He is a family man, father of three, physically fit with a passion for cycling, and a bit of history buff. And now T. Ewell Hopkins, who has been commuting from his year-round home in Oak Bluffs to work in mainland metropolises for the past 10 years, is happy to have more time at home on the Vineyard to be near his family, read and ride his bike on weekends.

But during the workweek he is occupied with a new job and a cause: raising money and promoting development of affordable housing on the Vineyard.

Calling it a test of town priorities, the executive director of the Island Affordable Housing Fund this week asked the Oak Bluffs Community Preservation Committee to commit another $400,000 to the financially troubled Bradley Square project, in the name of historic preservation.

Dozens of curious Islanders turned out to take part in Saturday’s green tour of the affordable housing project under construction at 250 State Road in West Tisbury. The sun was shining on a bitterly cold day as members of the Island Housing Trust and South Mountain Company led visitors through three solar homes in various stages of completion.

A smiling sandy-haired toddler hung from his mother’s hip as he dipped his hand into a colorfully decorated box to pull out a hot pink card. “This one,” he said cheerfully as he handed off his selection to Chilmarker Todd Christy.

Mr. Christy glanced at the card. “Four Beech Grove,” he said.

The boy’s was just one in a sea of smiling faces, but none were brighter than his mother, Jennifer Wlodyka’s, as she heard Mr. Christy call out her new address to the crowd.

It’s been 120 years since the Noyes Building on Pennacock avenue first opened its doors to the Oak Bluffs community, serving as a post office, a market and most recently a library. And now it houses Conroy’s Apothecary and three affordable housing apartments, welcoming lower income families into a more urban neighborhood.

The house at 49 Bailey Park Road in West Tisbury has new owners.

At a groundbreaking ceremony last Saturday, Doug Ruskin, president of Habitat for Humanity of Martha’s Vineyard, introduced Joe Fragosa Jr., his wife, Jennifer, and their five-year-old daughter, Briana.

Mr. Fragosa, 51, said he and his wife have been looking for a permanent home for seven years. He is an arborist who grew up on the Island. She is a water safety instructor.

Briana Fragosa almost jumped out of her bright pink Crocs. The butterfly pin holding back her long hair threatened to take flight as its owner bounced and bounced yelling, “Five minutes! Five minutes!”