July/August Beans For Bags Spotlight: Community Build – Housing Builds Community
Inspired by compassion for our unsheltered neighbors, we are engaging our community in building secure housing while strengthening community for us all.
Community Build built three temporary supervised villages in Jefferson County starting with Peter's Place in Port Hadlock in 2020. This was followed by Pat's Place in Port Townsend, and we have built 20 tiny shelters for OlyCAP at Caswell-Brown off Mill Road. These facilities have housed over 75 residents over the last 3 years. We are so proud of this accomplishment!
All the work is done by volunteers who gave tirelessly to provide for our unsheltered neighbors. Our next goal is to begin building small "next step" permanent housing. We feel our work is worth it when we see the residents feel safe and secure in their new homes. They have lights, heat, and a lock on the door - a far cry from a tent in the woods! Once our guests leave the temporary supervised shelters, they need to find more permanent placement. We'd like to fill in that gap!
What's new and exciting in 2023...we'd like to establish an Emergency Housing Bank to be used when people have a disaster and lose their home and need something in the interim. These would be available to all of Jefferson County. In addition, we'd like to begin work on houses with kitchens and bathrooms - our tiny shelters have neither. Any money we receive from the Beans for Bags programs will go directly to funding our projects. We are currently putting in a water station at Caswell-Brown as well as working with AAUW Port Townsend to create small wine barrels gardens. The success of our program is seen in the huge and active group of volunteers who work to "build community" not only with the villages but amongst themselves. Community Build is a community, and we have FUN while doing good! We always welcome more volunteers who want to join our efforts to make life better for Jefferson County residents. We also are so fortunate to have collaborated with New Life Church who allow us to use their beautiful property to create our shelters.
Check out our website for all the projects we are working on and information on how to become a volunteer. Come join us! https://www.community-build.org/
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