Message from Traci: Victories Worth Celebrating
Dear friends,
As I was onboarding as HDC’s interim executive director in June, our project teams were celebrating. Five HDC clients had just won crucial competitive funding awards for affordable housing development and preservation projects underway. In all cases, the award bumped the project across a threshold from theoretically feasible to soon-to-be-real.
Golden Eagle II is one of the funded projects. This 46-year-old apartment complex provides deeply affordable homes to very-low-income seniors and families with kids on Oregon’s north coast. In 2016, Golden Eagle II was at risk of conversion to market-rate housing. But today, the property is on a path to a better future: a thorough renovation and long-term affordability under the ownership of Northwest Coastal Housing. (Read more of the story here.)
When we’re busy, it’s easy to let milestones like this one pass by in a blur. Even when we share space in an office, we don’t always slow down to acknowledge our wins and their impacts. In these socially distanced times, celebrations at work too often look—and sound—like ours did when we heard our clients’ great funding news in June: 18 people sitting alone in their bedroom cubicles, quietly toggling from their spreadsheets to their email inboxes, tapping some keystrokes, and toggling back again.
I like to imagine that when we’re back in the office together, HDC will get a giant brass bell. And every time one of our clients’ projects passes a new milestone—even if we’re too busy to gather—we’ll ring it. Because every time a future affordable housing community moves a step closer to opening its doors to residents, it’s a victory worth celebrating.
If HDC owned that bell, I’d be ringing it, now, to honor the five HDC-assisted projects that crossed major funding milestones this spring and summer:
NAYA (Native American Youth and Family Center) and its Tistilal Village redevelopment project in Northeast Portland.
Salem Housing Authority and its Sequoia Crossings project in Salem.
Northwest Coastal Housing and its Golden Eagle II preservation project in Tillamook.
Mercy Housing and its Marylhurst Commons project in Lake Oswego.
Catholic Charities and its Good Shepherd Village project in Happy Valley.
Each of these developments will expand housing opportunity for families and individuals in Oregon who are highly impacted by homelessness and housing insecurity. Each has its own inspiring story, which you can use the links above to explore. And each, moving forward on its own track, will almost certainly become real. (Can you hear the deep, resonant chimes?)
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We’ll be sharing more information and news about these projects, and others, in coming months. But first, there’s another bell I need to ring. It’s called the Someone Please Come Help Us With All This Work! bell. (Can you hear the high-pitched clangs?) I’m ringing it because the projects I mentioned above represent only a fraction of the work underway here at HDC. We’re fortunate to spend our work hours supporting remarkable clients to achieve their visions—and they, and we, need your help!
We’ve recently posted job announcements for a director of construction management and for several project management positions on our construction, finance, and asset management teams. We’re eager to fill these positions and put our new team members to work. If you can help us spread the word or steer qualified candidates our way, we’d be greatly appreciative.
From the whole team at HDC, I wish you a safe and healthful final stretch of your summer—with plenty of memorable moments spent away from your keyboard. I’ll be in touch with more news and updates in early fall. (And you can have HDC’s newsletter delivered directly to your inbox by scrolling down to subscribe.)
Thank you for being a partner of HDC.