New Tiny House Villages in Oregon to Offer Priority Placement to Homeless LGBTQ Community

 

Often forgotten in the struggle to house homeless people are LGBTQ citizens. But that is changing in thanks to a nonprofit called WeShine that is close to finishing a tiny house village at a church parking lot in the Parkrose neighborhood of Portland, OR.

The Portland-based nonprofit, founded only last year, has an ambitious plan: build 10 tiny house villages in 10 different neighborhoods, each with a maximum capacity of 12 residents. Each village will offer pods to specific groups most likely to slip through the cracks of homeless outreach, and each will be outfitted with kitchenettes, restrooms and showers.

WeShine has had particular success so far with churches. Parkrose Community United Church of Christ is the location of the village close to accepting residents.

One barrier the nonprofit seeks to circumvent is obtaining a commercial permit for the Parkrose village’s other planned amenities: a shared kitchen, restrooms and showers. It’s meeting with the city’s Bureau of Development Services this week to discuss.

Once all the details and permits are completed, Weshine may have another problem, albeit, a good one. Some Weshine members think they will get to a point where the churches are competing with each other to have villages. The Archdiocese of Portland has already shown an interest and they own a lot of land in the Portland area.

Here’s a “Tip of the Hat” from Modcoach for Weshine’s efforts in bringing tiny house villages to fruition.

A Tiny House Initiative in Maine Helps Teens in Foster Care

Were you ready to be out on your own at age 18? No one is, really. Yet, if you are a Maine foster child, that’s what’s expected of you.

How do you find an apartment? How do you buy a vehicle? How do you get utilities connected? How is all of this funded? How do you open a bank account?

These are all questions that Ashley Pesek, a foster mom of teenagers, and Jessica Valdez, executive director of Community Compass, have gotten from Blue Hill Peninsula teens who have been separated from their families of origin.

To help adolescents on the peninsula, Pesek, with help from Community Compass and its donors, had a tiny home installed on her property for her adolescent foster children to use as a private residence once they turn 18 and prepare to leave her nest.

The tiny house, installed in October 2020, has been used by two young people already.

The Peseks’ foster daughter, Crystal, was the first to use the tiny home after giving birth. She’s now out working and living on her own with her child in an apartment.

CLICK HERE to read the entire Ellsworth American article

An Innovative Modular-Timber System to be Used in Rotterdam Project

When a new project is planned to replace older buildings, the materials from the demolished buildings are usually on their way to a landfill, not recycled into the modular components of the new buildings. 

But that's exactly what happened in Rotterdam when an existing housing project was ready to be replaced.

HA-HA, in partnership with BIK Bouw and Wooncompas Housing, will develop four social housing blocks for the community of Ridderkerk, near Rotterdam, Netherlands. The project uses materials from the existing social housing estate, built in the 1950s, and employs an innovative modular-timber system to create sustainable human-centered housing. 

The old buildings are planned to be disassembled and their components reused and integrated into the new development, which will increase the number of affordable units by 13%.

In order to achieve a degree of circularity, HA-HA has created a catalog or reusable elements. Examples of these are the window frames and doors, which will become community planters and seating areas, and the bricks which will be reused for landscape paths. 

The Rembrandtweg Ridderkerk development will also reuse the concrete structure and basement of the existing buildings as the foundation for the new modular units. The project works within the confines of the original footprint of the four buildings.

The design utilizes a prefabricated modular wooden system developed by BIK Bouw. The two different unit types are designed to have a span of 7.8 meters to align with the structural span of the reused basement. The modules will be assembled off-site, including wet walls and plumbing, and then transported to the location. This is an energy-efficient type of construction that contributes to the affordability of the design.

CLICK HERE to read the entire ArchDaily article

Oregon Non-Profit Prepares to Open Manufactured Home Factory

As a boy in the late 1950s, Terry McDonald watched as workers built an 80,000 square-foot manufacturing plant in an industrial neighborhood on the west side of Eugene. Long after childhood, McDonald felt an affinity for the factory, where American Steel once fabricated heavy-duty logging equipment until the timber industry waned in Oregon.

