stephens creek crossing fall 2012 newsletter
DESCRIPTION
Newsletter on Home Forward's progress with the Stephen's Creek Crossing redevelopment in Southwest Portland, ORTRANSCRIPT
More than 150 students, neighbors,
government dignitaries and social service
partners gathered for the celebration.
Home Forward Board Chair Harriet
Cormack thanked the neighborhood for
its kind welcome and praised the work of
all who made the redevelopment a reality.
Among the presenters was U.S. Rep.
Suzanne Bonamici, who expressed her
support for the redevelopment and its
emphasis on tying together early
childhood education, workforce training
and housing. “The need for affordable
housing in this country is critical,” she said.
“Stephens Creek Crossing is such a
positive project that it could become a
national model.”
Multnomah County Commissioner Deborah
Kafoury closed the program by reaffirming
the County’s commitment to affordable
housing and to ongoing services for
Wall Raising Kicks Off Building at Stephens Creek Crossing “I look at this wall and I see a bridge ... A bridge between neighbors and residents ... A bridge from poverty to opportunity ... And a bridge from despair to hope.” Rev. Jennifer Brownell, Hillsdale Community Church-United Church of Christ, shared these words at a wall raising ceremony in late September to launch the building phase of Stephens Creek Crossing, a new apartment community to replace Home Forward’s Hillsdale Terrace former public housing property in Southwest Portland.
Stephens Creek Crossing
low-income residents at Stephens Creek
Crossing. “The southwest neighborhoods
are some of the most vibrant in Portland.
This is a wonderful neighborhood to live in
and raise a family regardless of income,”
she said.
The event closed with the ceremonial raising
of a wall by all the program presenters, who
were joined by other project partners.
F A L L 2 0 1 2C O M M U N I T Y U P D A T E
To follow our progress during construction at Stephens Creek Crossing, visit us at homeforward.org/development/current-developments/stephens-creek-crossing.
Stephens Creek Crossing is an affordable
housing community under construction in
the Multnomah neighborhood. Developed
by Home Forward to promote work,
education and self-sufficiency for
low-income individuals and families living
in Southwest Portland, Stephens Creek
Crossing will include 122 apartments,
community gardens, play areas, and bike
and walking paths. An Opportunity Center
will host job trainings and classes in
cooking and nutrition, and a Children’s
Center managed by Neighborhood House
will focus on early childhood education.
Seven Habitat for Humanity homes will be
built nearby and offer affordable
homeownership. The new community will
welcome residents in January 2014.
About Stephens Creek Crossing
Since April, workers have been laboring
to ready the site for building construction.
Installation of site utilities is nearly complete,
just in time for neighbors to see the
foundation pouring, framing, roofing and
siding of the community’s 20 new
apartment buildings and two commercial
buildings. This ‘vertical’ phase takes place
from November 2012 through December
2013 and paves the way for resident
occupancy to begin in January 2014.
Construction Update:
Buildings to Take Shape The old Hillsdale Terrace is no more. Construction crews have torn down all 12 of the former structures and hauled away 8,600 tons of building debris—diverting more than 95 percent of material out of the waste stream and into recycling projects. The former public housing community’s concrete block buildings have been demolished and the signature bowl shape re-graded into a flatter, higher, more terraced landscape.
“We expect it to take as many as 300
people to finish construction,” said Mike
Andrews, development director for Home
Forward. “From demolition to the grand
opening, we will employ laborers, framers,
drywallers, electricians, plumbers,
painters, landscapers and more.
Stephens Creek Crossing is truly a place
of opportunity—the construction of a
project of this size is responsible for
generating good, family-wage jobs right
here in our community,” he said.
Stephens Creek Crossing is truly a place of opportunity—the construction of a project of this size is responsible for generating good, family-wage jobs right here in our community.M I K E A N D R E W S ,
Director of Development and
Community Revitalization, Home Forward
Now 26 years old, Mike Aguilar looks back
on his late teens with the perspective of a
wiser, experienced adult. A high school
dropout, he struggled to find the right road,
including making some poor choices that
landed him in prison. A reconnection with
a former boss, Joaquin Castillo, project
manager at Colas Construction, led to an
employment opportunity for Mike and a
newfound direction.
“Mike is an intelligent, hard working and
happy guy who is great to have around,”
said Castillo. “When we first met, he wasn’t
ready for work. But I had a lot in common
with him. We grew up in the same area and
around the same people — we just chose
to take different paths. When we met again,
it was another time in his life. I knew if he
had an opportunity he could shine.”
