As four new townhomes are nearing completion at 457 NE 74th Avenue, the property’s developer applied for a Middle Housing Land Division (MHLD) to create distinct lots for each home. This form of property segmentation allows for common-wall construction that avoids Home Owner Association (HOA) fees and creates clearly defined boundaries between neighbors.
Crews began constructing these new homes in October and quickly completed principal framing, sealing up the exterior so work could proceed inside the units. This level of completion enabled the developer to pursue an MHLD lot division, which requires the builder to have units constructed to a state where an as-built survey of buildings and underground services can occur before the City approves the final plat. Although developers can only start the MHLD process after submitting permits, the process is guaranteed to be fast, according to Oregon state law. The City must either approve or deny the application within 63 days.
An MHLD is reserved for specified housing types and does not apply to vacant lots or non-residential development. Lots segmented in this way must have existing buildings or structures under construction to qualify. The buildings can be attached or detached duplexes, triplex, fourplex, and Cottage Cluster developments. Unlike traditional lot divisions, MHLD does not require street access or a private road for all units. In the previous City code, all lots needed street access through complicated lot lines or easements. As with this project on NE 74th, MHLD-created properties can reside behind other lots without street access. Only the front home at 457 NE 74th Avenue directly connects to the sidewalk and utilities. The other three units have a walkway and utility easements.
Each MHLD-created lot has to contain one residence. However, those lots do not need to be the same size. The back property at 451 NE 74th Avenue is larger than all the others, with significantly larger yard space. It also contains a shared drywell for onsite rainwater management. The middle two units have equal land area, access, and yard space.
MHLD is an integral part of Portland’s recent Residential Infill code updates that allow people to create more housing on existing properties. Creating independent lots in this creative way eliminates added monthly costs that some homeowners pay to an HOA for shared property maintenance. It can also simplify the mortgage process and neighbor relations by not having an extra level of governance over one’s land. Many newer infill developments across Portland are already using MHLD, which may indicate that changes brought about by the Residential Infill Project are succeeding in the City’s efforts to create more housing. Look for these four townhouses to become available for purchase in 2024.
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In offices above Vino Veritas Wine Bar, Liberation Institute offers affordable therapy on a sliding scale that often costs between $20 and $30 per session. Most sessions are conducted by training therapists working on their practicum hours. The Institute’s Portland clinic serves people throughout Oregon via online sessions and from two offices at 7831 SE Stark Street. They specialize in making mental healthcare accessible for people without insurance coverage, even offering free group sessions for people who can not afford their already discounted rates.
Steven Dallmann founded Liberation Institute in San Francisco to provide easily accessible professional support for issues related to mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being. The 501(c)(3) nonprofit works independently from insurance providers and public funding, instead relying on donated time and charitable contributions. The first clients were people living on the street, but the demand for mental healthcare access spans all socio-economic situations, and the program grew to treat a wide range of people.
Elizabeth Hoke, Portland Clinical Director Liberation Institute, courtesy Liberation Institute
Elizabeth Hoke took a practicum position at the Liberation Institute’s San Francisco location in 2011 as she worked towards a master’s in counseling psychology. Hoke continued to work with the organization as she grew her private practice, even after she relocated to Portland in 2016. Her husband’s work transferred him to Oregon, and they made a temporary move to the region that became permanent. “Originally, we were going to come here and then maybe go back, but we totally fell in love with Portland,” explained Hoke. At the time, the Liberation Institute only supported clients in California. However, COVID-19 changed how people sought counseling and where students could receive practicum hours.
“In 2020, when the pandemic hit, we noticed that a bunch of clinics shut their doors. We’ve never had any kind of government funding, and we’ve never had an organizational structure that relied on anybody else telling us what to do. So we just went online and kept seeing all of our clients,” said Hoke. The organization could transition to online services faster than other clinics waiting for insurance and government guidance. New patients seeking care and students looking to complete their training found the Liberation Institute, substantially expanding the nonprofit. “People were calling us from different places in San Francisco and all over California, saying ‘our clinic shut. We need to get our hours so we can graduate. We don’t know what to do.’ So we got bigger and bigger,” remembers Hoke.
Seeing the same demand in Oregon that the Liberation Institute experienced in San Francisco, Elizabeth Hoke worked with Dallmann to create a Portland clinic. It started slowly with three Oregon-based therapists in 2020. She has grown operations to 15 therapists in the last three years, with four supervisors guiding the students. They have also expanded to offer a half-dozen support groups alongside the one-on-one sessions.
