Housing Heroes Profile: Ellen Bush

The Housing Heroes profile series covers LEAP’s advocates and major donors who advance the mission of affordable housing in Idaho. Ellen’s commitment of $10,000 is one of eight donations offering matching funds to all donations in the month of December during Avenues for Hope. To utilize the match Ellen is providing, visit our Avenues for Hope donation page.

One of LEAP’s generous donors, Ellen Bush, fell in love with Idaho. 

Originally from California, she came to Boise for a job in the 1980s, moved away, and then returned to retire in 2018 in the mountains of Garden Valley. As the Executive Director of The Whitney Foundation, Ellen has benevolently granted funding numerous times to LEAP over the years. Thanks to the generosity of The Whitney Foundation, one of LEAP’s newest developments in west Boise received its name: Whitney Commons, which will be an 11 unit homeownership opportunity when construction is completed.  

But on a personal level, Ellen believes that LEAP has what it takes to persevere in the fight for affordable housing. She admires and supports the work that LEAP is committed to in Idaho. According to her, LEAP has the right approach to solving this puzzle: an emphasis on sustainability.  

As she puts it, “The LEAP Housing Trust itself is sustainable. And the homes at Caritas Commons and Whitney Commons are extremely sustainable because they are small units.

“They are not a high rise, which is an outdated, unviable model. This approach to home rental and ownership is very valuable.” 

In addition to emphasizing the sustainability of LEAP’s developments, Ellen believes that continuing to grow the general public’s understanding of what it is like to experience housing constraints is a must. “It is a constant challenge to everyone in the affordable housing community to keep the education level up for others in the Valley.”

Without it, there can be misconceptions about what affordable housing is, and what it provides to those in our communities. Safe, comfortable, and affordable are what should come to mind when the community thinks of housing; But more often than not, those aren’t the first things that come up when the topic is broached.  

According to Ellen, “LEAP is not known as much as I think that they should be.” With advocates like this on our side, we know that LEAP can create relationships with those businesses, nonprofits, and community members who can continue to help us grow and reach our mission goal: 1,000 units in 10 years.

We can create home, and hope, together.