Blanchet Farm

BLANCHET FARM
In 1952 a gaggle of young alumni from the University opened a soup kitchen for the poor in Portland’s skid road district: Blanchet House, named for the great pioneer bishop of Oregon, Francis Blanchet. In 1962 these same alumni bought 60 acres of field and timberland in rural Oregon and established Blanchet Farm, a treatment and rehab facility for men and women struggling with alcohol and drug addiction. Today the farm (near Carlton, in Yamhill County) serves some 50 people at a time, somehow survives on a $125,000 annual budget, and produces honey, poultry, pigs, llamas, and fruit and vegetables of all sorts. Like its cousin Blanchet House in downtown Portland, it still leans heavily on University folk for support; among its 18 directors are philosophy professor Thom Faller and alumni Bob Wack, Pat Carr, Gene Feltz, three Moores (John, Joe, and Tom), James O'Hanlon, and Pete Van Hoomissen.

Oregon photographer Steve Hambuchen recently paid a visit to the farm, and sent back these photos.

-- John Rumler