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53 °F Forecast | Road Cams Friday, January 28, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Opportunities Moving to Southern Oregon? MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend May 16, 2004 From left, Ken Johnson of Eagle Point, Brian Pahl of Medford and Dennis Bleser of Grants Pass drill holes for anchor posts to support playground equipment at the nearly completed Lilac Meadows Apartments. Mail Tribune / Jim Craven A gift of playtime Leadership project helps migrant workers’ children By MEG LANDERS Mail Tribune Brian Pahl feels good about creating a place where kids can play. Better still, his volunteer help benefits kids who really need it. "Helping both low-income people and specifically kids of low-income people is appealing," said Pahl who owns Quality Systems Integration in Medford. Advertisement Pahl is one of 36 local business people in the Chamber of Medford/Jackson County leadership class who devoted their weekend to digging holes and erecting new playground equipment at Lilac Meadows Apartments. They continue their work today. In addition to installing the equipment, the group raised $5,700 for the cost of the play structure, complete with slides, ladders and monkey bars. The playground is part of the $7.5 million Lilac Meadow Apartment housing project, the first of its kind in Oregon. The 82-unit complex, developed by the Housing Authority of Jackson County and the Community and Shelter Assistance Corporation of Oregon, is under construction on a 5.35-acre parcel on Cummings Road near Table Rock Road in Medford. Many sources are funding the project, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, IRS Tax credit program and the Oregon Trust Fund. The Housing Authority is now taking applications for renters. The complex will consist of 20 units of migrant farm labor housing and 20 units of year-round farm labor housing. Forty-two units of year-round affordable housing will be available, which will be marketed to the general population with a preference for agricultural workers transitioning out of farm work. The project is designed to help seasonal workers establish themselves in a community so that as they move into other jobs, they don’t have to move out of their farm labor housing and take their children out of schools. The migrant and year-round unit rents will be structured so that the tenant’s share is 30 percent of gross adjusted annual income. The rent for the affordable housing portion will range from $379 for a one-bedroom unit to $525 for a three-bedroom unit. Jim Kuntz of the Housing Authority, also a Medford councilman, said applicants will be screened. Criteria will exclude people with criminal records and poor rental histories. "We probably don’t want you evicted from other places," he said. He said national origin is not an issue. Contractors are installing windows, siding and shingles in some of the apartments, so renters could actually be moving in within a month, said Kuntz. Monica Patridge of the Chamber of Commerce, who heads up the leadership class, said the project is right in line with the Chamber’s goals. She said last year’s class renovated the play area at the On Track mothers home. The program seeks to help local business people gain a comprehensive understanding of the community. "They can actually see that a small group of people can get something done," she said. "And it’s also to give something back to the community." For more information, contact the Housing Authority of Jackson County, 779-5785, extension 1000. Reach reporter Meg Landers at 776-4481 or e-mail [email protected] . 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