Portland's Housing Bond October 2022 Newsletter

Newsletter
Portland's Housing Bond, Investing Together in Affordable Homes
The October 2022 edition of our Portland's Housing Bond Newsletter. A letter from Commissioner Ryan - Cathedral Village welcomes residents - An intern makes an impact at East Burnside Apts - Culturally-Specific Permanent Supportive Housing at Hayu Tilixam - Charting Bond progress
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A Welcome Message from Commissioner Ryan

Dear Fellow Portlanders,

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The challenges we face to secure affordable housing are big, complex, and at times, overwhelming. Despite the headwinds we face, I know that when we come together as a community around a shared vision, we will create progress. 

Portland’s Housing Bond is a perfect example of how we have come together as a community to tackle our affordable housing crisis, and how this joint venture between the voters, the taxpayers and local government is creating a lasting impact for the people of Portland. Our collective alignment to build in 2016 is why this is a historic year for Portland’s Housing Bond—nearly 900 Bond-funded units will have opened their doors by the end of 2022, providing stable, permanently affordable housing for approximately 2,000 Portlanders.

Out of six Bond projects expected to open this year, three have already begun welcoming residents: Crescent Court, Cathedral Village, and Hayu Tilixam. I was thrilled to attend the grand opening of Cathedral Village a few weeks ago, and I’m eagerly awaiting Hayu Tilixam’s ribbon cutting. I’m especially excited about the family housing these projects are providing, including after-school enrichment activities for students, an arts and music studio for youth and at Crescent Court—home to the first Boys & Girls Club space located in an affordable housing development in Oregon—Central City Concern and the Boys & Girls Club just started providing after-school programs to resident children this week.

Let me be clear: we could not have achieved this amount of development without the support of Portland voters and those paying your property taxes for this measure—thank you!

In a few short years, we’ll be providing housing for nearly 4,000 of our neighbors. I call that progress. 

Sincerely,


Commissioner Dan Ryan


Cathedral Village Grand Opening

Photo of Cathedral Village Apartments.


Cathedral Village, a new 110-unit project from Related Northwest and Catholic Charities of Oregon, celebrated its grand opening in North Portland’s St. Johns neighborhood on September 20. The new community is family-focused, with over half of the units sized at 2 or 3 bedrooms for families, plus an outdoor play area, a teen room, and a music studio where Vibe of Portland, a local nonprofit conducting music and art programs for youth, will offer after-school enrichment activities. 

"We know affordable housing offers so much more than simply a structural unit," said Catholic Charities Executive Director Natalie Wood. "These units are a place to stay dry when it's raining, a place to gather around a table to break bread with family and friends. It's even a warm place to sleep when it is cold, and a safe place to learn English, math, and even science. These units are a place where all individuals and families are welcome, and can live with dignity and respect."

Commissioner Day Ryan echoed these sentiments, saying "Isn't it about time that when we think about housing and we think about families, that we consider what it's like to bring in wraparound services for students? And I'm just so thrilled that this housing development is a part of this holistic idea of housing."

Cathedral Village is the second of six Portland Bond projects opening this year, with the first being Crescent Court, another Related NW development that opened this spring. The next to open its doors will be the Starlight, a Permanent Supportive Housing development in Old Town from Central City Concern.

Find out how to apply to Crescent Court and other Bond buildings now accepting applications below.

The kitchen in a two-bedroom unit at Cathedral Village with a welcome basket, balloons, and flowers.
A photo of Cathedral Village featuring a mural painting of a bird.
Photo of the teen room at Cathedral Village

Apply for Housing!

These Bond projects are currently accepting applications. Follow the links below to find more information on how to apply.

