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Oregon’s
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Wednesday . November 19. 2014
Established in 1970
C om m itted to C ultural D iversity
allenges his agency faces as it acts on behalf o f vulnerable neighbors who are displaced because o f gentrification and homelessness.
Housing leader faces
multiple challenges
O livia O livia
T he P ortland O bserver
by
A new leader has stepped into the fraught Portland hous
ing crisis.
Home Forward, the housing authority for Portland and
Multnomah County, has recently appointed a new executive
director, Michael Buonocore, who is walking into a housing
situation in which gentrification is rampant and people of
color are being pushed out of their neighborhoods at a faster
rate than ever before.
Buonocore comes to the position after having worked for
Uphill
Battle
Ahead
Home Forward the past 13 years. He has a background of
working for other social justice organizations in the Portland
area, such as Headstart and Sisters of the Road Café in Old
Town.
“Non-profits are where my heart is,” he said.
His passion for creating opportunities for vulnerable popu
lations will be tested as Home Forward tries to find a way to
help people access affordable housing in Portland, and to end
homelessness in the area.
“The development boom in Portland has created opportu
nities but also a lot of challenges,” he says.
He also is quick to praise the things Portland has done right
before he gets ready to criticize what’s wrong.
continued
on page 5