Back home before winter

VIDA: It’s estimated the Rufous Hummingbird most Oregonians are used to seeing travel about 4,000 miles on their annual migrations to winter in Mexico. But two apparently had somewhere special to be locally when first one, then another chose to land on Robert Campbell.

“After the fire I didn’t know if I could go through a rebuild or not, or restore what was here,” he recalls. “And the hummingbirds came. One sat on each of my hands. A couple more buzzed around me.” It was then he decided “We’re staying. We’re staying for them.”

Campbell, 73, lost his home in the Holiday Farm Fire. Over the following four years from 2020 on, he lived in an RV. That changed last month, thanks to a program backed by Lane County and the McKenzie Valley Long Term Recovery Group (MVLTRG). It provided close to a dozen new manufactured homes in the McKenzie River Valley for families devastated by the Holiday Farm Fire.

One replacement home arrived in May, followed by three more in September. Two more homes are expected this month. Another five should round out the prgram for the new year.

That track record is important, says Mary Ellen Wheeler, a MVLTRG project manager. “We knew they couldn’t spend another winter in an RV,” she says. Called the Rapid Rehousing Initiative, the program is directed toward people with moderate to low level incomes. “Out of the first round were were able to get eight placed,” Wheeler says. “By February we’ll have eleven houses on the ground.”

Besides having elbow room again, what’s on people’s list of positive changes? For Campbell, the first was a shower, followed by laundry.

“When you live in a camper for four years a shower is very valuable,” he feels. And, “being able to walk up to a washing machine and throw dirty things in” is something “people just don’t know until they’re without it,” he says.

His granddaughter, Cassidy, gives the new home a thumbs up as well. “This place is beautiful,” she said. “When I walked in there today I was like, ‘this is so cool.’ We can get to do all our dinners together again and have family gatherings.”

The Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) provided the funding as part of State Wildfire Recovery Funding, allocated for housing-related wild-fire recovery.

“It’s all about trying to keep the community together and as intact as we can,” Wheeler feels. “We’ve learned a lot along the way but the best part is like with Bob. Since the first day his house was delivered, the smile on his face - it’s like ‘I can finally come home.’”

In his own words, Campbell agrees. “It’s wonderfu I mean, what a gift!” It’s heavenly right here.”