OPAL Newsletters

Stay informed about affordable housing on Orcas Island by reading OPAL newsletters. Please contact our office if you’d like an earlier edition. You might also be interested in OPAL’s Annual Report, which is published in the spring and describes accomplishments of the prior year.

2024 OPAL Fall Newsletter

• Home at Last: Who Will Call Kidder Way Home?
• Community Campus Update: Pea Patch Site Design is Complete!
• Your Support for OPAL Creates Housing Affordability With Long-Term Benefits
• OPAL Welcomes Jami Mitchell and Mandy Randolph

2024 OPAL Spring Newsletter

• A New Chapter at Mount Baker Apartments
• Pea Patch Campus Design Kicks Off
• Helping Nature Take Back the Reddick Forest
• Collaborating to Expand EV Access to OPAL Residents
• Save the Date: Join us for OPAL’s 2024 Annual Meeting

2023 OPAL Fall Newsletter

• Suriadi Burns’ Journey to Home
• Pea Patch Update: OPAL to Acquire Land This Fall
• ‘I Love My Purple Door – Never Had One Before!’
• Kidder Way: 10 New Homes Are on the Way – Hurray!
• Civics Class Bench: A Very Special Senior Project

2023 OPAL Spring Newsletter

• Nurturing the Communities of Wild Rose Meadow
• Growing a Better Safety Net for Our Neighbors
• The “Hidden Homelessness”
• Housing Security Creates Healthier, Happier Families

2022 OPAL Fall Newsletter

• Answering the Need: 10 New Homes on Kidder Way
• Your Support for OPAL Ripples Beyond Orcas Island
• Working in the Moment for the Long Haul
• OPAL and PSCCU Explore Joint Venture

2022 OPAL Spring Newsletter

• Planning for New Kidder Housing is Underway!
• Breathing New Life into the Mt. Baker Apartments
• Northern Heights Fundraising in the Home Stretch
• Save the Dates for the Annual Meeting and OPAL Gala

2021 OPAL Fall Newsletter

• Another Way We Are Keeping Islanders in Their Homes
• OPAL Board Adopts Long-Range Plan for Next Decade
• You Have the Power to Change the Future for Local Residents
• Will You Help Preserve Affordable Rental Housing?

2021 OPAL Spring Newsletter

• Island Loan Fund Helps More Families Secure Housing
• Legislators Working on Bills to Support Affordable Housing
• A Win-Win: Opal Commons Shares Garden Space With Latinx Community
• Kristin Tolle: OPAL Volunteer Extraordinare

2020 OPAL Fall Newsletter

• Happy First Residents Move into April’s Grove Townhomes
• Two OPAL Supporters Leave Their Homes as Legacy Gifts
• Reporting Back: OPAL’s COVID-19 Response
• April’s Grove: What It Took to Make It Happen
• A House Moves and Becomes a ‘Forever Home’

2020 OPAL Spring Newsletter

• Even We Didn’t Know the Need for Rental Housing Was This Big
• OPAL’s Response to COVID-19
• Construction at April’s Grove is Authorized to Continue
• A Priceless Piece of OPAL’s Stewardship: Financial Coaching
• What Does the Future Look Like? And How Will We Get There?

2019 OPAL Fall Newsletter

• You and OPAL: 30 Years on Orcas
• April’s Grove is Under Construction!
• Your Legacy Makes Our Work Together Possible
• Island Loan Fund Continues to Bridge the Gap

2019 OPAL Spring Newsletter

• Housing Touches Us All
• April’s Grove Heads Toward Construction
• “I Want to Help OPAL Help People Like Me”
• Make a Lasting Gift Through OPAL’s Legacy Circle
• June 29: A Day of Fun in Support of April’s Grove

2018 OPAL Fall Newsletter

• If the Walls of a Reddick Apartment Could Speak
• Island Loan Fund: First Loan Makes Home Renovation Possible
• April’s Grove: Donations Still Needed, Moving Forward
• “I Won’t Live Forever, But I Can Help Sustain What OPAL Has Accomplished”
• OPAL Adds Scattered Site Home in Rosario Area

2018 OPAL Spring Newsletter

• We’re in the ‘Home Stretch’ for April’s Grove!
• A Year of Progress: April’s Grove Affordable Rentals
• “Our OPAL Rental Changed Our Lives”
• Legacy Circle Gifts Help Many Lives Now and in the Future
• Island Loan Fund: Invest Locally to Sustain the Island Community

2017 OPAL Fall Newsletter

• Our Newest House Has Led Many Lives
• “It’s Like We All Have to Hold Hands to be Successful in Helping People”
• OPAL Helps Its Homeowners Join the Fiber Revolution!

