Community Update
October 2021
There is no single response to our housing and homelessness crises, which is why Human Solutions offers programs ranging from eviction prevention, emergency shelter and employment support to building the affordable housing our region desperately needs. We are fortunate to help thousands of people each year move into their own homes and reach personal goals toward a better life.
Each fall, we share some of the happenings around Human Solutions that made a difference in the community we call home. This year, with our collective energies still handling a pandemic and a protracted housing crisis, we are proud to highlight results that show the power of our work together.
Two New Housing Communities to Help End the Housing Crisis
Top: Our newest housing community, The Nick Fish, is pictured here on a beautiful fall day. Our anchor office is the lower building to the right.
Bottom: This rendering shows the front of our future Rosewood housing community, under construction now.
Increasing the supply of affordable apartments is core to ending our region’s housing crisis. In the past year, our team has been incredibly effective, opening one new housing community and breaking ground on another. Both are in East Portland, where the need remains great:
- Mixed-Income Housing by a New Park. Next to Gateway Discovery Park, 75 mixed-income rentals make up our newest housing community, called The Nick Fish in honor of the late Portland city commissioner – a dedicated advocate for equitable access to green spaces and quality affordable housing. Next door is Human Solutions’ new anchor office, where our core operations and Portland-based community services will have a permanent home. We’re thrilled to be part of the vibrant Gateway neighborhood and look forward to hosting a grand opening when it’s safe to gather.
- Affordable Housing with Holistic Mental Health Services. We’re constructing 93 affordable apartments at SE 160th and Stark: a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units. Sixteen apartments include long-term wraparound services for people transitioning out of homelessness – exactly the housing our region needs. The site will also include free high-speed internet, a resident lounge, a kids’ play area and mental and behavioral health services for all residents. We look forward to welcoming residents as soon as early 2023.
How We’re Responding to COVID-19
Marci Cartagena, our emergency services director, oversees our three shelters, which has been a real challenge throughout the pandemic. She’s pictured here at Lilac Meadows in Southeast Portland.
People in East Portland and East Multnomah County have been particularly hard hit by the pandemic. Residents here are more likely to identify as BIPOC, work frontline jobs or experience job loss. Plus, people already impacted by systemic racism and poverty are affected more by threats like COVID-19.
Human Solutions rose to meet the crisis in our community while simultaneously managing impacts to our own operations. We adjusted our programs to socially distance and reach participants virtually and secured competitive funding to help those most impacted by the pandemic meet basic needs. Here’s how:
- Rent & Cash Assistance. We secured and distributed federal cash and rent assistance so people could stay housed, avoid rental debt and afford food and other essentials.
- Income. Our career coaches helped folks navigate the state’s unemployment system and secure jobs in a challenging economy.
- Food. We distributed food boxes to families who lost income to help prevent hunger and stretch budgets for other essentials.
- Internet Access. When health care, groceries and school suddenly required internet access, we provided laptops, headphones and faster internet.
Marci Cartagena, our emergency services director, oversees our three shelters, which has been a real challenge throughout the pandemic. She’s pictured here at Lilac Meadows in Southeast Portland.
Emergency Shelter News, Including Our Newest
In July 2020 we partnered with Multnomah County to open a temporary emergency shelter in an East Portland motel, specifically to accommodate those experiencing homelessness who are also at high risk for COVID. This shelter allows 60 adults identifying as women, nonbinary or genderqueer to reside safely, comfortably and socially distant in their own rooms. We operate another shelter for this same population in Gresham and continue to operate Lilac Meadows, our Southeast Portland family shelter, bringing our capacity to 200 people every night, including about 60 children.
Our dedicated shelter team has remained on-site 24/7 since the 2020 shutdown, steadfastly managing the many twists of this pandemic while working with a vulnerable population. We are proud to have maintained these critical services without interruption, including successfully assisting residents in moving to permanent housing, a primary goal.
Children’s Program Builds Connection, Virtually
Team members Tenisha and Jessica grew vegetables in their own yards to share with students and teach about healthy food and where it comes from.