Hayu TIlixam
Cathedral Village
Las Adelitas
The Starlight
Crescent Court Apartments
East Burnside Apartments 
The Ellington Apartments


Intern makes an Impact at East Burnside Apartments

School supplies on a table for a Back-to-School giveaway at East Burnside Apartments


East Burnside Apartments was one of the first Bond projects to open, housing residents in its 51 affordable units since 2018. Our Just Future, formerly known as Human Solutions, provides on-site services, from case management, to referrals, to social events and more. This past spring, Shannon Jones, a Mental Health, Social Services, and Addiction Counseling student at Mount Hood Community College, joined the resident services staff as an intern. In the process, she made a huge impact, and learned a great deal about the importance of affordable housing.

As a Resident Services intern, Shannon worked alongside Resident Services Specialist Amy Black to provide many valuable services and resources, assisting residents with utility bills, leading budgeting workshops, and ensuring residents felt like they were part of a thoughtful community.

Some of her favorite projects were events for the kids who didn't have much to do after school. "It was really great to connect with the children," said Shannon, who helped organize a Carnival to celebrate the end of the school year. "Shannon's joy brought fun, excitement, and enthusiasm to our community events," said Amy.

Some of her favorite projects were events for the kids who didn't have much to do after school. "It was really great to connect with the children," said Shannon, who helped organize a Carnival to celebrate the end of the school year. "Shannon's joy brought fun, excitement, and enthusiasm to our community events," said Amy.

"The people that I met, the residents were the most impactful part," said Shannon. Her time at East Burnside helped her see clearly that housing insecurity is "a huge crisis, anyone can find themselves in that scenario." After she finishes her bachelor's degree at MHCC, Shannon plans to get a Master's in Social Work from Portland State University so she can continue serving her community.

Thank you for supporting our community, Shannon!

East Burnside Apartments

Culturally-Specific Permanent Supportive Housing at Hayu Tilixam

Aerial photo of Hayu Tilixam

Last quarter, we discussed the importance of increasing Permanent Supportive Housing, or PSH, in our communities. PSH is an effective housing solution for addressing chronic homelessness by combining deeply affordable housing with individualized services to support people who face complex challenges with living independently. 

The need for PSH is especially pronounced for Black/African American and Native American communities, who make up 8% and 2% of the general population respectively, but account for 13% and 13.7% of our chronically homeless population [1].

Portland's Housing Bond advances racially equitable outcomes through the inclusion of culturally specific PSH in many Bond-funded projects. All Bond project teams include culturally specific partners who bring their expertise and experience in development and service delivery to serve Portland’s diverse BIPOC communities. Factoring cultural sensitivity decisions on the design and operation of housing is very important as it “can support or suppress the practices that define our cultural identities[2].” The benefits of culturally-appropriate housing include encouraging the continuation of cultural practices such as shared meals and social festivities, allowing comfortable accommodation for alternative and intergenerational family structures, and increased resident well-being, health, and sense of belonging.

One pivotal Bond project is already providing culturally-specific PSH in the Cully neighborhood: new residents have begun moving into Hayu Tilixam, meaning "Many Nations" in the Chinook language. The 50-unit housing project developed by Community Development Partners (CDP) and Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA) also includes 9 PSH units offering culturally specific services for Native Americans and other Communities of Color from the Native American Rehabilitation Association (NARA). These services include behavioral health and case management, as well as additional wrap-around supports from NAYA.

Freya, a resident of a NAYA community, spoke to the importance of culturally specific PSH at Hayu TIlixam’s groundbreaking:When you’re able to go into a building and feel that cultural aspect and know that you’re home and that you’re welcome and that you’re moving forward, that’s an amazing feeling.”

Photo of the courtyard at Hayu Tilixam.

Progress

Map of Portland showing the progress of the Portland Housing Bond projects.

Portland's Housing Bond is supporting 15 projects, with three open, nine currently in construction, and three in pre-development, for a total of 1,859 units. Click here to learn more about the Bond's progress.


What's Next

Bond Oversight Committee Meeting

Thursday, February 2, 2022   |   9:30 to 11:00 a.m.
This meeting will be held both online and in person at PHB's offices in the 1900 Building. Registration link to follow.

An agenda and meeting materials will be posted online.