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OPAL Community Land Trust

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Orcas, WA
OPAL Community Land Trust

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Affordable Homes ✢ Healthy Community
www.opalclt.org

10/05/2026

We’re excited to welcome Bethany Hansen to the OPAL team as our new Expense Accountant & CRM specialist!

Read More: https://www.opalclt.org/meet-bethany-hansen/

09/10/2026

Introducing Alexis Annis: Director of Finance & Operations

For Alexis Annis, joining OPAL marks a kind of homecoming. After nearly 30 years in New Orleans, Alexis has returned to the Pacific Northwest, close to her childhood roots in Oregon. Coming to Orcas is an easy landing place, as her family has been connected to the island for many years.

Read More: https://www.opalclt.org/meet-alexis-annis/

09/08/2026

An investment in affordable housing is an investment in people.

Meet Carol Anderson.

Carol is an herbalist, jeweler, artist, mentor, and entrepreneur. But before she built her life and creative work on Orcas Island, she spent ten years living in a school bus.

In 2000, Carol bought her Bonnie Brae home through OPAL. Having a permanent place to call home gave her something she hadn't always had: the freedom to stop worrying about where she would live next and start focusing on what she wanted to create.

"When you don't have to worry about your housing disappearing every two years, something changes inside you."

For Carol, that stability meant taking the training wheels off her business and leaning fully into her creative vision as an herbalist and jeweler.

Affordable housing is about more than having a place to live. It gives people the stability and freedom to build, create, take risks, and contribute to the community they call home.

When we invest in affordable housing, we invest in the people who make Orcas Island extraordinary.

Read Carol's full story: https://www.opalclt.org/carol-anderson/

09/04/2026

Orcas Island has a funny way of making people feel at home.
You come for a summer. You stay for a season.

Then somehow, years later, you’re still here—raising kids, opening the shop, fixing the pipes, teaching the class, making the coffee, caring for a neighbor.

But there’s one little problem: Home is getting harder to afford.

And when the people who make an island work can’t afford to live here, something important starts to disappear, the people and relationships that make a community a home.

That’s why International Day of Charity, September 5, matters.

Charity can mean many things. A meal. A helping hand. A gift when someone needs it most. But sometimes, charity can be something bigger: It can be making room.

At OPAL, that means creating and preserving permanently affordable homes so that the people who call Orcas home have a chance to stay home.

It means turning generosity into something you can walk through, sit in, raise a family in, and pass on.

And with new housing opportunities, Lydia Lane Modular Housing, the Pea Patch Community Campus and community partnerships taking shape, there is more work ahead.

So today, we’re asking you to make a little room for someone else.

Give to OPAL: https://www.opalclt.org/donate/donate-now/

Because an island is more than beautiful places. It’s the people who keep showing up.

09/02/2026

Every morning, someone unlocks the bakery.
Someone starts the ferry shift.
Someone opens the shop, checks on a neighbor, builds a house, cares for a child.

It’s easy to think of these as just jobs. But together, they’re what makes ** Orcas home. **

This Labor Day, we’re celebrating the people who show up for this island and the homes that help them stay.

That’s why OPAL does what we do.

** Happy Labor Day, Orcas. **

09/01/2026

An investment in affordable housing is an investment in people.

Meet Delmi Sanchez.

If you've enjoyed a meal at Delmi's restaurant, you've experienced a piece of the dream she worked so hard to build. Today, Delmi is a restaurant owner and entrepreneur, but her journey to owning a business began more than 20 years ago.

When Delmi left El Salvador, she left behind a secure career as a teacher to pursue new opportunities in the United States. After years of working double shifts as a cook and housecleaner, finding an affordable OPAL rental gave her the stability she needed to follow her dream and start her own restaurant.

Then OPAL housing changed everything.

"Home is knowing my daughter has a safe place to grow up, the opportunity to dream big, and a community that believes in her."

Affordable housing is about more than having a place to live. It provides stability, opportunity, and the ability to build a future in the community you call home.

When we invest in affordable housing, we invest in the people who make Orcas Island extraordinary.

Read Delmi's full story: https://www.opalclt.org/delmi-sanchez/

08/24/2026

An investment in affordable housing is an investment in people.

Meet Laurie Michael.

If you've stopped by Orcas Island Market, you've likely seen Laurie's work. As the lead for bakery and deli displays, she helps create the welcoming shopping experience so many islanders enjoy every day.

Laurie fell in love with Orcas Island in the 1980s and spent years doing what many working families here know all too well: juggling multiple jobs, raising her daughter as a single mom, and moving from place to place to stay on the island.

Then an OPAL home changed everything.

"I know I'm never going to lose my home and my daughter will always have a place to return to."

Affordable housing is about more than having a place to live. It provides stability, peace of mind, and the ability to build a future in the community you call home.

When we invest in affordable housing, we invest in the people who make Orcas Island extraordinary.

Read Laurie's full story: https://www.opalclt.org/lauri-michaels/

08/18/2026

An investment in affordable housing is an investment in people.

Meet Gary Bauder.

If you've taken your recycling to the transfer station, you've likely benefited from Gary's work. As a heavy equipment operator with Orcas Recycling Services, he helps process nearly every piece of trash and recycling generated by islanders and visitors alike.

Gary is also a musician, a former business owner, and a longtime member of our community. Like so many essential workers on Orcas, he faced a difficult reality: finding a way to continue living on the island he loves.

"I knew OPAL was my only bet for staying on the island," Gary says. "Now I pinch myself every day to have the security of my own home."

Affordable housing does more than provide a roof over someone's head. It creates stability, allowing people like Gary to continue contributing their talents, skills, and dedication to the community we all cherish.

When we invest in affordable housing, we invest in the people who make Orcas extraordinary.

Read Gary's full story: https://www.opalclt.org/gary-bauder/

06/16/2026

Lace up your walking shoes and join OPAL homeowner, island historian, and storyteller Rusty Diggs for a guided tour of OPAL's affordable housing neighborhoods!

Cost: Free! (Donations appreciated).

Reserve your spot now by emailing [email protected] or scanning the QR code.

05/22/2026

Lydia Lane is officially FULLY FUNDED!

Together, our community raised the full $15,000 needed to prepare the site for five new modular homes — bringing affordable housing one big step closer to reality on Orcas Island.

Thank you to everyone who donated, shared, supported, and believed in this project. This is what community looks like.

And as we celebrate, don’t forget to keep supporting the amazing organizations still fundraising through GiveOrcas!

Address

286 Enchanted Forest Road
Orcas, WA
98245

Opening Hours

Monday	9am - 5pm
Tuesday	9am - 5pm
Wednesday	9am - 5pm
Thursday	9am - 4pm
Friday	9am - 4pm

Telephone

(360) 376-3191

Website

http://www.opalclt.org/

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