Clients always meet with the same person each week. Some therapists will take their clients to their other practice if insurance becomes available or therapists move on. All the supervisors have private practices that provide financial support, allowing them to donate their time to the Liberation Institute. Students work towards graduation and eventually leave the organization, although some return as supervisors. Continuity of care is part of the profession’s ethics, but students cannot always support every client post-graduation. In those cases, clients can transfer to another therapist at the Institute.
The Liberation Institute takes an approach to therapy that is less focused on diagnosis. Not having to bill an insurance provider gives them leeway to focus on people. “It’s not about what your diagnosis is. There are two ways to do therapy. There’s a scientific way that’s evidence-based. It’s all about following these protocols and checking these boxes. Then there’s more of an art to therapy that’s more relational,” explained Hoke. Although they may take a less clinical approach, they are trained therapists who can work with people on medications prescribed by a doctor or come from another treatment, coordinating with other care providers as appropriate.
Elizabeth Hoke explained that the holidays are hard for people, but often, they only reach out for help in January. She expects to see an increase in need next month but wants people to know that the Liberation Institute is always an option for people with limited resources looking for care and community. To schedule an appointment, people can email info.pdx@liberationinstitute.org or call 503-836-7350 Ext 3.
In early 2024, City Noise Records will relocate from NE Broadway to 7035 NE Glisan Street. Next door at 7033 NE Glisan Street, the owner of the punk and metal music store will launch a new beer and wine bar called Replicant with his partner Lydia Crumbley. Renovation crews working on the 1917-era storefronts encountered some age-related complications, but work is now well underway for a mid-March or April opening.
The 810-square-foot bar’s name originates from the 1982 sci-fi movie Blade Runner. The film featured synthetic humans known as replicants, hunted in a futuristic Los Angeles. Bar and record store owner Gianpiero Milani is a fan of the film and will use it for some of the bar’s theming. However, co-owner Lydia Crumbley explained they will not attempt to recreate a bar environment from the film. Replicant will offer non-alcoholic drinks alongside beer and wine, with a food menu that includes vegan options.
The bar and record shop connect through a hallway, allowing people to move between the two locations as they drink and shop. The record store will utilize its new 516-square-foot storefront to increase the music genres offered and add more products. In addition to vinyl and cassette-based albums, the shop features books, magazines, jewelry, and apparel. The back portion of the music store will contain City Noise’s growing online order fulfillment business, shipping across the country.
Crumbley and Milani chose this Montavilla location because of its proximity to their home and the rare option to combine the existing store with a new bar. The shop is also near Crumbley’s Certified Public Accountant business, located above the Bipartisan Cafe on SE Stark Street. The two record store employees will transfer to this new location by April, joining a bar manager working next door. Replicant will serve guests from 3 to 10 p.m. every day except Mondays. City Noise Records will maintain its hours of noon to 7 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday, with similar hours on Sundays but closing at 6 p.m. Look for work to pick up pace in January and February, with a soft open anticipated for March.
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The Portland Ombudsman’s Office is looking for anyone who has had their vehicle towed by the city and suffered hardship as a result. The Ombudsman’s Office operates within the Portland Office of the Auditor and was created to assist the public with complaints or concerns regarding city agencies. Deputy Ombudsman Tony Green is investigating the city’s towing policies and practices. Collecting community experience is essential to the investigation, which aims to produce recommendations that will reduce the potential harms of government-initiated towing.
Last week, the Office of the Ombudsman posted a request seeking emailed stories from people who suffered financial hardship because of a City-ordered tow. “Our office regularly receives complaints from economically vulnerable community members who struggle to pay for the towing and storage costs to recover their vehicles,” wrote the Ombudsman’s Office. “This investigation is part of our ongoing efforts to identify and investigate systemic issues when the City’s actions may result in unfair treatment and harm.”
The Ombudsman’s Office conducts independent investigations based on complaints received. People should first seek help from the city agency where the problem occurred, but the Ombudsman’s Office wants to hear about experiences where the city’s process is unfair. Those reports sometimes lead to an investigation like the towing one underway now. The Office’s staff handles complaints against the City of Portland but has no jurisdiction over police or elected officials, including City Commissioners, the Auditor, and the Mayor.
People willing to share their stories of financial hardship caused by city-ordered towing should contact Tony Green at tony.green@portlandoregon.gov. Information provided could help the Ombudsman’s Office in its efforts to ensure city agencies treat Portlanders fairly.
