Concept rendering of Heart of Oregon Corps campus by BBT Architects. The nonprofit has purchased 3.44 acres in Redmond for $1.25 million.
Courtesy of Heart of Oregon Corps
James Miller is the construction and safety manager for the Oregon YouthBuild program, a part of Heart of Oregon Corps, but before that he was a trainee in the program. After he graduated from Redmond High School, Miller was having trouble getting a job and didn’t have a clear career path.
“I just didn’t see past ‘right now.’ And that was one of the big things that YouthBuild Heart of Oregon did,” Miller said, “they kind of encouraged me to look past ‘right this second.’”
Annually, Heart of Oregon helps a few hundred low-income young people with job training and educational support. Now, the nonprofit has purchased 3.44 acres in Redmond for $1.25 million. The land, which comes with two buildings, will be used to build a central campus for the nonprofit and the trainees they serve.
“Having that central location is going to be huge,” Miller said.
Construction is set to start this fall. Heart of Oregon is trying to raise $2.6 million to complete the build by 2026.
Rather than having locations scattered throughout Central Oregon, operations will be centered in Redmond with two remaining satellite locations in Madras and Prineville.
Heart of Oregon purchased the land from Opportunity Foundation of Central Oregon.
“The sale of this property to the Heart of Oregon continues to embrace the importance of workforce development,” Opportunity Foundation Executive Director Lindsey Dulian said in a press release.
Heart of Oregon provides training in childcare, forestry and construction, three of Central Oregon’s in-demand industries.
Two-thirds of participants live in Deschutes County, and the remainder are from Jefferson and Crook Counties said Heart of Oregon Executive Director Laura Handy.
People find their way to the program by word of mouth, she said, either from current participants, social service providers or schools. That’s how Miller found his way into the construction program.
He remembers building a house in Redmond, and said, “the thing that drew me was we were working in our community to give back and to make a tangible difference in somebody’s life.”
More than a decade later, Miller said he’s worked on hundreds of houses, but whenever he drives past that first house he takes note.
“It’s got kind of a special place for me,” he said.