Terry McDonald, right, is executive director of St. Vincent de Paul Society of Lane County (SVdP) and president of HOPE Community Corp. He’s pictured in HOPE’s future manufactured-home factory in Eugene along with Bethany Cartledge, deputy director of SVdP and secretary of the HOPE board of directors.

Now, as the executive director of the local Society of St. Vincent de Paul, McDonald has made a career of turning other people’s castoff goods into cash to support low-income housing and the charity’s other anti-poverty initiatives. He easily imagined a creative reuse for the midcentury factory, a space flooded with natural light from paned-glass windows high above the manufacturing floor.

“I looked at this building and said: ‘Someday, I would like to own that building,’” McDonald said. “Old industrial buildings are just kind of fun.”

Over the next year, McDonald and his team will transform the massive space into a nonprofit manufactured home factory capable of producing as many as 80 homes a month.

Known as the HOPE Community Corporation, it’s a unique nonprofit venture, supported by $15 million in housing money from the Oregon legislature. Once the group is up and running in 2023, HOPE could employ more than 100 people to build factory-built homes for low-income families, at a time when many states face a critical housing shortage.

Because manufactured homes are built on an assembly line, they’re less expensive and faster to construct. They’re seen as essential for providing new housing, especially for lower-income buyers who may have been priced out of site-built homes or expensive rental markets. Many housing experts see factory-built homes as an effective way of meeting current housing needs, especially in rural areas.

The average factory-built home costs $106,000 to build, compared with $351,000 for site-built homes, said Lesli Gooch, chief executive officer of the Manufactured Housing Institute, a trade organization that in June exhibited some of the industry's newer home models on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

The techniques used in factory-built homes are the difference between $72 and $140 per square foot in construction costs, Gooch said, though some of those estimates, as with all construction, may have increased recently because of inflation and supply chain issues.

CLICK HERE to read the entire Governing article

Habitat For Humanity's Newest Affordable Home Only Slighter Larger Than a Tiny House

Dorsey Village has two new residents and a pair of freshly completed, adorable kinda-tiny homes. Situated at the bottom of New Hope Drive’s steep hill in the Athens Georgia Area Habitat for Humanity-built community, the houses represent a new model of affordable housing suited for Athens-Clarke County’s unique challenges.

Habitat leadership and volunteers, private builders and other contributors to the project joined Mayor Kelly Girtz and the public on Apr. 26 to dedicate the houses. In addition to hosting open houses, homeowners Faye Hill, a retired housekeeper at Piedmont Athens Regional Hospital, and veteran Nicholas Floyd were presented with their keys. 

“It’s my very first home. This is a very, very special day for me,” Hill said. “I’ve been blessed.”

He and Floyd’s new houses are unique in multiple ways. Not only are they among the few Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) homes sold in Athens-Clarke County, they mark one potential solution to the lack of affordable housing plaguing Athens.

Limited land resources and soaring rents on traditionally-sized houses leave Athens’ working class without homeownership options, said Habitat’s executive director, Spencer Frye, who is also a state representative. He and his colleagues designed the project to take advantage of a loophole in Athens’ zoning policy: Homes in single-family neighborhoods must be at least 1,000 square feet, but those in multifamily zones have a minimum of 600 square feet, allowing for “kinda tiny” homes. Thus, 190 and 195 New Hope Drive are each between 700 and 800 square feet—more than the 500 square feet or less in truly tiny homes, but significantly smaller and more efficient than traditional homes.

“I really wanted to show two things. Number one: We can build small houses, and they look good, and they feel good. Number two: We should be able to choose our own sizes and get rid of these policies that stop smart development from happening,” Frye said.

Habitat has advocated ridding Athens of its zoning policies, which Frye considers vestiges of segregation, for years. Girtz’s task force on the subject, the Inclusionary Housing Working Group, is making progress. Just last month, the first phase of their effort to develop inclusionary zoning was unanimously passed by the Athens-Clarke County Commission. The amendment implements rewards for developers of multi-family residential projects who have units designated for affordable housing. 

“Getting a mayor and commission that understands the importance of the work that we’re doing and is willing to take the steps to look at the codes that preclude cost manageable housing in this community has been a lifetime achievement for me,” Frye said. “The inclusionary zoning rule they just passed—we asked them to do that almost 20 years ago. We finally got people elected that could do it. That’s why I’m so excited.”

