PORT ANGELES — Eight new homes on West 15th Street in Port Angeles will be dedicated Friday, the Peninsula Housing Authority has announced.

The celebration will be at 3 p.m. in the 1800 block of West 15th Street.

Participants built the homes through the Mutual Self Help Housing Program.

Instead of a down payment, each family worked a minimum of 32 hours a week building their home and their neighbor’s homes until all eight houses were complete, all while maintaining their regular jobs and caring for their families.

Homeowners were allowed to have friends and extended families help by contributing up to 16 of these 32 hours.

Those in the program range from young families and families with no children, as well as single-parent households. They include health care workers, educators and service industry workers.

“These families all had one thing in common: They had a dream to own their own home,” said Melanie McCaughan of the housing authority.

“This dream has been achieved through hard work each and every week.”

Community donations were received from the Port Angeles Association of Realtors, which provided down payment assistance to those in need; North Olympic Builders Association, which donated construction tools and Rural Community Assistance Corporation, which provided technical grant funding support.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture provided Rural Development Technical Assistance grant funds to pay for staff, equipment and administration of the program, and loans to homeowners to cover lot and construction costs.

Department of Housing and Urban Development SHOP funds were administered by Community Frameworks to purchase and develop land.

Peninsula Housing Authority has previously assisted in the construction of more than 90 homes through the Mutual Self Help Home Building program.

“These homes are being built utilizing the ‘old fashioned barn-raising’ concept that working together much can happen,” McCaughan said.

“Our construction supervisor provides guidance and instruction on use of tools and construction techniques and ensures that the homes are built to code and pass all inspections.”

The Mutual Self Help Home Building Program is accepting applications for future home builders.

There are current openings for families in the next group at Cedarglen Terrace II on 11th Street and in Forks on Maloney Lane. Peninsula Housing Authority provides pre-purchase counseling, education and credit repair counseling for prospective participants.

For more information, contact McCaughan at Peninsula Housing Authority, 360-452-7631 ext. *822 or email mmccaughan@ peninsulapha.org.