Now enrolled at the Northwest College of
Construction, Aguilar will be part of the
construction crew at Stephens Creek
Growing Up on the JobJob creation is an important part of the Stephens Creek Crossing redevelopment, both for the seasoned construction crew and for eligible low-income individuals seeking training and work experience. For one young man, it’s also about gaining confidence in his abilities and setting career goals that once might have been out of reach.
Southwest Portland’s heavy, clay soil is notorious for its poor drainage.
Crossing. “This job has made a big impact
on me and given me a stable job and
decent income to support my family,” he
said. “Being around and accepted by
people who are on the right path helped
me a lot. They’ve changed how I look at
life and showed me the important things
that really matter. I am willing to learn
everything I can to go as far in this field as
I can. Hopefully, someday I’ll be running
the job site instead of working on it.” Mike Aguilar, right, with his mentor Joaquin Castillo, left.
HUD Section 3(67): Jobs and Business Opportunities
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) asks housing
authorities to provide job training and business opportunities to low and very
low-income individuals. One of the key ways Home Forward fulfills this is to provide
opportunities on development projects for individuals and businesses that qualify for
the Section 3 program. Both HUD and Home Forward believe the investment in
economic development is also an investment in building individual self-sufficiency.
Mike’s story is an example of the impact the Section 3 program has on individual lives.
And it was a contributing factor to the
severe moisture and water problems
affecting the livability and high operating
costs of the apartments at the former
Hillsdale Terrace. With the headwaters of
Stephens Creek located nearby, water was
a constant presence on the property. Yet
the soil drainage was so inadequate that
springs and surface water had nowhere to
go but collect near the concrete block
buildings, and that gave rise to constant
mold and mildew. Facing an ongoing
maintenance nightmare, Home Forward
knew that a solution to the problem was a
top redevelopment priority.
“We’re confident we have the problem
controlled,” said Patrick Rhea, senior project
manager, Home Forward. R&H/Colas
Construction removed 40,000 cubic yards
of dirt and replaced it with a similar amount
Lending a Hand to Mother Nature of rock fill – equal to the amount of snow
needed to cover the playing surface of a
football field nearly twenty feet high from
one end to the other.
Natural springs and surface water now
have pathways to migrate down the hill
and collect in a new series of underground
drains. “This is the most extensive
drainage system we’ve ever designed,”
said Rhea. “Given what nature has dealt
us, we’re able to move the water along,
keep it away from the buildings, and steer
it back into a more natural flow.”
Fal l 2012
Fal l 2012Community Update: Stephens Creek Crossing
Sowing Seeds of Friendship
The Stephens Creek Crossing Community Update is published by Home Forward. Home Forward (the new name for the
Housing Authority of Portland) is
dedicated to providing safe, decent and
affordable housing for individuals and
families who are challenged by income,
disability or special need. A public
corporation, Home Forward serves all of
Multnomah County, including the cities of
Gresham, Fairview and Troutdale and
other East County communities. Home
Forward is governed by a nine-member
citizen commission, which ensures
continued accountability to the interests
of the community.
For more information about the
Stephens Creek Crossing
redevelopment, contact Home Forward
community relations at 503-802-8508
or visit www.homeforward.org.
135 SW Ash Street, Por t land, Oregon 97204
PRSRT STD
US POSTAGE
PAIDPORTLAND OR
PERMIT NO 11
A knock on the door from Home Forward was all it took to open up a relationship between Hillsdale Community Church-United Church of Christ and its neighbors at Home Forward’s affordable housing community in Southwest Portland. Rev. Jennifer Brownell realized the church had a great deal to offer residents — and could gain something in return.
Brownell envisions a community garden on
church property, where members, neighbors
and residents at the new community under
development, Stephens Creek Crossing, can
come together to grow fruits and vegetables.
“We were founded 95 years ago by the area’s
Swiss dairy farmers. This is a way for us to
draw upon that heritage and share our strong
connection with the land,” she said.
The congregation imagines cooking and food
preservation classes, as well as the blending of
cultures, meals and conversations. A planning
group comprised of church members, residents
and other interested neighbors will collaborate
on a vision for the new garden, which will
complement an urban farm to be located on
the Stephens Creek Crossing property.
With a birds-eye view of the construction site,
Brownell believes the redevelopment is an
inspiration for the community. “We are excited
about the opportunity to be a place of welcome
and to help celebrate what it means to be a
diverse people,” she said. Rev. Jennifer Brownell, Hillsdale Community Church – United Church of Christ