By Sophie Webster
Habitat for Humanity Vail Valley values our community and works to help it remain strong and diverse. Our community is sustained by countless individuals, from educators and first responders to grocery store workers and bus drivers. Our neighbors make the community what it is, but it means nothing if they cannot afford to stay. We believe to maintain a thriving community, everyone deserves a safe, stable, affordable home. Recently, we were honored to celebrate the 12 homeowners who will move into the new Timber Ridge homes in Vail. The first homes are being craned into place, making affordable homeownership a step closer to reality for these hardworking locals.
John Welaj, Habitat Vail Valley’s executive director, alongside Triumph Development’s Michael O’Connor and Vail Mayor Travis Coggins, welcomed the new Timber Ridge homeowners with excitement and anticipation. While Habitat has always offered 0% mortgages, Timber Ridge is our foray into financing only. The new homeowners will work 250 sweat equity hours and purchase their homes in 2026, allowing them to stick around.
Timber Ridge future homeowner Doug shares he has worked for Vail Resorts and lived in Vail for 16 years and never thought owning a home would be possible. The underlying tension of being forced out of a rental was always on his mind. His Habitat home will allow him to put down permanent roots.
It’s because of long-term locals like Doug that Timber Ridge is so important. It’s a long-awaited project, with Coggins saying the town of Vail has been talking about it in earnest for four years. He shared the one question at the forefront of so many of our minds: “How do we keep community members [like Doug] in town?”
Thanks to public-private-nonprofit partnerships, like the one between Habitat Vail Valley, the town of Vail and Triumph Development, that provide this unique opportunity. Welaj and O’Connor both emphasized just how excited they are for the opportunities that stem from this partnership. O’Connor says Triumph has been focusing on workforce housing exclusively for nearly eight years, so it makes perfect sense that Habitat would join forces to support our community.
Timber Ridge is a unique project and will come together quickly, with mods staged in Wolcott and the first ones craned in at the end of June. Building A, where several Habitat homeowners will live, will be fully set by the end of summer. In total there will be 20 Habitat homes at Timber Ridge.
Coggins says, “It’s exciting to see and bonkers to see them going up so fast. There’s going to be a building there in 14 days.” Habitat is excited about the fast pace given that there were 137 Timber Ridge applications.
Our community is made up of people from all walks of life, but one thing remains—the need for each and every individual to have access to stable, affordable housing. Unfortunately, this is not always a reality, as individuals are faced with the struggle of finding and keeping a place to call home. We’re celebrating the future Habitat homeowners who will call Vail home and rest in the assurance of a roof over their heads, surrounded by a supportive community.
Sammy was one of the 137 applicants who shares his passion with this community as music teacher to elementary students. Almost immediately, it became increasingly difficult to afford housing, and Sammy was faced with the harsh possibility of leaving this area he loves. This threat never became a reality, and Sammy will move into Timber Ridge, where he will have the opportunity to continue sharing his love for music.
“I am entering my seventh-year teaching elementary music and looking for opportunities to share music in the valley… I can continue growing in this community without fear that I will have to start over again,” he says. Sammy is a perfect example of those who contribute to our valley in astounding ways, proving just how important it is to support our neighbors.
“I am a big believer that we should continuously strive to grow and challenge ourselves to be the best version of ourselves. We are called to live in community, being there for each other,” Sammy says.
Which is what Habitat Vail Valley is about: building and retaining community.