Girtz attested to his pleasure at kinda-tiny homes in his speech at the dedication. He said the Inclusionary Housing Group is currently working on the second phase, which involves unique models like tiny homes and how to incorporate them into single-family neighborhoods. Code updates could be completed by late 2022.

“We really need to bring as many tools to the table as possible to increase opportunities,” Girtz said. “I’m glad to see Habitat innovating and finding some different models for residential life in Athens.”

Though the project yielded two charming, environmentally sustainable and fully functioning homes, construction was not smooth sailing. COVID-19 and supply chain hiccups caused significant delays. And because of Habitat’s global policy of no volunteers on-site in response to COVID-19, the homes were finished by private builders. 

CLICK HERE to read the entire Flagpole article

Central PA Lumber Yard Chain Rebuilds Destroyed Panel and Truss Factory - with video

In January 2021, Fire Destroyed One Of The Country’s Oldest Wall And Panel Plants. Like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, Allensville Planing Mill in PA, the plant I built all my walls and trusses from when I was a GC, is seeing a brand new 240,000 sq ft plant being built to replace the one that burned.

It was recently announced that Allensville Planing Mill (APM) was acquired by Your Building Centers (YBC). Rich Lender, President and CEO of YBC reported, “We are looking forward to working with Joe Westover, Rob Morris, and the APM team to assure a smooth transition”. 

Joe Westover, President of APM, said that YBC and APM are a great fit with their similar values and is pleased with the growth in career opportunities for current APM employees. Rob Morris, APM CEO, looks forward to working with YBC and the APM Team, knowing that the new resources will only help to grow the APM business. APM and YBC have similar goals, culture, and values in their respective markets, allowing for a continued commitment of providing exceptional products to customers. Rob stated this: “We are grateful to our Customers, Vendors, and Suppliers, this acquisition will continue to strengthen those relationships”. 

APM began in 1959 by Karl Westover and has been part of the Central PA Business Community for over sixty years. The organization has three True Value® Hardware and Building Supplies Stores and manufactures Roof Trusses, Wall Panels, and Floor Trusses.  “We are grateful for all those who have helped APM throughout the last sixty years – past and present APM Team Members, Vendors and Suppliers, and loyal Customers. I believe that future for APM has never been stronger,” said Joe Westover. 

Your Building Centers (YBC) is a Pennsylvania company currently operating 17 convenient locations throughout central Pennsylvania. YBC serves contractors, builders, remodelers, and do-it-yourselfers with top quality brand name building products that they know and trust. YBC and its predecessor companies have been in business since the early 1900’s. 

YBC operates the following locations under the Your Building Centers (YBC) name: Altoona, Bedford, DuBois, Everett, Huntingdon, Huntingdon Kitchen and Bath, Lock Haven, Milton, Muncy, Philipsburg, State College, Sunbury and Williamsport. In addition to the 13 YBC branded locations, they operate as Berlin Lumber in Berlin, Klinger Lumber in Elizabethville, Robert G. Miller in Hanover and Palmerton Lumber Company in Palmerton. YBC also owns and operates two manufacturing facilities: Keystone Truss and Manufacturing in Beech Creek and Berlin Lumber Truss in Berlin. All YBC companies are located within the state of Pennsylvania.

YBC employs around 375 people, was the nation’s 55th largest lumber building supply company in the country in 2020, and is the largest Pennsylvania employee-owned lumber and building material supplier.

If you would like more information or would like to schedule an interview, please contact Jeff Tressler, Vice President of Sales and Operations Western Division at 814-946-4578 ext. 2970 or Rich Lender, President/CEO at 814-946-4578 ext. 2914.

Oregon Non-Profit Plans to Open Manufactured Housing Factory

In about a year, a new Eugene nonprofit hopes to breathe new life into a former steel plant by bringing in more than 100 workers to make mobile homes for low-income families.

Housing Options Production Enterprise Community Corporation (HOPE) has big plans.

