The Community Development Network

As part of CDN's staffing restructure, Julie Massa has been hired as the Portland Area Policy Coordinator. Julie has been with the Oregon Food Bank for more than 4 years as a policy advocate. She also has a background in domestic violence work. She will be a solid policy advocate and coalition builder for CDN's local work.

The Portland Area Policy Coordinator will be responsible growing a base of support for housing resources and policy initiatives, establishing regular communications with stakeholders, and working to improve existing policies and programs with local government and other decision making bodies.

Michael Anderson is now CDN's Statewide Policy Director and will devote his time to statewide policy work.

We look forward to Julie beginning her work at the start of the new year!

Clay Tower, home to hundreds of seniors and people with disabilities in downtown Portland, has been successfully ‘preserved’ as affordable housing for the foreseeable future. Clay Tower is the first and largest of Portland's 12 privately-owned, federally-subsidized properties that are approaching the end of their federal subsidy period, and therefore at risk of being turned over to the private market.

Harsch Investment Properties, a privately held real estate investment and development company, has announced the sale of Clay Tower Apartments to Cedar Sinai Park, a local community non-profit that has been serving the needs of the elderly since the 1920s. Clay Tower is a 17-story, 235-unit apartment complex. The sale averts the risk that the long-time tenants of the building would have to be relocated. Special thanks are due to Harold, Arlene, and Jordon Schnitzer for their dedication to preserving Clay Tower, the building that they developed and owned for 30 years, and to Jim Winkler for his energetic work to develop a financial model to secure this housing for the long term.

Clay Tower Apartments opened in 1980 as the first project of its kind developed in Portland under the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Section 8 contract program. The Section 8 contract was due to expire at the end of 2007. The contract expiration presented Harsch with a promising opportunity to convert the building, located on prime downtown real estate, into high-end condominiums or luxury apartment units. Instead, Harsch decided to sell the property to an organization dedicated to preserving the housing for the current residents of Clay Tower. The sale capped more than a year of discussions between the owner, the Oregon Housing and Community Services Department, HUD officials, Commissioner Erik Sten, Cedar Sinai Park, and other partners.

Clay Tower Apartments is one of several property-based section 8 buildings whose long-term contracts with HUD are due to expire over the next seven years. Over the same period, up to 30 percent of subsidized units nationwide are set to expire.

It's our hope that Clay Tower will provide a model of preservation that other Portland owners will follow in the coming years.

Oregon political leader Gretchen Kafoury has been appointed to the Housing Authority of Portland’s Board of Commissioners.

At Kafoury’s confirmation hearing before the Portland City Council, City Commissioner Erik Sten called her “the godmother of affordable housing” in Oregon. Kafoury spent 20 years in elected office, serving in the Oregon legislature (1977-1983), on the Multnomah County Commission (1985-1990), and on the Portland City Council (1991-1998). She championed social and economic justice and left her mark not only on affordable housing but on homeless programs and domestic violence prevention.

After leaving the city council, Kafoury joined the faculty of the Hatfield School of Government at Portland State University. She is a “founding mother” of the New Leadership Oregon Board and continues to be active training the next generation of Oregon women politicians.

“I’m delighted that Gretchen has agreed to join the board,” said HAP’s Board Chair Jeff Bachrach. “The wisdom she has gained during her distinguished career will be of great benefit to HAP, particularly as we work to better align our housing with other agencies and non-profits in the community that provide social services to the same clients we house.”

Kafoury, who will retire from her PSU faculty post in the spring, said the time was right to join the HAP board. “I’ve been looking for my next challenge. Serving on the HAP board allows me to spend more time making a difference in the world of affordable housing, including achieving the ever-elusive goal of finding a permanent, sustainable source of revenue.”

The Green Investment Fund (GIF) is a competitive grant program that supports innovative green building projects in Portland. In the current round of funding, a total of $425,000 is available and the maximum grant amount for any project is $425,000. Industrial, multi-family residential, commercial, and mixed-use public and private organizations may apply.

The primary intent of the GIF is to support early building and site-related project activities that examine the potential and identify the means to realize an exemplary, comprehensive green building project. GIF grants are secondarily intended to help offset the incremental hard costs of the green building measures or strategies that most strongly contribute to the building’s ability to meet the GIF goals and priorities. Applications are due February 4, 2008.

The Home Depot Foundation is dedicated to creating healthy, livable communities through the integration of affordable housing built responsibly, as well as the preservation and restoration of community trees. The foundation makes grants to 501(c)(3) tax-exempt public charities in the United States and to charitable organizations in Canada.

The foundation awards most of its grants by directly soliciting proposals from high-performing nonprofit organizations with the demonstrated ability to create strong partnerships, impact multiple communities, and leverage grant resources. In order to identify potential future nonprofit partners and/or respond to unique community revitalization opportunities, a limited amount of funding is set aside to be awarded through a competitive process.

