It’s been a busy winter at Habitat for Humanity! We have projects all over Portland but Cully is our neighborhood focus area and we are making great strides in construction and revitalization efforts.

Construction

Helensview Heights: We completed 5 homes at Helensview Heights this winter and will be dedicating one of the homes on March 10th. Progress continues on Lots 7, 8, and 9, which are almost completely framed. Those lots and our two homes sponsored by Walsh Construction are scheduled to be completed early summer 2018.

Cully Place: We are still in predevelopment at our Cully Place site but we’re anticipating permit issuance by mid-March. We’ll begin excavation as soon as the permits are in hand and we should have the site ready for volunteers by this summer so get your hammers ready!

 

Neighborhood Revitalization

As part of Habitat’s neighborhood revitalization efforts, we are partnering with Verde, the Columbia Watershed Slough Council, and Reynolds Learning Academy MYC to install six rain gardens in Cully. Those receiving rain gardens were selected from participants in Habitat’s home repair program.

Simpson Street

We plan to build 10 affordable homes at our Simpson Street property in NE Portland but we want to get some positive use from the site before construction begins. In an effort to engage the neighborhood before the start of construction, we held several volunteer events to help erect a temporary garden with raised beds and a new fence. A group of 15 volunteers from Concordia University just participated in a day of service on Saturday, March 3^rd, at Habitat’s Simpson Street site and there are plans to partner with a nonprofit to garden on the site prior to construction beginning.

Habitat Heroes Affiliate Conference

Our local Habitat Affiliate conference got a special look into our revitalization efforts in Cully on a tour of four of the neighborhoods projects.

• Living Cully Plaza – A former strip club that was purchased by Hacienda CDC and managed by the Living Cully collaboration. Big redevelopment plans are in the works to turn this into affordable housing and commercial space.
• Cully Park – Verde, another Cully based non-profit, is working with Portland Parks to create a public‐private partnership to develop Cully Park. With input from the community, they’re turning a former landfill into a 25-acre park.
• Helensview – Our large Cully construction project, upon completion this property will provide 21 homes for hardworking families in the Portland area.
• Oak Leaf Mobile Home Park – When the park was slated to be sold to developers, residents worked closely with Living Cully and were able to prevent the sale. Volunteers have worked with residents to help make repairs, improve living conditions in the park, and prevent the displacement of residents.