From Surviving to Thriving

Rylee’s journey to Kidder Way and the quiet power of housing stability.

For Rylee Heppe, housing has never simply meant four walls and roof. It has meant uncertainty.
It has meant packing up and wondering how long “home” would last.

Growing up in Arizona, Rylee’s family moved often. When her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and couldn’t work, they were evicted from their childhood home. From there, it was rental to rental—never fully settled, never fully secure. Even when Rylee came to Orcas Island as a child with her grandparents during her mom’s treatment, stability felt temporary. She learned early that housing could change without warning.

As an adult, that pattern followed her.

After high school, Rylee returned to Orcas Island determined to build a life. Many recognize her as the friendly face behind the counter at Island Hardware where she helps neighbors and contractors find what they need.

Before finding her current rental, she lived in a travel trailer near North Beach. “It was fine at first,” she said. “But after I had Theo, it kept getting smaller and smaller.” Cold winters, tight quarters and limited amenities made daily life especially challenging as a new mother.

Even in her rental, there were compromises: no oven, no full stove, minimal storage. And always, the quiet anxiety that the landlord might sell. “You never really relax,” she explained. “You’re always thinking—how long can we stay?”

That constant question is the weight of housing insecurity. And it is exactly what Kidder Way will resolve.

Rylee’s Kidder Way condominium opens a bright new chapter.

For the first time, she and her young family will have stable, affordable homeownership. Her mortgage will be comparable to her rent—but instead of uncertainty, she will build equity. Instead of fearing displacement, she can plan for the next decade.

“I won’t have to worry about someone selling the house and telling us to get out, that fear goes away.”

Housing stability also reshapes childhood. Theo will have his own room. He’ll live near school, near friends, near the rhythms of island life. Rylee can hang art, plant in the yard, and settle in without hesitation.

Without her Kidder Way home, Rylee believes she may have been forced to leave the island and give up raising her child in her home community. That’s the power of housing stability. It doesn’t just house a family. It keeps a worker in the workforce, a child in the school and a neighbor in the community.

For Rylee and Theo, Kidder Way means something beautifully simple: they can stay as long as they want.