Next year, DEZ Development plans to break ground on a seven-unit townhouse project at 7132 NE Glisan Street. This three-story building replaces a recently demolished single-family home on a corner lot. Two units will face NE Glisan Street, with the remaining five having addresses on NE 72nd Avenue.
475 NE 72nd Avenue
477 NE 72nd Avenue
479 NE 72nd Avenue
481 NE 72nd Avenue
483 NE 72nd Avenue
7192 NE Glisan Street
7194 NE Glisan Street
The property is zoned Commercial Mixed Use 2 (CM2), allowing up to four stories and a building floor area up to two-and-a-half times that of the property’s dimensions. As this building will not cover all the buildable land, the three levels proposed fit within allowable development in this area. NE Glisan is seeing more multi-level projects in Montavilla. However, this building sits across NE 72nd Avenue from a two-story commercial mixed-use building constructed in 1890. NE Glisan once had streetcar lines running down its center, providing a Portland connection to this town-turned-neighborhood community. Many buildings along the transit line were commercial-oriented and offered above-storefront apartments. Remnants of that history are visible in the older buildings that survived the seventy-five years since rail transit ceased operations on NE Glisan.
Rendered view of the seven townhomes seen from NE 72nd Avenue. Courtesy DEZ Development.
This townhouse project continues the expansion of housing density along NE Glisan Street and represents a local builder’s response to demand. “We are very excited about this project and feel that this will bring much-needed housing to a neighborhood that I love and grew up in,” remarked Slavik Dezhnyuk, Managing Member of DEZ Development. Each home will provide between 1,000 and 1,300 square feet of living space, split between three levels. Look for work to begin in 2024, depending on permit processing times.
Update March 25th, 2025: Crews have completed exterior work on the seven-unit townhouse project.
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Montavilla News first reported on Multnomah County’s shelter plans for the former RV sales lot in December 2022. Within the following year, JOHS and the site’s services provider, Straightway Services, adjusted the shelter’s format from a vehicle-based housing arrangement to now include Pallet shelters and onsite parking. Titled Montavilla Community Village, the site will use 29 micro-home buildings with eight units configured with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) access. The site’s Kitchen, laundry, offices, and hygiene facilities will reside within six 8-by-20-foot shipping-container-style buildings. All of those structures will be ADA accessible, with the majority of them placed along SE 82nd Avenue, creating a safety buffer for residents.
Site rendering courtesy Multnomah County
County contractors will install privacy slats in the existing 6-foot-high chainlink fence around the site and build a new 8-foot tall wood fence on the western edge of the property between the other residences on the block. The site will feature two covered outdoor seating areas and a green space for pet relief. The existing auto-sales-office structure on the property is in poor condition, and demolition crews will remove it ahead of site redevelopment.
Site plan courtesy Multnomah County
The JOHS proposal includes several community engagement recommendations, including forming a Good Neighbor Agreement with community stakeholders and hosting a public meeting. It also encourages the JOHS to assign a staff person to be the face of community engagement. It recommends many ways for project planners to become more communicative and transparent in the development process through mailings and website communications. County staff need $2,273,611 to redevelop this site as a Community Village shelter and will seek authorization for those funds at this meeting.
The Multnomah County Board of County Commissioners meets at 9:30 a.m. this Thursday and will hear this agenda item after general community comments. Board meetings occur in the Multnomah Building at 501 SE Hawthorne Boulevard in Boardroom 100. People who register for virtual testimony will receive a link or phone number to participate remotely. Anyone interested in watching can view the live stream via the MultCoBoard YouTube channel.
Update December 6th, 1 p.m.: When filling out comment requests, participants need to indicate they want to speak about Agenda Item R.1
Update December 6th, 7 p.m.: The JOHS asked to postpone this agenda item to anther date after more community engagement.
Update December 7th, 10 a.m.: The Multnomah County Board of County Commissioners unanimously voted to postpone the two agenda items related to this project. Chair Jessica Vega Pederson said “The Joint Office (JOHS) has asked to postpone the item on the Montavilla Community Village shelter to allow the current work around community engagement to continue to move forward and take shape. So this request impacts both R1 and R2 on today’s agenda. While this may affect the overall timeline of the project, the commitment to this much needed shelter space is going to continue and I really appreciate the additional time for needed community engagement. The shelter also remains an essential part of the work, serving vulnerable residents in Montavilla and Southeast Portland, so this item will return to the agenda for a vote at a later date before moving forward. I support the request and I ask for a motion for an indefinite postponement.”
