After the HOPE 3 program ended, OHAS continued an aggressive "affordable" housing program, striving to house individuals and families with low income and/or disability. Working closely with Chemeketa Community College's (CCC) Building Trades Class, we constructed a new home a year.

We would acquire a building lot and the CCC class, under the guidance of their instructor, constructed a new home within the school year. The students gained valuable, hands-on, experience, giving them an edge on the competition when they enter the job market.

OHAS gained a home that could be sold to our target population at a "below market" price. It was not uncommon to have the appraised value of these homes to be as much as $10,000.00 higher than the sale price, thus giving the buyer an "instant equity" in their new investment.

House #1    Appleblossom

Started in the Fall of 1998, our first such home sold for only $97,000. A modest three-bedroom, one bath structure with a single car garage, the home appraised for over $105,000.00, benefiting the buyers with "instant equity.".

Before   Laurel   After

The second home was a foreclosure property donated to us by Marion County. We needed to tear down the house, fill and compact the basement area and then construct the new three-bedroom, one and one-half bath, 1231 square foot home. Sold for the bargain price of $98,500.00, the home appraised for over $115,000.00, greatly pleasing the new owners.

Our Last Home:   Milkey Way

Next came a single level, 1230 square foot, three-bedroom, two-bath, with inside utility room and single car garage. The challenge this time was the heavily treed lot. The finished product sold for $115,000.00. Again the appraised value exceeded the sale price, and again we had happy owners.

Shortly after completion of the Milkey Way home, CCC reassessed their Building Trades program and, based on shrinking budgets, and dramatically increasing class costs, opted to terminate the class. Without the necessary "classroom" workforce, OHAS was also forced to terminate the new home construction program.     

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