ESOPUS – The words “affordable housing” are not dirty words, and the Ulster County Housing Consortium wants to send the message to the region that people need housing they can afford.

There is a shortage of affordable housing in the counties of Ulster, Dutchess and Orange and the consortium Thursday evening took the wraps off their program “Give Housing a Voice.”

Rural Ulster Preservation Company Executive Director Kevin O’Connor said the message must go out to the governing bodies in area municipalities.

“They have planning boards and zoning boards that are working on these issues and we need folks to get involved, to influence their officials that this is an issue important to them, that they are concerned about housing their parents, their college graduates, that there is enough workforce housing for everyone who lives in a community, for the disabled, for low wage earners, seniors and college graduates,” he said. “We simply need housing choice for everyone in our communities.”

Consortium member Steven Aaron, managing member of Birchez Associates, which buildings senior and workforce housing, said despite the numbers of apartments he has built, there is still more demand.

“We have two percent vacant in affordable housing,” he said. “It’s to make the public aware and make the decision makers and policy makers that affordable housing needs public support, private support, financial support.”

The new effort has a website for input at www.givehousingavoice.com.