County Commissioners Julia Brim-Edwards and Sharon Meieran provided additional comment endorsing the delay to allow for more community engagement. Commissioner Meieran referenced many frustrations with the JOHS communications around this project and looked forward to correcting that ahead of a future vote on the project.
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Last week, road crews continued construction on the NE Glisan Street crossing at 78th Avenue to support the 70s Neighborhood Greenway project. However, similar work on NE Halsey Street and 76th Avenue stalled due to a striping contractor’s mechanical difficulty. Other critical crossings on SE Stark and Washington Streets at 80th Avenue remain partially completed and unmarked.
Last week, drivers near NE Glisan Street and 78th Avenue experienced detours and lane closures as crews demolished several feet of the east side of a pedestrian refuge island. This work removed the remnants of a signal pole that had once supported Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons (RRFB). That signal pole and plastic delineator posts suffered repeated damage from vehicles driving over the island. The Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) stopped replacing the island-mounted pole in 2021, relying on the RRFBs attached to utility poles on the road’s edge. For years, an orange traffic cone protected the exposed wires on the refuge island. This recent work on NE Glisan Street addresses the exposed wire issue, covering the electrical junction box and removing the pole anchoring bolts. Crews also installed pole-mounted signal request buttons for cyclists to activate without dismounting. Pedestrian refuge island reconstruction could include additional safety measures. However, design documents do not indicate a significant adjustment to the physical attributes of the pedestrian refuge island.
PBOT Provided design document for the NE Glisan Street crossing at NE 78th Avenue.
South of the active Greenway work, construction of two pedestrian refuge islands and a small raised concrete median on NE Halsey Street is likely delayed until next year. In September, cement masons completed reconstructing sidewalk corners and adding mid-block curb ramps for the 70s Greenway crossing at NE Halsey Street and 76th Avenue. Before work can begin on the in-street crossing elements, crews must remove the existing lane striping and repaint lines in a new configuration. NE Halsey will change from a four-lane design in this area to a three-lane street with bike lanes. This transformation will happen by reducing a travel lane in each direction and adding a center turn lane. Until that reconfiguration occurs, road crews cannot create the refuge island because it would block part of a travel lane.
NE Halsey Street and 76th Ave
According to PBOT, the contracted painting company suffered equipment failure, which disrupted their busy schedule. That company, Hicks Striping & Curbing, is one of only two striping contractors in the northwest region approved to do this work. Specialized Pavement Marking is the other contractor and is equally busy. Consequentially, project planners anticipate delays in the Greenway crossing work. “We don’t anticipate striping this segment until spring 2024,” explained Hannah Schafer, Communications Director for PBOT. Construction schedules can shift on other projects, freeing up resources for this work, but for now, crews are waiting for updated pavement markings.
Construction drawing of NE Halsey Street and 76th Ave, courtesy PBOT
Other Greenway crossing projects in Montavilla are missing pavement markings, causing hardship for people using the intersections. SE Stark and Washington Streets at 80th Avenue recently received updates to support RRFBs. When the road crews repaved the work area, that work temporarily removed a high-visibility crosswalk on SE Stark Street. Without lane striping and marked crossings, pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers navigate with some ambiguity around conflict points in the street.
These are short-term challenges as the streets around the 70s Neighborhood Greenway project gain safety improvements. However, residents have demanded crossing improvements along these busy streets for years, and further delay is understandably disappointing. By next year, PBOT should complete the Greenway project, making way for other safety improvements in the area.
Update December 14th, 2023: Cement masons completed work on the NE Glisan Street crossing at 78th Avenue. It is now full functional for pedestrian users. PBOT should install the bike RRFB request buttons soon. As design documents indicated, crews did not install additional pedestrian refuge island safety enhancements. Work on the island removed the mounting bolts from the damaged RRFB signal pole and secured the wiring junction box with an access cover.
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Long a Montavilla landmark, the historic Saints Peter and Paul Episcopal Church is slated to be demolished to make room for a much-needed affordable housing complex.
The Montavilla church became known as Saints Peter and Paul only in 1968, when the congregations of the Montavilla church, St. Peter’s, merged with the Lents church, St. Paul’s. But the history of the Montavilla church goes back more than 100 years.
