Habitat for Humanity’s Ashland wall-raising Saturday a joyous affair

Habitat for Humanity volunteers help raise a wall for a home in the Beach Creek development in Ashland. Affordable homes are in short supply in the city. Julia Sommer photo for Ashland.news
April 25, 2024

Progress made on two homes at Beach Creek; info session May 13 for potential applicants for another project

By Julia Sommer for Ashland.news

Walls were raised for the first two Habitat for Humanity homes in Ashland in almost two decades Saturday at a joyous event attended by about 100 people at the new Beach Creek development off North Mountain Avenue just northeast of the railroad tracks.

The Rev. Dan Fowler and Rabbi Julie Benioff blessed the Habitat wall-raising with sweet springtime prayers. Julia Sommer photo for Ashland.news

Supervised by construction workers, the Cohen-Reyes and Martinez families helped raise their long-awaited walls, along with Rep. Pam Marsh, Habitat and city of Ashland employees and Ashland construction manager John Fields. 

Ashland Presbyterian minister the Rev. Dan Fowler and Temple Emek Shalom Rabbi Julie Benioff blessed the event on behalf of the faith communities who have joined to support this project: Ashland’s First Presbyterian Church, Temple Emek Shalom, Trinity Episcopal Church, Grace Lutheran Church, First United Methodist Church, and the Center for Spiritual Living in Medford.

The two lots were donated by KDA Homes, builder of the Beach Creek subdivision. Like other dwellings in the subdivision, the Habitat homes will be fire-hardened, energy-efficient and built with solar panels. 

There will be a special application orientation for another Habitat project in Ashland on Williamson Way. The meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday, May 13, in Wesley Hall at First United Methodist Church, 175 N. Main St. For more information, contact Brandon Thoms, Habitat program and operations director, at bthoms@roguevalleyhabitat.org.

Email freelance writer Julia Sommer of Ashland at juliamsommer@gmail.com.

The two Habitat families are already friends and will work on their houses side by side. Julia Sommer photo for Ashland.news

Related stories:

Habitat for Humanity Rogue Valley breaks ground on two Ashland lots (Jan. 12, 2024)

Rogue Valley Habitat for Humanity on track to build at Ashland’s Beach Creek subdivision (Nov. 8, 2023)

Brandon Goldman, Director of Community Development for the city of Ashland, and Denise James, Executive Director of Rogue Valley Habitat for Humanity, addressed the crowd. Both have worked for years to make this project possible. Julia Sommer photo for Ashland.news
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Bert Etling

Bert Etling is the executive editor of Ashland.news. Email him at betling@ashland.news.

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