’s days a little bit better.”

Friday, July 17 from 4:00 - 6:00 pm is the community open house for Ericksen Community. Stop by to see the new homes and enjoy the landscaping.

Thoughtful landscape design by Fischer Bouma Partnership connects the Ericksen Community to the neighborhood and delivers a housewarming gift to its future residents. No building exists in isolation. It belongs to a neighborhood and the natural world. Charlie Wenzlau, the architect for HRB’s Erick...

07/09/2026

A new memory café brings together those experiencing memory loss and their care partners for community, diversion, and a few good laughs.

“I’m here because she needs help,” said the guy with memory loss, who hasn’t lost his sense of humor, pointing to the woman seated beside him. Stephen and his wife Nancy, both of whom haven’t lost their New York accents, arrived on Bainbridge Island in the early 1990s. He’s an architectural photographer, whose work is represented in the Seattle Art Museum collection. They came to the June 12th Memory Café, like everyone else that morning, seeking out the company of those in the know about memory loss because they are experiencing it themselves, like Stephen, or caring for someone who is, like Nancy. It’s a club that no one wants to join. But once you’re in, it can be a great comfort, and in the case of this morning’s café, great fun, to meet your fellow members.

The Bainbridge Island Memory Café is a project of HRB, Island Volunteer Caregivers, Bainbridge Island Senior Center, Bloedel Reserve, and The Aubin Aphasia Speech & Language Center, LLC.

Read the full story to learn more.

A new memory café brings together those experiencing memory loss and their care partners for community, diversion, and a few good laughs. “I’m here because she needs help,” said the guy with memory loss, who hasn’t lost his sense of humor, pointing to the woman seated beside him. Stephen an...

06/23/2026

This fall, HRB will break ground on Finch Green, the third and final project in our three-part capital campaign which will produce 53 permanently affordable homes for Bainbridge Island: HRB at the Oliver (2024), the Ericksen Community (completion July 2026), and Finch Green (groundbreaking fall 2026).

We've been awarded maximum funding from government housing programs and have entered the home stretch for Finch Green. Please help us get there with a gift to our Finch Green capital campaign. Help bring this beautiful neighborhood to life

https://www.housingresourcesbi.org/give-now/finch-green-capital-campaign/

Watch the video. You’ll hear not only about the genesis of the three projects, but from community members, business owners, and HRB residents who all benefit from affordable housing and understand its value in creating a stronger, more sustainable and vibrant community.

It will make you fall in love (probably not for the first time) with Bainbridge Island.

https://youtu.be/kqqNSBbyh1c?si=uzLkkuvlP0SnGmNq

An introduction to HRB's three-part capital campaign supporting HRB...