The trenching is moving ahead at Village of Hope slated for completion early in 2006.

Through the combined efforts of the Village of Hope Builder Captains; Oltmans Construction, William Lyon Homes, John Laing Homes, and the Lennar Communities, more than 250 trades and suppliers have donated labor and materials to this HomeAid Orange County shelter develpment that will ultimately serve homeless families.

As of this writing, the John Laing Homes' team is in the process of completing the south dorm's second and third floors where Leonard's Carpet Service is finalizing the flooring installation on both levels; and Lennar Communities has completed fifty percent of the child development center, with the remaining half ready for the next phase of construction.

Located on Red Hill near Barranca Street in Tustin, Village of Hope is a $24 million, 130,000 square-foot multi-use facility designed by Gensler Architects and Axcess Architects that consists of two refurbished barracks; a kitchen; dining areas; a donation intake warehouse; and an 8,000 square-foot auditorium, along with support office space designed to serve as the nucleus for the site.

This development slated to become a national model of successful base re-use planning, is the result of a multi-entity collaboration. The dynamic partnership efforts of Village of Hope care provider, the Orange County Rescue Mission; HomeAid Orange County and its Builder Captains; the Building Industry Association; the City of Tustin; and a host of other individual and corporate contributors is a clear demonstration of the utilization of private and public partnerships as a means to successfully redevelop closed U.S. military bases to help the homeless. The Village of Hope is the largest undertaking in HomeAid's 16-year history and is slated for completion early in 2006.

For information, please call HomeAid Orange County (949) 553-9510 or visit www.homeaidoc.org