PORT ANGELES — They aren’t just building homes. They are building a neighborhood.
Eight Port Angeles area families soon will embark on a community build in west Port Angeles.
The selected adults and their families in eight to 10 months time expect to be living in eight brand-new homes they will construct on the eight adjacent lots in the 1800 block of West 15th Street near the Clallam County Fairgrounds.
They were introduced to each other during a ceremonial ground-breaking Thursday evening and will begin work soon after the lots are cleared, said Annie O’Rourke, development director for the Peninsula Housing Authority.
No one will move in until all eight homes are completed.
By the time they do, they will have worked side by side for 32 hours a week creating their community.
“They know their neighbors. The children in the neighborhood all know the other children in the neighborhood,” O’Rourke said.
“It’s an instant developed neighborhood.”
Self-help program
The project is through the Mutual Self-Help Housing Program of the Peninsula Housing Authority.
Each family has to fit certain income and credit ratings to be eligible to build their own home.
The group will have sub-contractors help with excavation, foundation, plumbing, electrical and sheet rocking. All other aspects of building, with supervision, they will do themselves.
It is estimated that the “sweat equity” for their work will be about $50,000.
The Peninsula Housing Authority has built 87 such houses over the years, O’Rourke said.
