Avista Foundation donates $50K to Miracle on Britton

About $700,000 of the $1 million needed to build a neighborhood of 28 attainable "Miracle on Britton" homes in Post Falls has been raised.

The Avista Foundation bolstered the funding pool Friday with a donation of $50,000 to the Panhandle Affordable Housing Alliance.

“Avista is really pleased to join with the community to make this investment in Miracle on Britton,” North Idaho regional business manager Todd Kiesbuy said.

Early in 2021, the Avista Foundation joined with other area agencies such as the Coeur d’Alene Area Economic Development Corporation and PAHA in sponsoring the Housing Availability and Affordability Study for Kootenai County report and analysis.

“From that, it really became apparent that, boy, this is something that’s needed, and to PAHA’s credit, they’re following through with what the study had brought out,” Kiesbuy said. “Something needs to be done, and here we are.”

PAHA Executive Director Maggie Lyons said she is beyond grateful for Avista believing in and supporting this work.

“It’s an investment in changing the trajectory of this community," she said.

The Miracle will be built in a soon-to-be developed neighborhood just off Greensferry Road. Ground could be broken as early as late November.

Planned in conjunction with local builders, Miracle's deed-restricted, shared-equity homes will be reserved for households earning about $75,000 to $126,000. The home prices will fall in the range of $290,000-$430,000.

Longtime North Idaho renting residents Casey and Daniel Doyle are among the first five applicants who will lay claim to a Miracle home.

They don't need anything fancy. They don't need the most expensive phones or cars. They simply want a home they can call their own, which is now becoming a reality following their application's approval in August.

"It's been a huge answer to prayer," Casey Doyle said. “We're just in disbelief, really. We had been praying to be able to own a home since we got married. When we first got married and working at Walmart, we were not making a lot of money, but as our incomes increased, so did the price of housing."

Casey and husband of seven years Daniel grew up and went to school locally. They met while working at Walmart.

"I remember our first apartment was $865 for a two bedroom, two-and-a-half bathroom in 2018," she said.

The couple continued to rent as they moved up in their professional careers. Daniel now repairs computers, and Casey works for a Hayden property development company "that does higher-end homes I could never dream of owning," she said. Casey, who has bachelor's degrees in math and English, is going back to school for her master's in accounting.

She heard about the Miracle on Britton opportunity from her boss.

"He's always got his ear to the ground when it comes to the real estate market," she said.

Daniel had just received a big raise at work when the couple applied for Miracle housing. Casey said they wouldn't have met the income threshold to apply if he hadn't received the pay bump.

"It was like, 'Well, what's the worst that could happen?'" Casey said. "I thought it would be like a feeding frenzy piranhas in the water with all the people trying to get in."

In an open note the Doyles wrote to the investors, donors, contributors, partners and supporters of the Miracle on Britton project, they began with saying, "Thank you" — two little words that don’t do justice to the gratitude, humility and excitement they are feeling as first-time homebuyers. 

"The reality is that each one of you is a part of our journey to achieve our American Dream of homeownership," the letter reads.

The Doyles have been on quite a journey since they married in 2017. Casey's mom died in 2022. They moved into her apartment to live with Casey's sister, who had put off her school and career to care for their mom for nearly a decade.

"She can’t afford to live on her own because of the career sacrifices she made, the economy’s abuse of even those who earn double minimum wage, and because she struggles with ADHD and a TBI (traumatic brain injury)," Casey wrote in the letter.

Daniel's mom, who has Stage 4 lung cancer, will soon move in with the couple. Casey also is concerned about her father, who has Stage 3 lung cancer and lives off the grid a couple hours from Coeur d'Alene.

"Daniel and I simply prayed, 'Lord, please help us provide for our family,'" Casey wrote.

Then the raise happened. Then the Miracle on Britton opportunity came to them.

"I still alternate between slack-jawed disbelief and incredulously pinching myself!" Casey wrote.

"We’re so excited," she told The Press. "I'm like, 'I need to start packing!' We’re ready."

Lyons said growth is here to stay.

"The way that we keep the integrity of this beautiful community is ensuring our local working families can live where they work," she said. "And 70% want homeownership. We have to come up with solutions that provide access to homeownership, and that’s what we’ve done."

Info: pahaid.org

    Daniel and Casey Doyle

    An example of a Canyon-style home that will be constructed in the Miracle on Britton neighborhood in Post Falls, set to break ground toward the end of the year.