"Houses were priced out of our income level," said Morlock, a guide for Moab Cyclery and Escape Adventures.
Community Rebuilds — a nonprofit organization that seeks to improve workforce housing in Moab through the construction of affordable energy-efficient homes. The group hauled off Morlock and Boxrud's pink, single-wide trailer and replaced it with a light green home that includes more than a few unique features.
Niehaus, who has a master's degree in social work and experience as a loan officer, said she first got the idea for Community Rebuilds in 2003. That was two years before the Southeastern Utah Association of Governments conducted a housing study that showed just how dire the affordable housing situation was in Moab.
"(The study) showed that 35 percent of the housing stock in Moab was considered dilapidated or unacceptable," Niehaus said. "The majority of the homes are pre-1976 manufactured homes."
Many of those manufactured homes had been brought to town during the uranium boom, which began in the 1950s. Their age and condition often made them the only affordable option for the folks who "run the machine" that keeps Moab's tourism industry alive.
The floor plan for those homes is relatively simple: three bedrooms, two bathrooms and less than 1,000 square feet. And the people who build them are all interns who receive a food stipend and a place to stay during the four months it takes for construction. The Republic
