Februaiy 8, 2012__________________
^ P o rtla n d Observer B lack HÌStOiy M o n th
Mississippi
Alberta
North Portland
MET KO
Bud Clark
Page II
Vancouver
East County
Beaverton
SU C C E SS
New housing a
dent in fighting
homelessness
by M indy C ooper
T he P ortland O bserver
A fter six-m onths o f providing affordable
housing to thousands o f P o rtlan d ’s m ost
vulnerable and chronically hom eless, the
B ud C lark C om m ons has been deem ed an
early success by both residents and the city.
A s part o f a 10-year plan to red u ce
hom elessness, the apartm ent com plex on
N orthw est B roadw ay A venue near U nion
Station, provides a safe place to call hom e for
130 low -incom e residents, w hile also pro v id
ing tenants and the public a m ulti-resource
cen ter and com puter lab, a day center, on-call
m anagem ent, and m ental health and ad d ic
tion services.
cessibility o f the staff and the m ental health
services provided.
“ B efore I w as m ore o f a loner,” he said.
“ But since I’ve been here, I interact m ore with
p e o p le.”
H e said access to staff is also very easy.
“ W hen you need som eone, you get in touch
w ith them right aw ay.”
W itt said he also tries to do anything he
can to help ou t around the com plex.
“ I em ptied a vacuum for a staff m em ber,”
he said w ith a sm ile. “ I am also pretty good
online.
O ne unique quality o f Bud C lark in c o m
parison to other housing for hom eless people,
in addition to the plethora o f services w ithin
the building, is the lack o f sobriety require
m ents for tenants living on site.
“O ne reason this (B ud C lark) is w orking as
w ell as it is, is that they d id n ’t put restrictions
on it,” said A nnie A dam s, a tenant since Ju ly .
“W e d o n ’t require people to participate,
Tenant Annie Adams enjoys some time with a canine companion in the community
room o f the Bud Clark Commons, where she has lived in her own affordable
housing apartment unit since July. Previously she was homeless for more than
seven years.
One reason this (Bud Clark) is
working as well as it is, is that
they didn’t put restrictions on it.
- Annie Adams, Bud Clark Commons tenant
T he eight-story building, including a 90
b ed m e n ’s sh elter, w as m ade p o ssib le
through partnerships betw een the P ortland
H ousing B ureau, H om e F orw ard (form erly,
the H ousing A uthority o f Portland), T ran si
tion Projects, Inc., and M ultnom ah C ounty.
A lthough there is m ore need fo r affo rd
able housing for residents in Portland, a
recent report on the progress for Bud C lark
C om m ons said the day cen ter alone has
served m ore th a n 4,000 people, including 300
w ho have found perm anent roofs over their
h ead s.
D o re en ’s Place, the nam e o f the m e n ’s
shelter that provides space for hom eless
m en, particularly veterans, has served 300
individuals and helped 80 find hom es, in
cluding 4 0 V eterans w ho now live in p erm a
nent housing.
T he com m ons took tw o years before open
ing its doors in June, w hen a w aiting list to
receive a unit w as already 150 nam es long.
T oday, the w aiting list to receive housing
in the building has reached 300.
R esident C hristian W itt, w ho has lived at
B ud C lark for six-m onths now , spent m ore
than 23-years o f his life hitchhiking around
the country w hile battling alcoholism and
m ental health issues.
N ow , he said his favorite part about living
in the affordable apartm ent units is the a c
b u t th ey te n d to ,”
said R achael D uke,
building m an ag er o f
the com m ons.
A dam s said m ov
ing into a new hom e
and try in g to deal
w ith all o f life ’s o b
stacles is often very
difficult, and change
is a p r o c e s s th a t
needs to be taken one
step at a tim e.
“A lot o f people,
w hen in that survival
m ode, have to deal
w ith it in w hatever
w ay is best for yo u ,”
she said.
T h e tr a n s itio n
from the streets to a
hom e can be a diffi
cult adjustm ent for
so m e te n a n ts w ho
photos by M indy C ooper /T he P ortland O bserver
have been hom eless
Rachael Duke, building manager o f the Bud Clark Commons, a new 130-unit affordable housing complex
fo r decades.
and multi-resource center downtown, speaks about the facility to a visiting college architecture class.
A d a m s, m o th e r
and gran d m o th er to tw o boys, w as hom eless
“ I w as excited, bu t I w as also very ap p re
the w orst after recession, along w ith thou
fo r seven years before m oving to the co m hensive. I felt guilty because there are so
sands o f others, w hen she suddenly lost her
m ons. She w as overw helm ed w hen she heard
m any people out there w ho need it,” she said.
continued
on page 14
she had h er ow n place to live.
According to Adam s, her life m ade a turn for