By Paul Kilpatrick , Sustainability Television June 2009
(Portland , OR
The successful ongoing transformation includes efforts to make the area inclusive for all members of society and not only affordable for the wealthy. One of the priorities for the development of the Pearl District was to prioritize affordable housing. By creating this priority for affordable housing they were able to achieve equity of income ranges across this whole neighbourhood that is representative of the city as a whole.
Only a few years ago, the Pearl District had a dramatically different look and feel to it. It was a crime-ridden area in a state of disrepair, full of people struggling with addiction, homelessness and self-esteem problems. An area better avoided than sought out.
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| Tanner Springs Park |
The urban renewal of the area began with the concerted effort of a number of visionary people dedicated to revitalizing this run-down area next to the city centre. The success of the Pearl District is now evident on the streets day and night, with people filling sidewalks, cafes, and restaurants. Significant foot traffic is evident throughout the district, with people navigating highly walkable streets lined with trees and a blend of mixed use new and old buildings comprised of lofts, apartments, warehouses, restaurants, and art galleries. There are many green spaces to be found, even including a small re-created wetland called Tanner Springs Park
But how have the hard-luck people who lived in the decrepit district before its makeover been impacted by the rapid changes? Displacement would be the typical outcome of similar revitalization efforts in other cities, with the homeless and downtrodden marginalized and forced elsewhere. Innovative ideas were implemented for the Pearl District and embraced by some dedicated individuals as well as an organization called Central City Concern (CCC). Today there are programs in place that make a real difference in the lives of those struggling with homelessness, addiction, and unemployment in the district and neighbouring downtown Portland
Central City Concern
Central City Concern develops, owns and manages housing for low-income people and is a private, service-oriented, non-profit organization focused on social services. Formed in 1979 (originally known as the Burnside Consortium) CCC owns 23 different buildings throughout metro Portland
Central City Concern strives to enable and support positive lifestyle changes for clients through its housing, employment and treatment programs, with attention given to fostering positive peer relationships and outlooks on life; offering people the means, tools – and perhaps most importantly – a chance to figure out how to change their lives for the better.
“CCC does all those things” says Richard Harris, State of Oregon Director of Mental Health and Addictions, and former Housing Director of CCC.
“A housing developer, they [CCC] own and manage all the housing services, so in a way it’s the full meal deal. You walk in the front door of a Central City Concern place and you’ve got options to go to employment services, medical detox, outpatient treatment, residential treatment, mental health, health care, and housing.
Housing is the key to making all the services work” Harris says. “Housing alone is never enough when you are focused on a population of people which includes homelessness and addiction problems. So the services are really designed around helping people become self-sufficient. The idea is that while they are getting services they have a safe place to live”.
People can choose to live in the CCC residences for as long as they want, although the intention is to provide a safe place to live until people are self-sufficient enough to move out on their own. “We see this as a station on the road to self sufficiency and that some people use this type of housing to get there” Harris adds.
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| Richard L. Harris Building |
The Richard L. Harris Building St. just a couple of blocks from the famous Powell’s Bookstore.
“Many people living in this building started out in the building five years ago and some of the people are still living here. That’s up to them.” Harris explains.
Supportive peer relationships are a critical component of moving people along the path to self-sufficiency. “This building [Richard L. Harris Bldg.] is about creating opportunities for people to develop those supportive relationships over the years; it isn’t just about the intervention, or the 90 or 120 treatments; it’s about what happens thereafter, and that means going to work, taking care of your responsibilities, being a tax payer, doing all the civil responsibilities that we all have, so many of the people that come into this building have child support payments in arrears, or they have children out there that they haven’t seen for awhile, and they find ways to take up those responsibilities as they improve their lives.” Harris explains.
“What happens in this building is they have the supportive environment to help everybody on that road. That’s what this building is all about.
There are many design features in the building that are about creating social interaction because Central City as a provider may be providing addiction services to a person for 90 to 120 days but after that, they’re on the road to recovery and they have to have other supports and we look for peers to support one another” he says. “So this housing is really about creating an environment where people support one another and as they do that over the years they extend their recovery and that’s how people stay clean and sober, by their relationships with other people that are clean and sober. People don’t get clean and sober by hanging out with other drug addicts. That’s not a successful intervention.”
How is affordable housing classified?
Affordable housing is classified by looking at household incomes measured against median family income (MFI) levels. As a general rule affordable housing expenditures represent no more than one third of household income.
“In Portland
So, for example, an individual at 30% MFI is making about $15K/year, so that equates to about $1,200/month. If you take that $1,200 and take 1/3 of that, that’s what they can spend on housing expenditures and that’s about $360 dollars a month” Gates explains.
In the United States Richard L. Harris Building
“This building was about $18 million dollars in total cost, and of that I think $4 million dollars of that is Loan Housing Tax Credits that provides equity once those tax credits are sold to investors, so that’s one of the ways we can bring about a building like this” Gates explains.
There are presently 11 designated urban renewal areas (URA) within Portland Portland Portland
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| Pearl District streetscape |
The Pearl District has been the most successful so far of the URAs in achieving the affordable housing targets. This district renewal was started in 1998 and the Urban Renewal Fund will expire in 2021 and thus far it has helped build and maintain new units to the tune of 7500 housing units, and of that, 3000 are affordable for those who earn less than 80% of the median family income.
Central City Concern has been successful with their programs and buildings like the Richard L. Harris Building
“This building works” Harris says. “We have studies that show that people that are in alcohol and drug-free housing, when they get treatment, get access to health care and the like…88% of them are clean and sober at the end of 6 months, have a job, and are living in safe and sanitary housing. So we know that this kind of peer supported housing works.”
More information about Central City Concern can found at their website:
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