Join us for a ground breaking celebration!!!!
The founders of Camp Quixote never intended to create a permanent tent camp. They hoped to build a permanent village where they could be warm and dry. Their vision was – and still is – to build a community of 30 tiny cottages and a central community building that includes showers, laundry facilities, a shared kitchen and social and meeting space. They also hope to plant a vegetable garden and fruit trees, and to start one or more micro-enterprises that could bring in income to support the Village and its residents.
It’s taken a long time, but we are close to realizing that dream.
We have a Village site. Thurston County has agreed to provide a 2.17 acre site on Mottman Road, about half a mile west of South Puget Sound Community College. The Olympia City Council unanimously passed an ordinance that allowed us to apply for and receive a conditional use permit to build on this site.
We have major grants from the state and federal government. The Washington state legislature included $1.5 million in its 2012 capital budget for Quixote Village construction. In addition, Thurston County sponsored a successful federal Community Development Block Grant application for $604,000.
And we have strong community support. So far, local citizens, the Nisqually and Chehalis Tribes, and private donors have given over $150,000 to the capital campaign to build Quixote Village.
We need to raise an additional $300,000 to fully fund construction of the Village, to pay for furniture and appliances, and to establish a reserve fund. We hope to reach this goal in the next few months, and to break ground for the Village in April, 2013.
If all goes well, Village construction could be complete by Christmas, 2013 – and that would make it the best Christmas ever for Camp residents who have been living in tents.
