PORT TOWNSEND — This effervescent woman “just fell out of the heavens,” said Judy Alexander.
She’s referring to Debbi Steele, the one who volunteered last spring to be the new volunteer coordinator at the tiny-shelter village taking shape in Port Townsend.
Steele and Alexander are among the workers who will host an open house this Saturday to celebrate the imminent completion of this Bayside Housing & Services project.
Live music from three bands, cookies and an array of local organizations will be part of the event from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at 2135 San Juan Ave., next to the Evangelical Bible Church, which provided the land for the building site.
These 10 new shelters are all painted in colors bright as the July sun: gold, turquoise blue, lime green, lemon yellow, violet. Inside are curtains, beds and furnishings chosen by volunteer interior decorators.
It’s called the Community Build Project, and on Saturday, visitors will have a chance to see it all — and look into the future of Jefferson County’s emergency and transitional housing.
Alexander is among the volunteers who built Peter’s Place, Bayside’s first tiny-shelter village, during the last few months of 2020.
Located outside the Community United Methodist Church in Port Hadlock, Peter’s Place houses single men and women in 8-by-12-foot wooden shelters, equipped with heaters and lockable doors.
For the new village, volunteers have constructed eight single units plus two 10-by-16-foot doubles to accommodate couples or single parents and children. Also nearing completion is the 20-by-16-foot kitchen unit, which will serve as a kind of cafe.
Steele gets choked up thinking about how it’s for things housed people take for granted: cooking, talking, playing cards, even arguing about local politics.
In preparation for an open house Saturday, volunteer Annalee McConnell spent much of Tuesday painting trim on the tiny shelters off San Juan Avenue in Port Townsend. (Diane Urbani de la Paz/Peninsula Daily News)
“Come look,” she repeatedly tells her visitors, pointing out the tile floors, the places where hanging plants will go, the accent colors of the trim.
Steele and Alexander gush, too, about the people they’ve been working with since April: master carpenters, painters and decorators who drive in from across town and from as far away as Port Angeles and Seattle.
This tiny community will be picked up and moved later this year to Bayside’s property in Port Townsend.
A full city block at 10th and Rosecrans streets, the new village will be near the QFC supermarket, Jefferson Healthcare and the Jefferson Transit bus stop.
“It’s got all the utilities; that’s the beauty of it,” added Gary Keister, Bayside manager-director.
Bayside’s plan is to have the shelters, which are transitional housing, at this location for up to two years. Eventually the nonprofit housing agency hopes to build an apartment complex with 26 two-bedroom units, Keister said.
First things first: The shelter village must finish the city permitting process and hold a community meeting with the neighbors, he said.
At the same time, Saturday’s open house aims to introduce the village to the wider community. The Unexpected Brass Band will start the festivities; then will come music from the Ukeladies, a ukulele ensemble, and finally jazz from Jim Oliver and Tony Petrillo.
The flock of groups also joining the event include Bayside, Habitat for Humanity, the Housing Solutions Network, Olympic Community Action Programs, Dove House and the Olympic Housing Trust, formerly known as Homeward Bound.
“I have this kind of compulsion to include people,” Alexander said, “and I’m excited about all of these housing organizations coalescing.”
Information can be found at community-build.org, along with the link to a documentary film that has inspired Steele, Alexander and crew.
“Community First! A Home for the Homeless,” about a housing project in Austin, Texas, is available for streaming through Aug. 9; the cost is a $10 donation.
When asked if she’s looking forward to yet another community build, Alexander paused.
Then: “I wouldn’t be surprised,” she said, smiling at the volunteers circulating around the site.
“Nobody seems inclined to quit.”
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Jefferson County senior reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3509 or durbanidelapaz@peninsuladailynews.com.
