Rotary club joins small house-building team

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PORT HADLOCK — You’ve arrived in fertile Chimacum, where work abounds on organic farms: harvesting lettuce, apples, blueberries, strawberries.

But where will you live?

At the Community Boat Project in nearby Port Hadlock, various people are determined to solve this puzzle.

“This is a prototype,” said project manager Wayne Chimenti, looking at a tiny house and bathroom being built.

On Tuesday, he was surrounded by his staff as well as a dozen members of the Rotary Club of Port Townsend, hammering, sawing and painting together. This was the second working group after a previous one on March 1.

The 160 square foot house taking shape is called Meadow Manor. On one side, it bears a dandelion-themed mural and the Community Boat Project’s “Shelter from the Storm” logo.

The nonprofit, which also runs boat building and on-water youth programs, has also become a tiny house maker.

“Our next project is affordable housing for farm workers,” Chimenti said. “A person or a young couple or even a small family could live in this one. It’s completely self-contained; it has a separate bathroom”, also a prototype.

“Imagine a village of 10 or 12 of them in a circle with common ground,” he added, “and they all look so gorgeous,” thanks to mural artist Danielle Fodor and his paint crew.

The Community Boat Project is forming a partnership with the Jefferson Land Trust to secure property in Chimacum for these farmworker homes, Chimenti said.

In collaboration with the non-profit Bayside Housing & Services, the project aims to build, furnish and transport these units to where they are needed.

Meadow Manor could be finished by the end of this month, Chimenti said.

While the Chimacum land deal is being finalized, the house is relatively easy to put on a truck and drive to one of Bayside’s transitional housing villages, Peter’s Place in Port Hadlock or Pat’s Place in Port Townsend.

The Community Boat Project also built the Golden Fig Cottage, part of Peter’s Place, and Whispering Willow, one of the small houses in the village of Pat’s Place.

Meadow Manor took about five months to complete, Chimenti said, due to COVID-19 outbreaks coupled with bad weather this winter. The arrival of the Rotary Club was well received and was accompanied by a donation of $10,000 to the Community Boat Project.

“This is the first time we’ve all been together in two years,” Rotarian Carla Caldwell said, holding up her paintbrush.

“It’s not just a shelter,” she added. “We make them beautiful.”

Next to her, Cindy Madsen stood on a ladder, painting the purple trim above the back door of the house.

“I grew up painting houses,” she said, as her father was an architect.

This prototype tiny house differs from those built for Peter’s Place and Pat’s Place, Chimenti noted. Meadow Manor is bigger. It has storage space, shelving, a small kitchen and a ladder up to the full size loft bed.

So it’s for the more agile and younger, he said.

These houses respond to the housing problem of agricultural workers. Existing villages in Bayside, on the other hand, consist of comfortable single-level shelters for the elderly or disabled.

Chimenti and his crew also envision a time when people who live in Tiny Houses can walk into the Community Boat Project’s workshop and build their own Tiny Bathhouses. Having the shower and toilet separate, he said, provides privacy while preventing moisture from entering the living space.

As always, the project is also a source of professional training. Its educational programs are all free thanks to support from the Jefferson Community Foundation, the Satterberg Foundation of Seattle, and the Russell Family Foundation of Gig Harbor, among other funders.

Rotarian Jo Nieuwsma said she loves the job. She admires the project’s focus on young builders.

“Children here are learning good skills,” she said.

Behind her, working on the front door of Meadow Manor, was Carol Brannan, a non-Rotarian. She came with her partner, Rick Shaneyfelt, who is a member of the club. She was enjoying the fact that this task force had no one around her, wondering what to do.

“It’s such a joy to volunteer for something that’s well organized,” Brannan said.

Bottom line, she added, “It’s just such a great idea.”

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Jefferson County Senior Reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3509 or [email protected]

Muralist Danielle Fodor paints the brand new tiny house, named Meadow Manor, at the Community Boat Project store in Port Hadlock on Tuesday. The 160 square foot house is an example of the housing to be built for the Chimacum farm workers. (Diane Urbani de la Paz/Peninsula Daily News)

Muralist Danielle Fodor paints the brand new tiny house, named Meadow Manor, at the Community Boat Project store in Port Hadlock on Tuesday.  The 160 square foot house is an example of the housing to be built for the Chimacum farm workers.  (Diane Urbani de la Paz/Peninsula Daily News)

Muralist Danielle Fodor paints the brand new tiny house, named Meadow Manor, at the Community Boat Project store in Port Hadlock on Tuesday. The 160 square foot house is an example of the housing to be built for the Chimacum farm workers. (Diane Urbani de la Paz/Peninsula Daily News)

During the Rotary Club of Port Townsend Labor Day at the Community Boat Project on Tuesday, a team of women and men worked on a prototype home for Jefferson County Farmworkers.  Left to right, Carla Caldwell, Cindy Madsen and Carol Brannan, all of Port Townsend.  (Diane Urbani de la Paz/Peninsula Daily News)

During the Rotary Club of Port Townsend Labor Day at the Community Boat Project on Tuesday, a team of women and men worked on a prototype home for Jefferson County Farmworkers. Left to right, Carla Caldwell, Cindy Madsen and Carol Brannan, all of Port Townsend. (Diane Urbani de la Paz/Peninsula Daily News)


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