The Rural Preservation Company designation, the state contract that determines who administers home-repair grants and foreclosure prevention for the whole county, to be transferred from Galvan Foundation to HRH as Bard works logistics of real estate gift.
Hudson's bustling Warren Street. Photo credit: David McIntyre
Bard College announced Monday that Hudson River Housing, a Poughkeepsie-based nonprofit with more than 40 years in development of major affordable housing projects, will take over administration of Columbia County's Rural Preservation Company, the sole state-designated nonprofit responsible for the county's core affordable-housing safety net.
The role moves from Galvan Housing Resources, an arm of the Galvan Foundation, to HRH (which currently administers the Dutchess County RPC as well), a major shift but just a part of the work to untangle a rare gift to the college of more than 80 parcels of Hudson real estate from T. Eric Galloway (Galvan founder) in July 2025.
Rural Preservation Companies, or RPCs, are nonprofits certified and funded by New York State Homes and Community Renewal to run a county's core housing-preservation work. There are 59 statewide, one per county by law, typically funded by a $120,000 to $130,000 annual state grant covering staff who administer home-repair assistance for low-income homeowners, foreclosure prevention, and general housing counseling.
The larger context is Galvan's history in Hudson, where it became the city's largest private landowner while restoring the Hudson Armory into a library and senior center and building more than 225 units of mixed-income housing. It was also a frequent target of criticism from Common Council members and tenant groups over vacant properties, unpermitted demolition, and repeated fights with the city over tax assessments. When Galvan announced last July that it was giving most of that portfolio to Bard, directed toward the college's $500 million endowment campaign, the very vocal Hudson community projected cautious optimism about a more accountable operation taking over the properties.
Bard has spent more than a year on due diligence over the Galvan portfolio, and the property transfer itself still hasn't fully closed; the college has continued relying on Galvan's existing property-management staff in the meantime rather than taking over directly. This week's announcement settles one specific piece of what Bard inherited, placing the RPC role with an established outside housing nonprofit going forward.
Hudson River Housing's president and CEO, Christa Hines, described the move as a natural extension of her organization's existing work. "We are very proud of this partnership with Bard and are deeply committed to preserving and expanding these valuable housing resources to the residents and communities of Columbia County," she says. Bard Senior Vice President and CFO Taun Toay framed it as a continuation of the commitment the college made when it accepted Galvan's gift. "Galvan Foundation's gift provided Bard the opportunity to expand its commitment as a private institution serving the public good, and we are proud to now be able to continue this work through a collaborative partnership with Hudson River Housing," he says. "Hudson River Housing has deep experience in the space and are the right partners to see through this commitment."
Hudson Mayor Joseph Ferris welcomed the change. "This new partnership between Bard and Hudson River Housing is great news for Hudson and Columbia County," he says. "With four decades in the affordable housing universe, in Hudson River Housing's new role as the county's Rural Preservation Company, they will be able to do the critical work demanded by our area's housing crisis."
As the entirety of the property transfer has not yet been completed, and many issues are still unresolved but in the near future, Columbia County residents seeking home-repair assistance, foreclosure help, or housing counseling will be directed to Hudson River Housing.
