In March, The National Institutes of Health awarded Texas State University a 4-year, million-dollar grant to study the cardiovascular benefits of volunteering. It’s the latest attempt to quantify the impact volunteering has on the heart and wellbeing.  Unscientifically, however, anyone who has volunteered to make their community a better place knows exactly the effect it […]

North and Northeast Portland — the heart of Portland’s Black community for over 60 years — lost two-thirds of its Black residents due to urban renewal and gentrification. Galvanized by a proposed below-market sale of a city-owned lot to a national retail chain, community leaders pushed to prioritize affordable housing to allow Black households to […]

Creative Commons Home appraisers seeking certification in Oregon will now receive training on implicit and racial bias, a move state lawmakers and housing advocates hope will help curb racial disparities in home appraisals.   The new requirement, passed by the Oregon Legislature this session, is intended to address the tide of research showing considerable gaps between […]

Portland City Council is poised to make a groundbreaking decision that could help one neighborhood fortify itself against the forces of gentrification.   On Wednesday, Nov. 9, the City Council will hear a proposal to create a Tax Increment Finance, or TIF District in the Cully Neighborhood, one of the city’s most culturally and ethnically diverse […]

Written by Preston Korst, Director of Government Relations.  As the number of new homes on the market decreases and the cost to build or purchase a home increases, the outlook for first-time homeownership in Portland appears murky at best. Add to the looking glass a mixture of rising interest rates, constricting supply chains, and a […]