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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 3, 2021)
Page 4 November 3, 2021 Losing Bid Upsets Immigrant Group Continued from front owned Colas Construction, Community Vision, and El Programa Hispano, called for 141 affordable units while the Relat- ed NW proposal called for 137 units, Dar said. Ryan was not available for an interview on short notice last week, but his spokes- woman, Margaux Weeke, sent a lengthy email response from PHB director Shan- non Callahan, to several questions, includ- ing, “Why did the city choose to award the bid to Related Companies?” First, Callahan pointed out that the City Council did not play a role in the bid pro- cess, but that the Housing Bureau received five proposals for the new building. Pro- posals first went through an initial “two- step intensive review process,” she wrote, including a technical and financial feasi- bility committee and a community review committee. “The project selected through that pro- cess was proposed by a development team that includes IRCO (Immigrant and Ref- ugee Community Organization), Catholic Charities and Related NW,” Callahan stat- ed. “Out of the five project proposals re- ceived, the proposal submitted by REACH CDC in partnership with AYCO ranked third, based on the criteria and parameters set forth in the solicitation.” The selection of Related Northwest is currently under review by Metro, she stat- ed. “Metro has shared with us that they have been clear with AYCO throughout the process of temporary leasing and com- munity engagement that the project/devel- oper selection process for the site would be a competitive one,” Callahan wrote. “Ultimately, the proposal they were part of was not selected through the competitive process led by Portland Housing Bureau. We are sympathetic that this is a disap- pointment.” Regardless, Dar is not satisfied and said he has requested a meeting with Metro Council President Lynn Peterson to ask her about transparency the selection pro- cess. He said he expects to meet with her sometime this week. Dar, a native of Somalia, started AYCO in 2008 as athletic mentorship program for six East African boys who were school dropouts. Through engaging them in sports, he was able to get them back in school and the organization has grown enormously since then. Today, AYCO has a staff of 16 and pro- grams for youth, families, health and dis- ability, psychological-social services and rental assistance, and serves more than 20,000 community members each year, Dar said. Many of AYCO’s staff have similar backgrounds to the people they serve. “We understand the language, we un- derstand the culture, and we’ve also been in the school system so we know how to navigate in school,” said Nuradin Ab- dirahman, who works in AYCO’s Uplift program that helps middle, high school and college-bound students. In a recent interview, Dar said AYCO is serving about 2,000 people a month and has invested “too much money in new equipment and supplies to simply walk away come next November.” According to the Portland Tribune, Metro spokesman Nick Christensen called AYCO “a wonderful partner” and hoped to collaborate with the nonprofit in the fu- ture. “We are sympathetic that this is a disap- pointment and hope AYCO will be able to find a permanent home,” Christensen said. AYCO receives funding from the city, Metro, Oregon Community Foundation, the Collins Foundation, Oregon Depart- ment of Education, Nike Community Im- pact Fund, Oregon Department of Human Services, CareOregon, and more. “We are trying to kind of bridge the gap when it comes to mental health and sub- stance abuse, when it comes to domestic violence, when it comes to hate and Is- lamaphobia,” Dar said. In terms of a new space, Dar says AYCO needs a center that includes a multi-use athletic space, offices, confer- ence room, commercial kitchen, Head Start classroom, reception area and shared workspace. He would like to have space in the new building or somewhere in the Montavilla neighborhood, where many East African immigrants live. The organization’s current one-story building at 432 N.E 7th Ave. is owned by Metro and the Housing Bureau. It will be demolished ahead of a new $56 million af- fordable housing project, including $19.5 million from a 2018 regional housing bond. According to a news release from the city, Related Northwest’s plans call for constructing two buildings, one with 41 units of permanent supportive housing, supporting people of color, seniors, home- less persons and survivors of domestic vi- olence or sexual assault. The second building will have 96 units of family housing to target “BIPOC, se- niors, immigrant and refugee households and intergenerational families.” Catholic Charities will provide case management and the Immigrant & Refugee Communi- ty Organization will provide resident ser- vices. Planned amenities include a communi- ty room and kitchen, laundry room, play- ground, picnic area, community garden, bike parking, surface parking, and onsite multicultural preschool. The project team is also partnering with Mercy Corps NW to promote small business classes and of- fer two retail incubator spaces and a café in the ground-floor commercial space.
