Il!'' ^îortlanb © bseruer___________________________ Aprii 27.2005 PascAS Investment Builds31 New Columbia HOST Development, a local non-profit housing developer is the largest single-builder at New Columbia, the new neighborhood in north Portland being built from scratch in what once stood as Columbia Villa. Founded in 1989, HOST builds quality, affordable homes for indi- | viduals and families earning be­ Hope Minor (from left) and sister Amanda Fredricks were two o f tween 70 percent and 100 percent nine female students in Benson's home construction project. o f median family income, which is currently $67,900 for a family of four. Since 1989, the group has built almost 250 homes in north and Northeast Portland. on the framing of the house and the C onstruction on the H OST j second year is where most of the homes began at the end of Febru­ construction happens. The stu­ ary and are available for pre-sales dents spend half o f their school now. For information call 503-331 - day outside of the classroom and 1752, exten sio n 100 o r visit learn about the whole facet of build­ www.hostdevelopment.com. ing ahouse. Unfortunately, theelec- trical department at Benson still is not included in the process. by N icole H ooper “This is a great way of teaching T he P ortland O bserver Calling it the end of a school students about not only the con­ project is an understatement. Stu­ struction industry but also other dents at Benson High School in career choices that involve this in­ northeast Portland have just fin­ dustry,” said Franciscone. He estimates that 30 to 50 per­ ished building a 2,200 square foot cent of the students now have ca­ home in two years. reers in construction and many at­ The Benson Construction De­ tend Oregon State University to partment is famous for building major in engineering. beautiful homes for the local com ­ “The big picture is that over half munity for the past several years. are doing something related to their The newest house is on the corner major here at Benson,” Franciscone o f N ortheast 77th Avenue and continued. Klickitat Street. The school’s archi­ Richard W eber graduated from tecture and drafting students also Benson in 1974 and believes his gained experience on the project. experience while attending Benson Tony F ranciscone has been The non-profit group HOST De­ was invaluable as both a construc­ teaching at Benson for over 10 years velopment is building 8 0 qual­ and personally supervised the con­ tion worker and teacher. ity affordable homes for pur­ Most of the houses are in north­ struction of five houses. During chase in the New Columbia east and southeast Portland and the students’junior year, they work neighborhood o f north Portland. Benson Builders Construction majors gain experience Potential buyers (above) visit the newt "Benson House" on Northeast 7 T h and Klickitat Street. sell quickly. “We get over 20 people some­ times, making an offer on the house before it’s done. We just can’t do that because the house hasn’t ran through all the final inspections, also, people tend to want to make changes,” W eber added. The Benson houses are never on the market long and the pro­ ceeds o f each house goes towards the building of the next house in two years. This year, Carranza Marble and G ra n ite d o n a te d g ra n ite countertops, GC1 Commercial Paint­ ers provided interior and exterior paint and plumbing materials and expertise was donated from Bruner Plumbing. “This is the m ost donations w e ’ve had on a h o u s e ,” Franciscone said. The three bedrooms two and a half baths home was constructed by 30 students, nine of which were female. S is te r s H o p e M in o r an d A m anda Fredricks, both juniors, used the opportunity to learn about construction so they could w ork with their father after gradu­ ation. W ith m ost o f the students in a departm ent being m ale, M i­ nor and Fredricks felt they were treated like equals. The students, te a c h e r s and th e new hom eow ners will all benefit from the positive and educational ex ­ perience over the past tw o years. M any stu dents d o n ’t get this level o f hands on experience. “W e’ve already built a house and we are only 17 years old,” said Minor, smiling. A re yo u a w o m a n o f a "c e rta in a g e ? " Are you an African American woman between 35 and 55 years old Help us evaluate a program about sex and relationships! $20 for your time Fill out 2 surveys and try a new computer software program May 1st - Come see us at “May Day Affair” in these locations: It's About Hair and Hair Creations For more information about this research study call: W orking fo r a C lean Energy Future We can help you lower your energy bills and conserve Oregon’s resources. 1-866-730-3211 Homeowners and businesses can get free energy-saving recommendations, cash incentives fo r improvements and referrals to qualified contractors. 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