Preference is given to proposals that include community engagement resulting in the production, preservation, or financing of housing units for low- to moderate-income families that address as many of the following considerations as possible: resource efficiency in design, construction, and operations; minimization of the depletion of natural resources, including timber and water; landscape features such as trees and shrubs that minimize demand for water and synthetic chemicals and reduce the "heat island" effect; reduction of maintenance costs through the use of innovative and durable materials; the use of environmentally friendly building materials; site planning with minimal environmental impact; use of energy-efficient and renewable technologies; improvement of indoor air quality, including moisture control and proper ventilation; and smart site planning and land use.

Interfaith Coalition Hosts Jan 5 Campout & Jan 12 Forum to Mobilize Community to Address Homelessness in Washington Co.

The Interfaith Committee on Homelessness (ICH) is sponsoring two events in January to mobilize community members to address the growing numbers of people experiencing homelessness in Washington County. ICH is hoping to engage more churches in Washington County’s Severe Weather Shelter Plan and to encourage County leaders to do more to provide relief to the families and individuals currently without a place to call home.

On January 5th starting at 7PM at Cedar Hills UCC (11695 SW Park Avenue, Portland) members of the Interfaith Committee on Homelessness, people from affiliated congregations and members of the community will set up their tents and spend the night sleeping outdoors in solidarity with the 1000-plus Washington County residents who are experiencing homelessness.

“Camping out in January in Oregon is not for everyone,” said Eric Cannon, member of the Interfaith Committee on Homelessness. “We can choose not to. Others have no choice. That's the problem”.

On January 12 from 10 am to 12 noon, ICH will convene a forum entitled “Out in the Cold: What’s Next.” The forum will feature Washington County Chair Tom Brian, Mayor of Hillsboro Tom Hughes, Metro Councilor Kathryn Harrington, State Representative David Edwards, Oregon Business Association President Ryan Deckert, Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon Director David Leslie, retired minister Hector Lopez, and retired professor Russ Dondero. The Forum will be held at the Tigard United Methodist Church (9845 SW Walnut Place, Tigard).

Come make a difference in your community. For more information, contact theInterfaith Committee on Homelessness for Washington County at www.ahomeoftheirown.com or call 503-357-3282. To download an event flyer and help spread the word, click here.

Sisters of the Road Benefit Winterfolk 20 Feb 2; Tickets on Sale Now

Winterfolk, Portland’s largest annual folk music event, celebrates its twentieth anniversary at a special show at the Aladdin Theater, Saturday, February 2nd at 6pm, doors at 5:30.

Tickets go on sale December 15th at Music Millennium 3158 E. Burnside, Ticketmaster, and the Aladdin Box Office at 3017 SE Milwaukie. They are $32 in advance, $35 at the door.

An important fundraiser for Sisters Of The Road, this year Winterfolk will welcome some of the finest acoustic performers from the Northwest and beyond:

Peter Yarrow is one of the most recognizable in folk music. In his solo concerts and his work as principal arranger and mainstay of Peter, Paul and Mary, he has changed many hearts and lives. Writer of such American classics as Puff the Magic Dragon, he also is greatly responsible for the careers of such writers as Bob Dylan and Gordon Lightfoot.

Also performing will be Grammy winner Doug Smith with band Three Together; the immensely popular harmonies of the world traveled Northwest quartet Misty River; topical songwriter Jim Page with the talented fiddle of Billy Oskay; River City Folk producer and Winterfolk founder Tom May and his Trio; David Rea, who has played guitar with Gordon Lightfoot and Ian and Sylvia, as well as being a fine songwriter; Dick Weissman, who has been a performer, record producer, and nationally respected author for decades; longtime Oregon musical favorites The Rite of Spring; from Rock Springs, Wyoming, the fourth Winterfolk appearance of the much loved Chris Kennedy; the world music-influenced sounds of Sky in the Road; and a special cameo appearance by Dylan May.

Also part of the event is a drawing for a handmade Todd Mylett guitar and a day of recording at Billy Oskays's Big Red studio. Raffle tickets are $10, and are available now at Artichoke Music, 3130 SE Hawthorne, and Sisters Of The Road's office at 618 NW Davis St. The winner will be drawn the night of Winterfolk.

ABOUT SISTERS OF THE ROAD

Founded in 1979, Sisters Of The Road uses non-violence to support community driven solutions to the calamities of homelessness and poverty. Sisters Of The Road's café is open to everyone, serving low cost, hot, nutritious meals that can be purchased in a variety of ways, including with cash, food stamps, or in exchange for work. Sisters also provides job training, support to parents and children, and innovative solutions to the issues surrounding poverty and homelessness through self and community advocacy.

National Conference on Family Homelessness in Seattle on Feb 7 & 8

The National Alliance to End Homelessness will hold its fourth annual national conference on ending family homelessness in Seattle on February 7 and 8, 2008. The conference will bring together leaders from all parts of the country, from the nonprofit provider community, to local, state, and federal government, to business and philanthropy. We will share solutions, confront issues, and unite in our resolve to ensure that the day is near when no child or parent will experience homelessness. Scholarship deadline has been extended to December 21, 2007. To register and for more information, go to: http://www.endhomelessness.org/section/tools/conference/seattleconf.