passion & purpose: fall 2025
The CFO affiliate renovates historic building to serve as low-income homes
So much is possible with a strong foundation. It’s true in literal and figurative ways through housing in Howell County, where the Willow Springs Community Foundation has invested decades in improving living spaces for people, businesses and community.
That includes houses and apartments but also commercial buildings — like the historical McClellan building, the foundation’s most recent project, that adds mixed-use space to the downtown district.
“I look for ways for the foundation to have an impact on jobs, on housing, on education, on entertainment, activities — because those are the building blocks of a community,” says Dean Aye, director of the WSCF. “I want to be able to do things that typically businesses cannot do just because of the nature of who we are and how we’re structured.”
The WSCF joined the CFO’s affiliate network in 2001 and continues operating a separate organization to buy, redevelop and manage property in Willow Springs. The nonprofit’s work began when Wendell Bailey, a local champion and WSCF supporter, was Missouri’s state treasurer. Through another role he held with the Missouri Housing Development Corporation, he helped lead the creation of a government program that allowed communities to apply for grant funding to build low-income housing.
That led to a collection of homes — mostly three-bedroom, two-bathroom ranch-style houses — throughout town, some of which are long-term rentals and others that are eventually sold.
“If you get a job, and you start to move up in the world, and you further your education, and then you start to earn more money, then eventually they price themselves out of the house,” Aye says. “To me, that’s a success story, because I think that’s what I want for my community.”
Dean Aye directs the Willow Springs Community Foundation’s work to develop and manage affordable housing units.
Over the last three decades, the foundation has amassed a substantial portfolio: more than 20 homes; a 20-unit apartment complex in nearby West Plains; a home that houses the local historical society; grassy lots where uninhabitable houses were demolished, leaving room for future development; the historic Star Theater (where monthly music shows draw the community together); and two towering downtown buildings.
WSCF’s most recent project was restoring the aforementioned McClellan building, a downtown anchor that had fallen into disrepair. The structure was ultimately donated to the foundation which decided to champion its restoration.
“Nothing would have ever been put there, so you just would’ve had a hole in your downtown 125 feet long — half a city block,” Aye says. “The best option is to put it back into use as community housing on the upper floors and try to get retail in on the bottom floor.”
When complete, the building will offer commercial space on the main level and several apartments — ranging from efficiency to two-bedroom — above. At least one of those is already leased.
It’s a multi-layered win for Willow Springs: A win for civic pride for beautification, a win for the people who will live there, a win for the business that will eventually call it home, and a win for the money it’s infused into community.
“All of that money is just churning around in our economy locally,” Aye said, who also noted that all the work following the building’s stabilization was done with local contractors and materials.
Crews are renovating the historic McClellan building with apartments already available on the second floor.
And ultimately, keeping families local helps the community thrive, too.
“Low-income housing resources, such as affordable housing programs and public housing, play a crucial role in supporting the community,” says Jamie Riddle, who has worked for the WSCF for a year and manages its West Plains apartment complex.
She knows this through facts, but also firsthand. Riddle also lives with her children in one of the foundation’s homes, a place they’ve been for nearly five years.
“I am proud to say with the job opportunity of working for the foundation, and living in a house I can afford, I am finally ahead,” said Riddle. “I will be looking for a place to buy in the near future.”
—by Kaitlyn McConnell