2017 OPAL Summer Newsletter

• Latest House Arrives from Lake Union
• Grant Enables Loan Fund Launch in 2018
• OPAL Now Owns Land for April’s Grove!

2017 OPAL Spring Newsletter

• Moving Forward Despite Uncertainties
• Next Steps for April’s Grove Rental Housing
• “I’ve been there … I know what it’s like to not have a home.”
• Next Steps: The Island Loan Fund
• Continuing to Meet the Island’s Housing Needs

2016 OPAL Fall Newsletter

• Resounding Support for Housing Initiative
• John Clancy: A Love Letter
• Two Thumbs Up: OPAL’s New Video
• New Rental Neighborhood Named for Former Mayor

2016 OPAL Summer Newsletter

• Making Progress with Community Loan Fund
• Camaraderie and Inspiration at OPAL Gala, August 27
• Perseverance to Build New Rental Housing

2016 OPAL Spring Newsletter

• Ambitious Initiative to Sustain Orcas Vitality
• Hardworking Island Couple in Search of Home
• New Rental Housing to Meet Needs of Orcas Islanders
• “Stability of Own Home is Big Part of Our Staying Here”

2015 OPAL Fall Newsletter

• Your Support of OPAL Helps Orcas Thrive
• Stories of Gratitude and Transformation
• Business Plan: Pathway Forward for Community Loan Fund
• Rental Housing on North Beach Road

2015 OPAL Spring Newsletter

• The Three R’s: Relocating, Recycling, Renovating
• A Wealth of New Talent Joins the OPAL Board
• OPAL’s Legacy Circle: Ensuring the Future
• Community Loan Fund Update

2014 OPAL Fall Newsletter

• One Home Provides a Start for Two Island Families
• The End of the Beginning: OPAL at 25 years
• Meet Some of the New Homeowners
• 25 Years! 100 houses! 25 Artists!

2014 Summer OPAL Newsletter

• Celebrate OPAL’s first 25 years on September 20
• Independence Day Parade Honors – Two Years in a Row!
• Flurry of Homes for Sale Means More Affordable Options for Prospective Buyers

2014 Report to the Community

• 25 Years of Affordable Housing!
• A Few Facts That May Surprise You
• Affordable Housing Matters

2013 Fall OPAL Newsletter

• Stewardship of The Bonnie Brae Forest
• Meet the Proud Owners of the Fifth Recycled House
• Is a Community Loan Fund Part of OPAL’s Future?

2013 Summer OPAL Newsletter

• OPAL Recycled Houses Theme Takes Top Parade Honors
• Save the Date: OPAL’s Annual Benefit Dinner And Gala, September 21
• Grant Funding Will Help OPAL Add Five More Homes

2012 Fall OPAL Newsletter

• Lavender Hollow Renovations: DONE!
• Seven New Homeowners and a New Neighborhood
• OPAL Honors Newest Lifetime Members
• OPAL Awarded Third Place in National Competition

2012 Summer OPAL Newsletter

• OPAL One of Five Finalists for National Leadership Prize!
• OPAL’s Pie Booth Returns August 11th
• Updated OPAL Photo Display at Orcas Center September 7 to 25
• Save the Date: September 22 OPAL’s Annual Gala Benefit Dinner

2011 Fall OPAL Newsletter

• OPAL Resales provide more homeownership opportunities
• Mandy Randolph: Owning an OPAL House Changed Everything
• OPAL Projects Update: Oberon Meadow, Rife House, Lavender Hollow
• Lifetime Members Named, Honored at Annual Gala Benefit Dinner

2011 Summer OPAL Newsletter

• OPAL Recycling Older Houses: A Green Solution
• Pie Booth at Library Fair August 13
• Lavender Hollow: The Work Begins
• Shop the Rock Via OPAL’s Online Auction
• Save the Date: October 1 OPAL’s Annual Gala Benefit Dinner

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