ECA Adopts Community Housing Program

Affordable Housing in Cotati got a boost when the Northern California Engineering Contractors Association (ECA) adopted the Jamie Lane project as a community project. The firms of ECA agreed to donate materials, trucking, labor, and expertise along with cash donations in an attempt to keep the price of the new homes under $350,000.

The project is managed by the Housing Land Trust and Dave Weller of RCX Inc., in collaboration with the City of Cotati. The services offered by ECA members will help minimize the actual cost of construction for five new homes for low-income families that would otherwise not be able to afford to buy a home in Sonoma County in 2021.

According to John Bly, Executive Director of ECA, “The work we have donated and continue to make available to our communities shows we are much more than a trade association looking to enrich our member firms. For the past 25 years, our organization has been giving back to projects that benefit deserving charities in Sonoma and Marin counties.”

The ECA considers charities that typically benefit women with dependency issues, women that have received or are in danger of receiving physical abuse, and charities focused on at-risk chil-dren. Over the past 25 years, the ECA has contributed over $24,000,000 worth of cash, materials, labor, and equipment to repair or build community projects.

Past projects include The Sonoma Teen Center, The Earl Baum Center for the Blind, Kid Street Theater, the Pony Express, the Miracle League Ballfield and Playground, the Children’s Muse-um, and the Patrick Scott Walkway Elsie Allen, among others.

For more information about this project or the community outreach by ECA members, see nceca.org or the Housing Land Trust website at housinglandtrust.org.