Ending intergenerational poverty is important to our mission, and so our out-of-school program, LearnLinks, provides academic and social-emotional mentoring and resources to K-8 students in low-income households.
Our incredible team creatively engaged students during a challenging year of remote learning. We provided laptops for students and their families and connected them to faster internet service. We checked in with families weekly, delivered culturally specific fresh food boxes along with academic workbooks and activity kits, and hosted virtual family nights to maintain connections to parents.
We’re impressed by the dedication of these young people: 100% of LearnLinks students in our affordable housing communities remained in school throughout the year. Bravo!
Clean Energy: Where Climate and Housing Meet
We’re honored to be an inaugural recipient of the Portland Clean Energy Fund (PCEF), a powerful new funding source approved by local voters in 2018. Climate and equity activists designed PCEF to fund renewable-energy home improvements, create green jobs and infrastructure, and support an equitable response to climate change in our region.
PCEF’s significant investment in Human Solutions will allow us to add climate-friendly energy systems as we remodel 42 units at one of our East Portland affordable housing communities. This investment will enable us to enhance site accessibility, mitigate for radon, and improve everything from roofing and insulation to lighting and landscaping. The resulting energy efficiency will reduce environmental impacts and residents’ energy bills, and indoor air quality will improve too, which is important for residents’ health.
Updating existing affordable housing is part of the solution to our housing crisis, because renovated units will continue to provide quality affordable housing over time. We need to build new and maintain existing housing.
We’ve Expanded and Diversified our Board
Verlea G. Briggs, our newly elected board president, says the Human Solutions mission spoke to her: no one should be without a place to call home where they can feel safe and secure.
We have intentionally grown and diversified our board of directors to reflect our community and bring relevant perspectives to our work. Now, 44% of our directors identify as BIPOC and 50% as women, 56% live in our service area and 25% bring the essential lived experience of poverty. This diversity of experience is key to addressing the critical problems we exist to solve. Meet our newly elected officers and full board of directors.
Verlea G. Briggs, our newly elected board president, says the Human Solutions mission spoke to her: no one should be without a place to call home where they can feel safe and secure.
Community Is a Verb: We Love Our Volunteers
Jody is a regular at our shelters, dropping off meals she cooks at home as part of our COVID-safe community potluck program. Residents love the variety – and can feel the love.
While our volunteer program remains remote, we’ve appreciated all of you who still find creative ways to engage. Big thanks to those of you who pitched in with donation drives! You came through with holiday toys, summer sandals, culturally specific food for Somali families, vegan foods for emergency shelters and a variety of canned food drives that kept our shelter kitchens humming.
There are other socially distanced ways to help with crucial tasks: driving for donations, making meals and sack lunches for shelter residents, cooking for drop-off potlucks or sponsoring a meal from a local restaurant. We’ve recently updated our website for volunteers – take a look to find new opportunities!
Coming Soon: A New Brand to Reflect Our Mission
Keep an eye out for a big announcement from us in 2022! Since we launched our 2018–2023 Strategic and Equity Plan, we’ve leaned into racial, housing and economic justice work and have been creating a new brand for our organization that will better reflect our work and personality, and our community’s aspirations for the area we call home.
Human Solutions has been a critical part of the region’s safety net for 33 years. In that time, we’ve grown in ways that inspired a fresh brand to tell our current story and share our vision for the future. When our new brand launches, we’ll continue delivering the same essential programs, helping neighbors in East Portland and East Multnomah County have the economic and housing security we all deserve. We can’t wait to share more about these changes with you!
Thank you for supporting our work in all the ways you do, whether you give financially, volunteer, advocate for justice or let folks know about our services. It all matters.
If you have questions or comments for us, please reach out. We love hearing from you! Our executive director, Andy Miller, is at a.miller@humansolutions.org, and our communications and fundraising director, Lisa Frack, is at lfrack@humansolutions.org or 503.548.0282.
It’s comforting to know that you are with us in this essential work.
Warm regards,
The Human Solutions team