It will be the manufacturer and work alongside St. Vincent de Paul of Lane County, which will operate as the seller. At full capacity, the mobile-home production line will be able to finish two to four homes every work day, staff said. They believe it’s the only non-profit manufacturing facility for mobile homes in the nation.

HOPE was established to respond to the housing shortage for low-income Oregonians, especially the thousands whose homes burned in the 2020 wildfires.

It's a shortage staff said couldn’t be met by the industry, which was already ill-equipped to serve low-income Oregonians unable to afford or access replacements for aging modular homes past the end of their useful life.

The project was launched with the help of $15 million for the Oregon Legislature.

Oregon is 86,000 units short of the affordable units residents need, the nonprofit housing policy advocacy group Up for Growth estimated in its 2022 report on Housing Underproduction in the U.S.

State Rep. Pam Marsh, D-Ashland, said the shortage is closer to 110,000 to 140,0000.

She secured the state’s funding for this endeavor and introduced House Bill 4064, which prohibits local governments from banning manufactured structures in residential areas.

Her district lost 2,500 homes, mostly manufactured and RVs, during 2020’s Almeda Fire. Few of those homes have been replaced.

“It's really hard to come up with manufactured homes,” Marsh said. “So, what do we do about this? We do what Terry McDonald envisioned — we start producing more manufactured homes.”

CLICK HERE to read the entire Register-Guard article

Squandering Opportunities Typical in Offsite Construction Industry

Looking back on my life, I’ve regretted a lot of missed opportunities. Some were personal, like not spending more time with my parents talking about our family’s history or the time I turned down a chance to become a Deacon in my Church.

There have been many squandered opportunities in my business life over the decades. My biggest was not getting any advice when I turned down a chance to sell my convenience store chain to a nationally recognized chain in exchange for a 5% share.

Professionals in the Offsite Construction Industry have been squandering opportunities for years and years. Just ask anyone in the industry and they’ll tell you theirs.

So why are missed opportunities still happening? There is no single answer. It all depends on the situation. One of the most frequently reported factors is lack of focus. Ever since podcasts, live interviews and YouTube videos became the favored way to get information in offsite construction, millions of these have been made. 

FOCUS!

Thousands of industry professionals listen or watch them. However, their focus on the material presented only lasts 7 minutes, according to many studies. 10 to 18 minutes is the attention span for company-directed online meetings and 10 seconds is how long it takes your brain to realize it’s going to turn off a video it doesn’t find interesting.

Every single one of those presentations could have been your next squandered opportunity.

There is, however, one type of live online presentation that sees a dramatic increase in the participants focus. Online peer-to-peer discussion groups focused on common problems tend to see people focused for 50 minutes, especially if the topic is a completely open forum where each person learns from the others and everyone’s input is valued.

That’s exactly what Daniel Small, The Engineerovation™ Renaissance Man, and Gary Fleisher, the Modcoach are offering everyone in the offsite community, a chance to learn from each other in small group video discussions. This is NOT a consulting or teaching service. DaVinci Offsite Construction Roundtable will have both of us available to host these peer-to-peer groups where you can ask people in your same situation what they are doing to solve problems and for you to help others with your experiences.

The next two series of Roundtables, “Preparing for a Downturn” and “Offsite Innovation” begin in the first week of September.

Please don’t let this be another opportunity you’ll look back and regret not signing up for one or both of these sessions. 

Help Managing Your Construction Company's Cash Flow Has Arrived

BlueTape, a leading payments and financing provider for the construction industry, today announced the closing of a $50M debt funding led by Arcadia Funds and a $5M seed round led by Chicago Ventures. Other investors include construction industry executives, real estate developers, and Plug and Play Ventures. 

This funding gives BlueTape the resources to continue providing payments and financing for the construction industry. BlueTape will increase lending, expand its team, and develop new products to help construction businesses address the nation’s housing and infrastructure crisis. 

The US construction industry market size is over $1.3 trillion, made up of over 3 million small and medium-sized businesses. Unfortunately, the industry lags behind others in technology adoption and has been neglected by traditional financial institutions. BlueTape blends affordable financing options with easy-to-use accounts receivable and invoice management tools. Construction pros can use BlueTape credit to buy building materials at any supplier and pay back over time. BlueTape has also forged a community of construction industry dealers and suppliers that offer BlueTape credit instantly to their trade customers. This allows the construction suppliers to lower their risk and improve their cash flow and customer experience. 

