The Woodlands Story

Since our inception Woodlands has been pushing the line forward on what development can look like and accomplish in rural areas.

The Woodlands story begins with the Randolph County Housing Authority (RCHA) which was a grassroots community development effort that began in Elkins, WV in 1979. The Housing Authority, as a governmental agency, was in need of local non-profit partners to help accomplish its mission. In 1995 they formed the Randolph County Affordable Housing Development Foundation (RCAHDF), the precursor to Woodlands Development Group. The organization served Barbour and Tucker Counties in addition to its namesake Randolph County. As services expanded the name was changed to Woodlands Development Group to reduce confusion. Much of the early effort was focused in areas that had been devastated in the 1985 flood.

In its first ten years Woodlands developed rental units and single family homes in Randolph and Barbour Counties with only part-time and temporary, project-based employees. Woodlands has since grown to over a dozen full-time employees with several multi-million dollar projects in the pipeline at any given time.

Community conversations are the base from which all of Woodlands’ work begins and through this process the staff and board realized that we our communities needed more than just housing development to thrive. During the recession in 2008 we launched community planning efforts that facilitated conversations and collaborations between local governments, local non-profits, and community groups. Improvements to the Thomas Riverfront Park, a pedestrian walking trail in Belington, and a technical assistance program for downtown property owners came out of these initiatives.

The Downtown Redevelopment Initiative seeds downtown improvement and development by providing funding for private property owners to consult with architects and engineers. The experts help assess what they can do and what they can afford to do with their business district properties. This program filled an obvious need in our towns and was embraced by private building owners. It assisted in the development of over 200,000 sq. ft. of downtown properties in its first four years and continues today.

In 2011 Woodlands Development and RCHA again came together to form a new Community Development Financial Institution or CDFI to serve our local entrepreneurs. Dubbed Woodlands Community Lenders and functioning as a cousin to local banks, the organization provides technical support and lending services in an intensely community-focused way. Lenders partners with local banking institutions to help more local entrepreneurs qualify for better loans and to give their business the best possible chance of success.

The combination of our expanded Development capabilities and Lending products has fundamentally changed the services that Woodlands can provide for our communities. Today over 100 units of our rental housing and dozens of single-family homes provide quality affordable housing to families and seniors throughout North Central WV. We know that healthy, vibrant communities have safe and engaging neighborhoods that provide housing for all people.

Woodlands has redefined affordable housing and community development in rural WV. Together with expanded Lending opportunities Woodlands has helped create conditions more favorable to community development. We believe that communities filled with safe, engaging neighborhoods for all people, dynamic and rich town centers, active discourse and reflection, and parks, trails, and gathering spaces drive forward a collaborative process of positive change.