In 2022, Cindy Gallaher with her husband Bill rescued Athena House & Hope Village from shutting down by purchasing the property. Athena House was a well-known local residential treatment facility and sober living program serving women and their young children experiencing alcohol and other substance abuse disorders. At that time, as the number of drug fatalities was rising, the number of treatment beds particularly for low-income women was simultaneously declining. Over the following two years Cindy led the family’s $7 million gift and mission to redesign, build, and reopen a state-of-the-art campus while ensuring that none of the women still involved in the program were displaced.  

As developers involved in residential construction, it was impossible to be unaware of the severe housing shortage in Sonoma County and the resulting inflationary impact on affordability. Getting to know the residents of Hope Village illustrated the almost insurmountable challenges these young mothers on the road to recovery face (moving in with old acquaintances, returning to destructive patterns of the past) as a result of insufficient access to affordable housing. This personal experience along with the knowledge that many other thousands of essential workers in our community are equally in need, spurred the decision to create what would eventually become Gallaher Community Housing.     

In 2024, a Board of Directors was assembled and CEO, Efren Carrillo was hired to lead the efforts with a dream to contribute thousands of affordable housing units to Sonoma County.