10 JUSt OUt • January 21.2005
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29th Anniversary Celebration
Sunday January 23, 2005
9am and 11am worship
Special Reception for founders and former members
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Fireside Room
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L aw O ffice of J ames D. Me
J ames D. M c V ittie
Artorney-at-Law, Lie. in OR & WA
the
Equity Foundation establishes Paul Higgins Endowment Fund
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415 17th Street, Suite 5 • Oregon City, OR 97045
I
O n
quity Foundation recently estab
lished a $100,000 endowment fund
to provide housing support for people
with HIV or AIDS.
The fund is named after its bene
factor, Paul D. Higgins, who in 1996 deeded his
North Portland home to Equity with the under
standing that his son, Christopher, could live
there for the final years of his life. Christopher
died of AIDS last year. Equity then took on the
task of preparing the house for sale. It was an
extremely generous gift, and Equity was proud
to carry out Higgins’ wishes hy establishing this
new endowment fund.
Kraus was the project manager who put in
more than 175 hours getting the house ready.
He brought in contractors for some tasks such as
painting the inside and outside, removing bars
from the windows, taking down part of the back
deck and fixing the floors and countertops. But
he also did a lot of work himself—replacing
light fixtures and towel racks with higher-quality
items. He invested time in the little touches
that can make a house look significantly better,
as well as increase the sale price.
It was easy for him to join the project, espe
cially after his partner, Steve Dotterrer, who
happens to be co-chairman of the Equity board,
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But the organization couldn’t have done it
without the help and expertise of Kathy Mac-
Naughton, Kevin Kraus and Donna Meyer.
When Equity asked MacNaughton to help
them value the property and ultimately list it,
she didn’t hesitate to join the project by donat
ing her time and services. She was, at one
time, a board member for the organization and
has a great deal of respect for the dedication
and professionalism of the volunteers and staff.
“It’s such a wonderful way for me to have an
impact on the Equity Foundation,” says Mac-
Naughton, owner of MacNaughton Group
Realty Trust. “I am able to give them services
that are expensive, and it’s just a win-win situ
ation. It allows me to provide them with assis
tance in an area in which I am an expert, and
I can make a large donation this way.”
What really made this project fun for
MacNaughton was seeing everybody roll up
their sleeves and get involved, especially
Kraus. “Talk about dedication and work,” she
says of his effort to prepare the house for sale.
“When it came time for the property to go on
the market, it was a dream come true. So the
volunteers and the organization are the ones
who really made it happen, not me. I was there
as one piece in a really wonderful effort hy
everyone.”
told him that there was this “opportunity” for
him if he wanted to “volunteer,” explains Kraus
with a laugh.
“I knew I was getting into a lot of work, but
it was so up my alley,” says Kraus, who works for
Reach Community Development, a nonprofit
housing corporation in Portland. “It was a fun
job and a way for me to make a big difference
money-wise for Equity.”
Another person who made this project a
success was Meyer, partner at the law firm of
Fitzwater and Meyer. The Equity newsletter
reports that she “and her team led by Phil Hing-
son resolved an issue with a lien and cleared the
title for sale. Their work eliminated a $17,000
debt that had been carried on the property.”
MacNaughton and Kraus acknowledge
another important aspect of the project. Not
only did the improvements to the house
increase the property value, but their work also
improved the neighborhood.
“It was really neat to walk away knowing
that not only did the Equity Foundation raise
money for a terrific cause and lived up to the
wishes of the donor, but we also left the com
munity better,” says MacNaughton. JT1
P at Y oung is a Portland free-lance writer and
gay and lesbian historian.