“We are excited to partner with BlueTape to provide affordable financing on demand for this industry. With the current economic uncertainty, BlueTape is needed more than ever to help construction businesses of all sizes operate successfully and thrive,” stated Andrew Hallowell, Managing Director and CEO at Arcadia Funds. “Arcadia is constantly on the lookout for these opportunities, having built a powerful portfolio over the past several years by helping similar agile and innovative lenders like BlueTape make lives better with credit.” 

Jackie DiMonte, partner at Chicago Ventures, said, “Given the team’s background, we strongly believe BlueTape is the right company to tackle one of the fundamental obstacles for any construction business. They are paving the way for small businesses in the industry to have access to working capital and benefit from adopting new technology.” 

Key Benefits for Construction SMBs 

● Convenient funding: Quick access to much-needed funding for building materials keeps existing jobs moving and allows for more new revenue-generating projects. ● Designed for SMBs in Construction: Higher approval rate for small construction businesses than other solutions.

● Repay over time: Helping small businesses manage cash flow is more critical than ever in a time of inflation. BlueTape gives contractors up to 120 days to pay their building material invoices. 

● Accepted at nation’s top building material suppliers: BlueTape credit can be used at all the building suppliers that industry professionals use and trust. 

● Easy to use: Managing invoices, collecting payments, and paying bills with BlueTape on mobile is simple and convenient for construction pros who are always on the move. 

“We have had enormous demand from construction businesses for our services since we launched. Inflation and supply chain interruptions mean builders and contractors need more working capital. With the funding from Arcadia and Chicago Ventures, we will be able to help more construction companies get the financing and payments services they need to navigate economic uncertainty and supply chain issues,” said Yaser Masoudnia, CEO and Co-Founder of BlueTape. 

For more information, visit BlueTape.com or Contact: Sara Masoudnia, VP of Marketing. pr@bluetape.com

200 More Units of Affordable Housing Officially Opens in Atlanta

 

Atlanta’s newest affordable house community was officially opened along the Atlanta BeltLine. Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and Atlanta BeltLine President and CEO Clyde Higgs cut the ribbon Wednesday morning on Parkside.

The complex features 1, 2, and 3 bedroom floor plans, a fitness center, and a playground. Rent reportedly ranges from around $700 to $1,500 a month.

Earlier this month, Mayor Dickens convened his Affordable Housing Strike Force announcing the city will invest an additional $58.7 million in the development of housing, preventing evictions and addressing homelessness. The mayor said it is the city’s largest-ever single-year housing investment.

CLICK HERE to read the entire FOX5 article

Offsite Construction Will Help Wales Build 20,000 Low-Carbon Social Homes

When it comes to building huge amounts of homes in a short amount of time, every country is starting to realize that to achieve it, they must embrace offsite and modular construction. The lack of skilled labor to build onsite housing has been a problem and will only get worse as young people are disinterested in working at a jobsite.

Plans to build 20,000 low-carbon social homes for rent in Wales by 2026 have been set out by the Welsh government's climate change minister.

The hope is to tackle both a housing shortage and the nation's greenhouse gas emissions. Housing associations say it could lead to thousands of jobs and training opportunities. All the houses will meet what the government describes as "bold, new quality and environmental standards".

Some could even become miniature power stations, using green technology to generate more electricity than they need. This could then be exported to the national grid to supply other homes.

Spending on social housing for rent in 2021-22 is to be doubled, with ministers committing £250m to the project.

Bethan Proctor, policy and external affairs manager at Community Housing Cymru, said it was a "hugely significant" move.

"It's really going to allow housing associations to begin to decarbonize at pace and scale and will have huge positive impacts."

These could include the creation of 7,000 jobs, and 3,000 training opportunities and help produce almost £2bn of economic output in Wales over the next five years, she claimed.

CLICK HERE to read the entire BBC News article

Gary Fleisher, the Modcoach

Who Really Helps Those Living in Poverty and the Homeless?

