A new non-profit organization in Otley is working to develop the community and make it more suitable for workforce housing in Marion County.

Hope Inc. Otley is a group of current and former residents of Otley that share a vision to clean up the community to make it suitable for new housing projects and to build affordable housing that allows local businesses to retain employees. Kelly Mitchell with the organization says that they also hope to rebuild a sense of community through regular events, and that a potential long-term goal is to build a place for community members to meet for those events.

“We’ve been in conversations with home builders who are interested in building about what we can do to get more housing within the city. And I think long term, some of our efforts are, what would it look like if we were to get enough support and get enough progress going that we could build like a community center, a place for the town to use those kinds of things? What kind of community events can we provide to create that sense of community, to create that know your neighbor kind of thing.”

As part of the organization’s efforts, Hope Inc. Otley will hold their Fall Clean Up Day on October 28th from 8 am to 3 pm. Find more information about the clean up day below and hear more about Hope Inc. Otley on this weekend’s In Touch with South Central Iowa.