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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (July 2, 2015)
july2 2015 www.vernoniasvoice.com reflecting the spirit of our community CAT Self Help Program Makes Home Ownership Dreams Come True By Scott Laird this, it helps me to be here and meet people like Jessica and Jason and hear their story,” said Bon- Community Action Team (CAT) is par- amici. “It helps me to be able to see what this ticipating in a pilot program in Northwest Oregon means for a family and see the difference this is that is helping families restore houses and become going to make, not just for them and their children first time homeowners. and their future, but for the neighborhood. It’s a On June 18, CAT held an open house at wonderful program.” one of their current projects in St. Helens to show- What is unusual about the program is that, case the program. US Congresswoman Suzanne usually these types of self-help programs are used to buy vacant lots and build houses from the ground up, explained Ru- ral Development’s Walker. “CAT recognized that there are a lot of vacant houses already, so why not repurpose those houses and put the money that would normally go into building them, into rehabbing them. It’s finding a different way to make these programs work.” “We couldn’t do this without the USDA financing tools,” says CAT Program Administrator Casey Mitchell. CAT is one of only two organi- zations in the entire United States Jessica and Jason Smith are renovating their new home providing this unique, pilot, self- with the help of Community Action Team. help program; the other program is Bonamici stopped by to learn about the project in Utah. from new homeowners Jason and Jessica Smith. Not only does the program help create first “I’m such a supporter of this program be- time homeowners, it also helps clean up and revi- cause it’s a win-win for the community, it helps talize neighborhoods by turning what had been a the family, and it helps the neighborhood” said potential eyesore and a problem, into a home for a Congresswoman Bonamici. family. The new homeowners are usually young, The Self-Help Acquisition Rehabilitation with families, who are physically capable of in- Program (SHARP) provides low interest financing vesting the sweat equity needed to do the rehab for the purchase and rehabilitation of an existing work. They bring new energy, enthusiasm, and home in Columbia, Clatsop or Tillamook County. pride of ownership to the neighborhood and, as Potential homeowners must be income and credit Walker noted, often bring children into the school qualified and can earn instant equity by providing district. labor to make needed repairs to the home. This is the second project CAT has initi- The program is financed through the Unit- ated in Columbia County and they have one more ed States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) pending. They currently have completed one proj- Rural Development office. Vickie Walker, the Or- ect in Clatsop County and have two others in prog- egon State Director of USDA Rural Development ress there. was also on hand in St, Helens for the visit. Mitchell says he is actively looking for The USDA loan package covers the cost more potential and qualified applicants. of the house and materials needed to make repairs. The qualification process can be very rig- The homeowner is required to supply thirty hours orous and can take from several months to one of labor per week. year. “USDA has some great tools for working “As somebody who has to vote for fund- with low income families, but at the same time, ing for the USDA and safety net programing like continued on page 8 inside 9 bca is now faith west 10 equestrian state results 10 taylor named ford scholar 15 where do you read the voice? free VERNONIA’S volume9 issue13 100 th Columbia County Fair and Rodeo Features John Michael Montgomery This year marks the 100 th anniversary of the Columbia County Fair and Rodeo. To celebrate, the fair will feature an opening evening concert with country music star John Michael Montgomery. The Columbia County Fair runs from July 15-19. This is the first time the fair has featured a top lev- el music performer in concert. The concert takes place on Wednesday, July 15 at 8:00 pm. Early bird tickets are just $30 and includes fair admission; ticket price increases to $37 the day of the show. Montgom- ery’s long and sto- ried recording career began in 1992. He has recorded eleven albums and had more than thirty singles reach the Billboard country charts, in- cluding seven that hit number one. Opening for Montgomery at 7:00 pm is Showdown, a John Michael Montgomery plays at the high energy, honky- Columbia County Fair Wednesday, July 15. tonk show. The NPRA Rodeo is always a highlight of fair week and will be held Friday and Saturday evenings, starting at 7:00 pm. The Junior Rodeo takes place Thursday evening at 6:00 pm. The rodeo is followed by concerts on Friday night at 9:30 pm with the Pacific Northwest country/rock sounds of Breaking Midnight and on Saturday with Briana Renea from Canby, OR who blends country and rock. Renea will play an acoustic set at 2:30 pm and perform with her full band at 9:30 pm. The Rodeo Court Pageant takes place on Saturday, be- ginning at 1:00 pm. Other entertainment at this year’s fair includes an eve- ning concert with Countryfied on Thursday, July 16 at 8:00 pm. Also on stage throughout the fairgrounds this year during the week will be Joe Dylan, Rabbit Agility, Professor Bamboozle, Dr. Solar, Brady Gross, Manfred the Talking Horse, Mind Surf- ing, Alex Zerbe, Kory Johnson, Leapin’ Louie, Next of Kin, and Hit Machine. The carnival opens daily at noon. Ride Bracelets are available for early purchase for $23; they will be $30.00 at the continued on page 12 Eagle Scout Project Helps Shelter Dogs Dogs at the Columbia Humane Society have a new way to exercise courtesy of a local Boy Scout. Jordan Hoffman, age 17, from St. Helens, is working towards his Eagle Scout certification and chose to construct some agility equipment in an enclosed run where dogs at the shelter exercise daily. Hoffman is affiliated with St. Helens Second Ward Scout Troop #142. Hoffman’s project included the installation of several tunnels, a staircase, an A-frame ramp, a teeter totter and more. A hoop for jumping through, hurdles, and weave poles were also donated to the project. Hoffman installed a fence to divide the already established run into two sections so that more than one dog can use the area at the same time. “I’ve always been interested in animals, so doing something for the Humane Society just seemed like the right thing for me to do for my Eagle Scout project; it was something that I was actually interested in.” said Hoffman. Hoffman organized volunteer help from his church, along with family and friends and spent three days building the project. He received donations of construction materials from the Columbia County Road Department, Knife River, Dahlgren’s Building Supply, and family members. “This would not have been possible without Jordan’s help,” says Columbia Humane Society Executive Director Dean Cox. Dog agility is a sport in which a handler directs their dog through an obstacle course in a race for both time and accuracy. continued on page 9