On Wednesday of this week, I realized for the first time how State, Federal and even Local Authorities and Agencies that are supporting programs for the poor and homeless, are some of the biggest culprits preventing people from rising out of their situations.

My wife and I have volunteered at a local Food Bank for over 7 years. People that needed help getting enough food came into our food bank where I, as the intake person being the first person they talk with, help them fill in their names and address and ask how many people are in their families.

The people that come in range from Seniors living on a fixed income, those that were recently released from prisons, people that recently became homeless and just about every type of situation you can imagine. Because they feel no one actually listens to them, I hear all their stories and let me say that there are days I go home emotionally exhausted.

I’ve had a retired couple that lost their home to foreclosure that was living in their son’s garage that were told they had to move into a tent in the backyard because their son bought a new truck and was going to need the garage for it. Then there was the 83-year-old man living in poverty that just had an operation and when he went back to his one-room apartment found he had been robbed of everything he owned. Every day brings a new story.

But let’s get back to the meeting this week. Because our food bank accepts Federal and State provisions, the chair of our food bank announced that if someone needs food, they have to fill out a form provided by the Federal government, explain to me what type of assistance they are getting, show a picture ID and have an approval letter from a local community action center.

I looked around at the group and realized that everyone in the room was older and probably middle class. When I asked how someone that doesn’t drive can get the letter before we give them food, several said “that’s their problem.” My heart sank when I thought about how I was going to break it to someone that needs food for their family that very day and must travel many miles to get a letter that requires them to have a permanent address when they are homeless and can’t drive.

I am seeing the same thing with housing for the homeless and the poor.

We all know that “Climate Change”, sustainability, carbon and energy Net Zero codes and regulations are the talking points every building association, University professor, Government agency and city planner are requiring for future buildings. I just watched a YouTube video where the message was about building high-rise apartments for people with jobs within 15 minutes of home, using public transport and having time and money to spend on pleasurable activities.

My question is where do the homeless go for housing? The answer appears to be to put them into converted garden sheds or plastic boxes away from others. Maybe train them for jobs that they can’t get to in 15 minutes because they can’t drive or have access to public transport.

And what happens when people living in poverty are put into those shiny new high rises next door to a working couple with 3 children in daycare, a car for their weekend getaways and good jobs? Just take a minute to mull that over.

Do the homeless and poor really care about carbon emissions, sustainable building materials, Net Zero energy, or being close to public transportation? I can tell you from personal experience of working with them that is the furthest thing from their mind. They simply need shelter, food and either government assistance or a good job.

Our industry has to stop being like the older middle-class group at my food bank meeting saying “that’s their problem.” We have to address the needs of the homeless and poor with the same vigor we’re fighting for Net Zero, Climate Change and Green.

With all our innovations in construction, why are we still housing people in plastic boxes and garden sheds and restricting who gets food?

New Las Vegas High School Dedicated to Construction Trades to Open in 2023

Taking a giant leap forward in preparing young students for a hands-on experience in the construction industry is something more schools should do. The lack of Vo-Tech schools is hopefully going to be a thing of the past if this Las Vegas trade school is any indication.

The Nevada State Public Charter School Authority’s board voted unanimously Monday to approve a new high school focused on construction professions.

Southern Nevada Trades High School is scheduled to open in August 2023 on Bledsoe Lane in Las Vegas — initially, with up to 200 students in ninth and 10th grades. It plans to gradually expand.

After sharing his own experience as a student, school board chairman Brett Willis — who owns Silver Lake Construction Company — said, “I’m still concerned that students are not getting a positive exposure to the trades.”

The school aims to fix that, he said, noting there’s a need to let students see how academics and career and technical education reinforce each other.

As part of the school’s approval, it must meet a handful of state conditions by certain deadlines, such as providing a plan for hiring a principal, a fully executed agreement with ACE High School in Reno for “ongoing services and supports,” a revised budget that includes an English-language learner teacher during the first year, and completing a pre-opening process for new charter schools.

Southern Nevada Trades High School is modeling itself after ACE High School, a public charter school sponsored by the Washoe County School District.

ACE is the gold standard as far as community and school partnerships, charter authority board Chairwoman Melissa Mackedon said.

CLICK HERE to read the entire Las Vegas Review-Journal article