Every year, Portland nonprofit Neighborhood House supports more than 18,000 people across greater Portland by providing access to childcare, education, food security, housing and senior services. For over 120 years, the organization has cultivated a strong sense of community and provided essential needs-based services to low-income and immigrant communities in Southwest Portland and across the region.
Now, Neighborhood House is in the process of fundraising and gathering design input for a new location along Barbur Boulevard—a critical corridor in Southwest Portland.
Home to 10 percent of the Portland metropolitan area population, the Southwest Corridor is expected to experience some of the highest growth in the region over the next 20 years. With a rapidly increasing population comes the severe risk of displacing existing residents.
According to the Southwest Equity Coalition (SWEC), people of color account for approximately 24 percent of the population along the corridor. Black and Latine households in Southwest Portland are most likely to experience the burden of displacement.
There is an acute need for expanded and interconnected services – food, housing, education, childcare, health, financial support – for neighbors across greater Portland. As a part of a larger network of community organizations in Southwest Portland, Neighborhood House recognizes that working together to support vulnerable communities is essential.
A temporary sign is installed at Neighborhood House's new facility
Creating the Southwest Equity Coalition
To address racial disparities and displacement in the Southwest Corridor, Metro, TriMet, government agencies, community-based organizations and neighbors came together to form SWEC while planning for transit and light rail improvements along the Southwest Corridor.
Neighborhood House became involved in SWEC, which is made up of five BIPOC-led organizations and various government and community partners through the West Portland Town Center work group. The group’s emphasis on community-based priorities lays the foundation for strong communities and equitable access to health, secure housing, safe transportation and economic opportunity.
Stemming from the Southwest Corridor Equitable Development Strategy, this coalition provides a structure for collaboration between nonprofits, community members and public institutions. According to Mary DeBauche, the development and communications manager at Neighborhood House, SWEC is a critical hub for collaboration between local nonprofits.
“It’s really important for organizations like ours, which have been around forever, to make sure that we’re not competing against other nonprofits for the same piece of the pie,” DeBauche said. “We’re all trying to work together for the overall betterment of the community.”
Neighborhood House is a long-standing institution in the Southwest Portland community. The nonprofit is currently in the process of drafting designs for renovating its new building at 8959 Southwest Barbur Boulevard.
The Barbur Boulevard location could become a community hub and space for other local nonprofits and community groups to meet, said Kamarin Kenley, Chief Executive Assistant Board Liaison at Neighborhood House.
A history of service
Neighborhood House has a long history of providing services and advocating for the needs of Southwest Portland’s most vulnerable community members.
In 1905, the Portland Section of the National Council of Jewish Women founded Neighborhood House based on the idea that every neighbor should have a community that supports them and helps them to thrive.
Since its founding, Neighborhood House has provided resources to address income disparity, food insecurity, education, childcare, healthcare and economic inequities – especially concerning employment. As a part of a larger network of settlement houses established in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the local nonprofit supported immigrants in finding employment and navigating their new home.
The movement catalyzed the implementation of wraparound supportive services.
“Generally speaking, if you need one service, you probably need multiple,” said DeBauche. “If you come here because you need help feeding your family, you probably need other services that we can offer.”
With more than a century of service, Neighborhood House has garnered a strong sense of trust and dedication to the community. One of the many programs Neighborhood House offers is a volunteer-run production garden, which provides fresh and healthy produce directly to the Free Food Market.
Additionally, the Free Food Market provides nutritious food to more than 850 households in Southwest Portland every month thanks to the help of hundreds of volunteers. In 2023, 400 volunteers distributed 650,000 pounds of food through the 1,000-square-foot space.
Outside the Free Food Market, boxes of free flowers from Trader Joes, New Seasons and Fred Meyers line a white picket fence. A few trees and a wooden overhang provide cover from the sun and rain. The size of the market, already crowded with volunteers, storage space, tables, and food, makes it extremely difficult to provide space inside for clients waiting to get food.
“There’s no room for them to wait inside, so everyone is outside,” DeBauche said. “We’ve done what we can to make it comfortable. It’s still Oregon, they’ve got cover, but it’s still hot or cold. So just bringing dignity into everybody’s lives, particularly the people we serve – we’re very, very much looking forward to that.”
Rendering of Neighborhood House's future Food Market
A new home for new beginnings
Neighborhood House’s future home on Barbur Boulevard will aggregate multiple services in an upgraded facility, particularly the Free Food Market and the senior center. The increase to 16,000 square feet of space will allow Neighborhood House to serve 50 to 100 percent more people than their current number of clients.
The nonprofit purchased a former office building and launched the Growing Our Village Campaign in 2022 to fundraise for renovations.
In addition to an increased capacity for food assistance, confidential meeting spaces and a wider selection of foods that fulfill dietary and cultural needs, the accessibility and space in the new location will contribute to strengthening the social fabric of the community.
Neighborhood House’s senior center, which will move to the new building location after renovations are completed, strives to connect seniors to services and activities that enhance their social, physical and mental well-being. The center has around 300 members and provides 14,000 hours of programming annually, including interest groups, exercise classes, meals, clinics and tax and legal help.
“There is a lot of crossover between the programs,” DeBauche said. “Some senior center members volunteer at the market, and some members also need food support from the market.”
The current senior center resides in the Multnomah Arts Center, about a five-minute walk from Neighborhood House’s administrative office and the Free Food Market. Aggregating the Free Food Market, the senior center, and the housing program in one central location will make those services easier to access.
Rendering of the future Senior Center.
The new location’s larger parking lot and close proximity to public transportation will also improve neighbor’s access to necessary services.
Input from the community will help inform the design of the building. Design suggestions include tactile surfaces, spotted lighting, skid-free carpeting and couches that are both comfortable and easy to stand up from.
“There’s a table here with some of the designs to ensure constant feedback,” DeBauche said. “The Mahjong group was very concerned because they only saw round tables and that doesn’t work well for Mahjong. They wanted to make sure there were square tables. That’s not nitpicky. That’s a real need.”
The Barbur Boulevard location will encompass a variety of design and location-based elements that will strengthen community members’ connections to one another and improve access to essential services.
The new building is located along two bus lines, the 12 and the 43, and across from the 30th Avenue station– a station location of the planned MAX Southwest Corridor light rail expansion.
Learn more about Southwest Corridor Equitable Development Strategy.
Learn more about Neighborhood House.