“This is DEI at work”: community leaders praise inclusive design at Nueva Esperanza groundbreaking.

LMC Construction crews were moving earth as community members, project team members, and funding partners gathered on March 30 to celebrate the groundbreaking of Nueva Esperanza. The 150-unit housing community, now under construction in Hillsboro, is being developed through a joint venture partnership of Bienestar and HDC.

The 13-building development is the largest yet undertaken by Bienestar, the 40-year-old Washington County-based organization that builds housing, hope, and community for the wellbeing of Latinxs, immigrants, and all families in need. The project’s inclusive design process involved both Latinx and Somali immigrant communities.

Community advisor Hector Hinojosa recalls the substandard housing that greeted his family when they came to Washington County from Texas in the 1960s.

Speaker Hector Hinojosa, a community project advisor, reflected on the significance of the project from his perspective as the son of Latinx farmworkers who settled in Washington County in the 1960s.

Recruited from Harlingen, Texas, his parents were promised good jobs and “a cabina surrounded by wonderful pine trees,” the consultant and former labor negotiator recalled. “We pictured a log cabin.” Instead, the family found a 14-by-14-foot room outfitted with a Colman stove and bunk beds. Communal restrooms and laundry facilities were outdoors.

Nueva Esperanza will provide the type of high-quality housing that Tejano families like his were promised more than 50 years ago, Hinojosa said: “A place you can call home. Your own apartment, your own restroom, washers and dryers, a place for children to play.”

Located steps from Hillsboro’s 53rd Avenue Community Park and Hidden Creek Community Center, on land donated by the City of Hillsboro, Nueva Esperanza is named for the "new hope" residents will feel when they move into their homes. It will open to residents in fall 2023.

Somali Empowerment Circle Codirector Hanna Osman says her organization’s partnership with Bienestar is providing learning opportunities in community organizing and housing design.

Hinojosa and others commended Bienestar staff, including Executive Director Nathan Teske, and project architect Scott Edwards Architecture for involving community members in the project’s design. The community engagement process resulted in kitchen designs, outdoor spaces, and even exterior paint colors that reflect the cultural preferences of target resident groups.

“This is DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) at work: getting us to the table, sharing ownership with us,” Hinojosa said.

Somali Empowerment Circle Codirector Hanna Osman echoed Hinojosa’s remarks. “We were able to provide culturally relevant feedback,” Osman said.

Bienestar’s relationship with the Somali Empowerment Circle dates back to 2019, when Bienestar began supporting the younger grassroots group to build capacity in community advocacy work, Osman explained.

“I am super grateful for the partnership we have developed,“ she said. “Bienestar showed us what can happen when passionate community members come together to create long-lasting change.”

Learn more about the HDC-Bienestar joint venture partnership and Bienestar’s community organizing history.