Submitted by the Orcas Community Resource Center Communications Team.
After eight years of calling 374 North Beach Road home, we are thrilled to share that on Jan. 29, the Orcas Community Resource Center closed on the purchase of our building, securing a permanent home for the work we do alongside our community. This milestone ensures that the help islanders rely on — related to housing, food access, health care and financial literacy — will remain available for generations to come.
The Resource Center is deeply grateful to Jim and Betsy Nelson, who have been the sole owners and careful stewards of the building for more than 45 years. Their trust in the organization and willingness to transition ownership to a community nonprofit made this milestone possible, ensuring the building will continue to serve Orcas Island for decades to come.
“This purchase is a promise to our community,” said Erin O’Dell, executive director. “Owning our building anchors us here for the long term, ensuring the help people rely on—from housing support to financial literacy education—will be available when it’s needed. It allows us to remain a welcoming place where islanders feel respected and comfortable asking for help.”
In 2025 alone, the Resource Center provided more than 15,000 essential services to 750 island households — an average of 63 meaningful connections each day. Owning our building strengthens our ability to continue this work and grow with the community well into the future.
While we previously explored building a new facility on the Pea Patch Campus, the opportunity to purchase our current building offered a more practical and cost-effective path forward. We remain fully committed to the success of the Pea Patch Community Campus and will continue working closely with OPAL Community Land Trust and the Orcas Island Food Bank to meet islanders’ needs, including providing on-site services for campus residents.
As we celebrate this milestone, we look forward to honoring it with the community that made it possible. In the coming months, we’ll share opportunities to gather, say thank you and continue to shape this building as a place of belonging for staff, clients and neighbors across the island.
For more information, please visit orcascrc.org or email info@orcascrc.org
