By the Toledo Tribune
In a town like Toledo, where the river leans in close and listens to our stories, you get to know the shape of a neighbor’s heart long before you know what they do for a living. And if you’ve lived here long enough—five generations, say—you don’t just know the town. You are the town.
Sheila Stiley is one of those people. Not a headline or a hashtag, not a corporate developer from far away with big promises and short roots, but a woman whose people have walked this land longer than most of our streets have had pavement. She’s the director of Northwest Coastal Housing, and last week, I sat with her for over two hours at Bruster’s Whimsy. We talked about housing, yes—but mostly about hope. About the kind of hope that rolls up its sleeves and gets to work.
What’s being built here in Toledo is called Olalla Meadows. It’s a 30-unit apartment complex on just one acre of a 19-acre parcel off Sturdevant Road. It’s a small footprint in a large, natural space—leaving more than enough room for future paths, trails, and the estuary access some had hoped for. This isn’t a sprawling development. It’s a thoughtful addition. The City of Toledo is drafting a land lease agreement with Northwest Coastal Housing, allowing the city to retain ownership of the land—a partnership that ensures both accountability and public stewardship.
And long before the first stake was driven, the land was reviewed by specialists in wetlands and marsh ecology to ensure responsible development and the protection of sensitive habitats.
Concerns about tsunami zones have also surfaced. To be clear: the Olalla Meadows site is not in a tsunami inundation zone. It was chosen with safety, ecology, and community access in mind.
More than just units, this project includes three apartments designated as Permanent Supportive Housing for individuals earning 30% of the Area Median Income (AMI), and the remaining 27 units will support households up to 60% AMI—providing stability for working families, veterans, and those priced out of the private market. The project is being supported in part by Lincoln County’s Community and Economic Development Fund, which is helping cover architectural and engineering costs to get this development off the ground responsibly.
But Olalla Meadows is more than a group of buildings. It’s a stepping stone. On-site counselors, navigation teams, and wraparound services are built into the plan—guiding residents not just to shelter, but toward long-term stability and personal growth.
Northwest Coastal Housing has been doing this work in our community for 23 years. Their legacy includes Nate’s Place in Newport, a sober living space; the Lincoln City Transition Center, which turned a hotel into a launchpad for second chances; and Blackberry Hill Apartments here in Toledo, where veterans have found safety and support.
And maybe that’s the question we should be asking ourselves—not what’s going up, but what kind of town are we becoming? Because Toledo has always been a town that takes care of its own. A place where concern is voiced, but so is compassion. Where stewardship and growth don’t have to be opposites.
There’s room for nature here. Room for paths and stillness and birdsong. But there’s also room—just one acre’s worth—for a new kind of shelter. One that keeps the rain off a family’s head, and maybe, just maybe, helps light their way forward.
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