About the Syringa Project

Dr. Leontina Hormel is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Idaho, who has conducted community research for over two decades. This website brings together materials and discussions about affordable housing community development in the city of Moscow, the state of Idaho, across the United States, and elsewhere globally. The roots of this particular community development project site were established in Hormel's community action project with Syringa Mobile Home Park residents. From 2015 through 2018 she worked with and documented Syringa residents' experiences with water contamination and their efforts to improve their safety and living conditions in their community. Unfortunately, despite efforts to save their homes, residents were forced to relocate from Syringa when the park closed June 5, 2018. Syringa was constructed in the 1960s just three miles outside of Moscow, Idaho in Latah County. The park closed after several years of the park owner's insufficient in the water and wastewater disposal systems. The closure of the park brought on the mass-eviction of several working-class people and families. The case of Syringa helps highlight the need for affordable housing in the state of Idaho and across the nation. This website was created originally by Denessy Rodriguez, who was a 2018 undergraduate fellow of the University of Idaho Center for Digital Inquiry and Learning program. CDIL web developer, Olivia Wikle, assisted Denessy in developing these pages.