18JUSÌOUt
may 30, 2008
northwest
W estoxer H eights
A Gay Rest Home
Grows in Gresham
CLINIC
Offering general internal
medicine and excelling
in sexual health care
You might not like the view at Rainbow Vista
by Paul Leonard
Serving the community for 22 years
2330 NW Flanders
Suite 207
503-226-6678
Let Your
Spirit Soar
First Unitarian Church
1211 SW Main St., Portland
www.firstunitarianportland.org
Sunday Mornings: 9:15 & 11:15
Commitment ceremonies welcome everyday.
John J. Gibbons, ABR
Real Estate Broker
Accredited Buyer Representative
hey just might be the “greatest genera
tion” of gays.
Veterans of a much different kind of
fight, both out on the streets and around
the family dinner table, many queer el
ders now face the prospect of a final retreat back
into the closet, enduring discrimination and abuse
in living centers, nursing homes and hospitals.
With the graying of this groundbreaking gen
eration, the need for safe places for gay seniors is
great, and getting greater.
Enter Rainbow Vista, an active senior living
community in Gresham. When it opened more
than a year ago, this nondescript cluster of apart
ments on a busy stretch of West Powell Boulevard
became one of only three senior living communi
ties catering specifically to the sexual minorities
community in the nation. In a March Oregonian
article, the paper called Rainbow Vista “a rare, gay
friendly retirement home,” however “underused.”
But despite Rainbow Vista’s status as a gay
senior housing pioneer, Just Out has uncovered
allegations made by a former Rainbow Vista resi
dent, as well as evidence of unlicensed business
activities at the facility.
Just Out has obtained documents showing
that Rainbow Vista billed former resident Roger
Walcker $1,200 for one month’s rent for a studio
apartment that’s listed on Rainbow Vista’s Web
site for only $595. Our reporting also found that
Rainbow Vista, owned by Henry Moshberger and
managed by Ian Jones, charged its tenants for food
service, haircuts, massages and more, all without
the necessary business license from the city of
Gresham to do so.
There are two investigations into Rainbow Vista’s
business practices by Multnomah County, including
Adult Protective Services looking into allegations
that it overbills residents and the Health Depart
ment’s inspection of the facility’s unlicensed kitchen.
Sources at the Health Department say they
would drop their investigation if Rainbow' Vista
would promise to stop advertising rooms with
bed-and-breakfast service to the general public on
its Web site. However, as of press time, Rainbow
Vista’s Web site still offered rooms at $60 a night
with “complimentary continental breakfast.”
A Former Resident Speaks
Just Out caught up with Walcker, 68, at his
new place in MacDonald Residence, an as
sisted living facility in Old Town, one day after
Oregon’s historic primary May 20. Still gushing
with excitement about Sam Adams’ winning bid
for mayor—he’d accepted an e-mail invitation to
Adams’ election party the night before—Walcker
proudly showed off his modest yet well decorated
studio apartment.
When the subject of Rainbow Vista was men
tioned, however, Walcker’s animated face became
grim. “They defrauded a gay brother,” he insisted.
When he moved into Rainbow Vista last
March, things finally seemed to be looking up for
Walcker. The Dalles native worked as an architect
for years in New York until he found out he had
HIV in 2006. Coming back to Oregon with big
medical bills eating through his savings, Walcker
bounced from one Portland living facility to an
other, his $1,571 monthly Social Security disabil
ity check the only thing keeping him afloat.
“When 1 got connected to Rainbow Vista,
I was thrilled at the prospect of a new circle of
friends, a new city, new excitement in my life.
I was ready for security and happiness,” Walcker
wrote to Just Out in an e-mail earlier this month.
After attending one of Rainbow Vista’s open
house events in February, Walcker moved March 24
into a studio apartment that he insists he was told
cost $595 a month, including utilities. “No one ever
told me you had to pay extra,” he said.
DHARMA RAIN ZEN CENTER
email : dreamhome@homesofthemetroarea.com
Homes of the Metro Area. com
2539 Southeast Madsion, Por tland. OR 97214
503 239 4846 wwwdharma-rain org
DON VALERIO, MD
INTERNAL MEDICINE / PRIMARY CARE
FANNO CREEK CLINIC
2400 SW VERMONT 503-452-0915
Short-time Rainbow Vista resident Roger Walcker's complaints sparked investigations into the
facility's business practices.