Our Northwest

Our Northwest Home on NWPR

Listen for stories about the look and meaning of "home" in the Northwest. Thom Kokenge, Mary Hawkins and Sueann Ramella explore the ways in which we shape our homes and our homes shape us.

This week: Sueann Ramella explores a quintessential Northwest rustic home and Thom Kokenge speaks with an expert on the importance of home to U.S. veterans.

All About Homeless Vets

This FAQ is from the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans.  Their goal is to end homelessness among veterans by shaping public policy, promoting collaboration, and building the capacity of service providers.

Who are homeless veterans?

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) states the nation’s homeless veterans are predominantly male, with roughly five percent being female. The majority of them are single; come from urban areas; and suffer from mental illness, alcohol and/or substance abuse, or co-occurring disorders. About one-third of the adult homeless population are veterans.

Veterans and Home: A Conversation with WSU's Bill Dougherty

 

(Flickr photo by Big Grey Mare)

 Veterans and Home is the topic of our last Our Northwest Home interview. Thom Kokenge speaks with WSU Clinical Professor, Bill Dougherty, a Vietnam era veteran who has worked for the Veteran’s Administration. He specializes in PTSD – post traumatic stress disorder.

Listen here (4:06)

The Torline's Pay As You Go Home: Artistic, Rustic

When we think of the quintessential Northwest home, the image of a rustic log cabin with cedar shingles and a wood stove may come to mind. It’s the type of home a pioneer would live in. Today on Our Northwest, Sueann Ramella brings us the story of one such home in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho, and the modern day pioneers who built it.

Listen here (4:44)

Building and Living Off the Grid in an Idaho Straw Bale Home

Host intro:

If you build a home of straw, will you end up like the first of the three little pigs – in misadventure? Not anymore. Straw bale homes are sturdy, permanent and have a high insulation value, which helps with energy conservation. In this Our Northwest Home feature, Mary Hawkins learns about building and living off-the-grid in a straw bale home.

Listen to the radio feature here (4:25) Link to the video here (11:40)

Idaho Straw Bale Home

Assisted Living: One Story

(photo: residents of Bishop Place in Pullman, WA)

 May McLean has mastered the art of transition. She has moved 14 times. Her first big move was from Scotland to the United States.  She raised two kids in 3 states and every province of Canada except Newfoundland, while her husband worked as a mining engineer.   After his death in 1989 she stayed in Louisiana. 

For health reasons Mrs. McLean decided it was time to live closer to her son, David, who is an engineering professor at WSU. So she moved into an assisted living community in Pullman, Washington. The move from Louisiana to the Palouse sent shivers up her spine.

Listen here

How An Architect Builds: A Conversation with Greg Kessler

(pictured: a sketch of Greg Kessler's new home, now under construction)

Host: Planning to build your dream home? Architect Gregg Kessler says before you do, you must think beyond prevailing notions of “home”, and ask yourself some fundamental questions about what truly matters to you. Mary Hawkins reports in “Our Northwest Home.”

Hawkins: Dream homes are the stuff of everyone’s imagination, according to Greg Kessler. And those notions of home can mislead us into some big homebuilding mistakes. 

Photos of Kessler's Home in Progress

 
Above  is an architectural rendering of the home.  The home includes several internal spaces: two are under the same roof. The rear building that includes the garage (to the right in the above drawing) is detached. Two courtyards figure prominently in the plans.  Below is a photo taken on the evening of  May 17, 2010 from a different angle than the artist's rendering. The siding isn't complete, nor have the window awnings been built - but the structure is almost complete.

Home and Homelessness, A Conversation with Sociologist Beth Fussell

(Flickr photo by Hellojenuine) 

This month we are reporting on “Home.”   What is “home”?  Is it a place, or a feeling, or is it just a name?  The idea of home permeates our language: there’s home town, home coming, home run, home team, phone home, and home on the range.  A home is one’s place of residence. Most people associate it with a sense of comfort and belonging.  Although I’m a grown man, honestly, when I think about going “home”, I think about going to see my Mom – to the house where I grew up.

Home is central to our sense of security and community.

So, what happens when we lose our homes? I recently spoke with Associate Professor of Sociology, Beth Fussell.  Professor Fussell’s research explores how people from New Orleans coped with the loss of their homes and communities after Hurricane Katrina.

Listen here

Chelan and Douglas Counties Effort to End Homelessness

The following piece was produced in December of 2005. Since then, Chelan and Douglas counties have continued the fight to reduce homelessness. Here is the updated status on their plan to end homelessness.

 

[2005] When you think of homelessness ... you probably picture people living on the streets of a big city. In fact, homelessness is also an issue in RURAL places. But often it's not as visible. Correspondent Austin Jenkins recently traveled to Central Washington where Chelan and Douglas counties have teamed-up to reduce rural homelessness.