Woodstock goes to Washington

A recent lunch with congressman Pat Ryan led to a funding opportunity for desperately needed housing after the community came through with letters of support. Woodstock town supervisor Anula Courtis confirmed she met with Ryan, D-Gardiner, and pitched several planned projects. That’s when Ryan got excited about a plan to develop affordable housing on two of three town-owned parcels under consideration. Ryan told Courtis about a grant from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development Capital Fund Program. Ryan promised his support, but the catch was that the town had 72 hours to submit the application, and it needed letters of support. Ryan has nominated the project and will be advocating on Woodstock’s behalf throughout HUD’s selection process. “Essentially, Yvonne and I were the primary people working on that. And, you know, it was like no sleep for three days. But it was great,” Courtis said of the work she and her confidential secretary, Yvonne Rojas-Cowan, did to get the application filed. “And a multitude of people from the community all stepped in and they put letters together and kept sending them. I think one letter had 20 signatures on it, and it was really an amazing effort to just pull this together in a ridiculously short period of time.” The project involves a 16-unit affordable housing community comprising eight cottage homes, approximately 600 square feet each, and eight two-story townhome-style units. The $2.1 million grant would cover all the infrastructure and site clearing. “He liked the project and he liked the vision,” Courtis said of Ryan. “We got a letter from [state senator] Michelle Hinchey, who also loved the vision, and we got a letter from [Ulster County executive] Jen Metzger,” Courtis said. “It’s really phenomenal how everyone just came together to help support this effort. So for us to hear that he nominated this project … one of 15 going to Washington, D.C. … it’s quite something, really impressive.” Courtis said even the p