Oregon Healthcare Groups Come Together to Fund Affordable Housing

Six of Oregon's most prominent and largest health care organizations have come together to partner with Central City Concern to fund a major initiative to build affordable housing.

Adventist Health Portland, CareOregon, Kaiser Permanente Northwest, Legacy Health, OHSU, and Providence Health & Services - Oregon are contributing $21.5 million to build 382 units of affordable housing at three separate locations, one of which will include an integrated health care center.

"This significant contribution is an excellent example of healthcare organizations coming together for the common good of our community," said Ed Blackburn, executive director of Central City Concern. "It also represents a transformational recognition that housing for lower income working people, including those that have experienced homelessness, is critical to the improvement of health outcomes. This housing will remain affordable for generations and it
couldn’t come at a better time."

The three developments are:

The Eastside Health Center will serve medically fragile people and people in recovery from addictions and mental illness with a first-floor clinic and housing for 176 people. The center will also become the new home for an existing Central City Concern program, Eastside Concern, and will offer 24-hour medical staffing on one floor;

The Stark Street apartments in East Portland will provide 155 units of workforce housing; and

The Interstate apartments in North Portland will provide 51 units designed for families. It is part of Portland’s North/Northeast Neighborhood Housing Strategy to help displaced residents return to their neighborhood.

"This project reflects what we've known for a long time -- health begins where we live, learn, work, and play," Governor Kate Brown said. "Stable, affordable housing and health care access are so often intertwined, and I’m gratified to see collaborative solutions coming from some of our state’s leading organizations.

"I applaud the efforts of all those involved and am grateful for the partnership in moving Oregon forward and making ours a home where each Oregonian thrives."

The health organizations say that they were drawn to the project by Central City, a long time fixture in the city.

"OHSU is proud to join with other local health systems in support of Central City Concern’s Eastside Health Center," said the president of OHSU, Joe Robertson. "We recognize that good health requires more than good health care. We understand the value of transitional housing as a key component of improving health for vulnerable populations.

"No one meets those needs better than Central City Concern."

Multnomah County Chairwoman Deborah Kafoury, who has been leading efforts to combat homelessness in Multnomah County, praised the collaboration.

"It’s exciting that health care providers recognize the deep connection between housing and health care,” she said. "This is exactly the kind of
collaboration that our community needs during this housing crisis. None of us can solve homelessness alone. But this collaboration will change hundreds of lives at a critical time of need."

Images via Central City Concern