At its beginning, there was no church building, but the congregation had existed since at least 1915. At that time, Montavilla’s tiny Episcopalian community of some ten families gathered in homes or rented spaces. By 1920, they were an official mission church thanks to the assistance of Rev. Thomas Jenkins, rector of St. David’s in Portland.
Rev. Jenkins was dedicated to making Episcopal churches available to suburban communities. St. Peter’s was one of three mission churches he established in eastern Portland. Only St. Peter’s Chapel, as it was then called, survived and in 1926, got its own church building. When the congregation built a larger church in 1959, the original church was renamed Jenkins’ Hall in his honor.
Rev. Thomas Jenkins as Bishop of Nevada. Source: Wikipedia
But being designated a mission church did not necessarily come with a church building. The Montavilla congregation had to continue worshipping in rented spaces until it built a church in 1926. Until then, they were frequently forced to move as their rental spaces were sold. In 1920 and 1921 alone, they relocated five times.
Nor did a mission church come with a permanent priest. Sometimes, a visiting priest would conduct Sunday services, but sometimes, congregants like Dorcas Hallum and Ernest Stockley took the pulpit.
This 1924 Sanborn fire insurance map detail shows the last St. Peter’s rental located on E. 80th Avenue, opposite the big 1893 Methodist Episcopal Church.
In 1926, the St. Peter’s congregation took out a loan and erected its own church at the corner of Pine Street and 82nd Avenue. Despite its small size, it was designed by the prestigious Portland architectural firm headed by Ellis F. Lawrence, founder and dean of the University of Oregon School of Architecture, and so many years later, it became an official historical landmark.
On Sunday, September 12, 1926, the St. Peter’s congregation processed from their rented quarters on 80th to the church site at the corner of 82nd and Pine for the groundbreaking ceremony.
The St. Peter’s congregation at the groundbreaking ceremony. Archdeacon Henry D. Chambers is on the left. Source: Sts. Peter and Paul archives
Archdeacon Jay Claud Black officiated the first service on November 14, 1926. On November 18, the new church held an open house with the Women’s Guild hosting an afternoon tea followed by an evening of entertainment and a dance.
These two photographs from the Sts. Peter and Paul archives show the original church, with its congregants (left), and the church with the added vestibule entrance (right). Source: Sts. Peter and Paul archives
During the Depression, St. Peter’s had a series of temporary priests, so much of the church operation was still up to members of the congregation. They paid off the church mortgage in 1930 and soon after built a social hall. Unfortunately, at one point, the church coffers were so low that parishioners Mark and Ethel Francklin paid the priest’s salary.
During the 1940s, the congregation continued to be led by temporary priests. Then, in 1950, it got its first permanent priest: Rev. Kent Lambert Haley, who served St. Peter’s for the next 16 years. When he retired at the end of 1966, he left a legacy of remarkable accomplishments, including a new and larger church.
Rev. Kent Lambert Haley, rector of St. Peter’s from 1950 to 1966. Source: The Oregonian, April 1-April 3, 2016
Rev. Haley had arrived in Portland just one year earlier, fresh from divinity school in Berkeley, California. His first posting was at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, where he was also ordained as a priest. In 1950, Bishop Benjamin Dagwell urged Haley to take charge of St. Peter’s.
When he arrived in Montavilla, he found a rundown church surrounded by weeds. Rev. Haley’s daughter Mary still remembers playing in those weeds.
The church was located at the edge of Portland’s dense suburbs. 82nd Avenue was still a two-lane road, with farms, orchards, and nurseries to the east. At first, Rev. Haley, his wife Janice, and baby Mary had to live in a vicarage on 86th Avenue with a leaky roof and a crumbling basement.
During his 16 years at St. Peter’s, Haley spurred himself and his congregants into a flurry of activity. They helped with new building projects, maintaining and repairing the church building and grounds, organizing social events, and raising funds to cover expanding parish expenses.
Haley deeply loved church music, which would be a focus during his years as St. Peter’s priest. His masters’ thesis was on the boy choir in the parish church, and establishing a boys’ choir was a priority. He had directed boys’ choirs at St. Clement’s in Berkeley and St. Mark’s in Portland. In 1950, he created a boys’ choir at St. Peter’s. Around 1955, Haley added a girls’ choir.
Haley also introduced the medieval custom of the Boy Bishop, a practice he had revived in 1948 at St. Clement’s.
14-year-old Boy Bishop Todd Goodrich being installed by Oregon Bishop James W. F. Carman with Father Haley on the right in 1963. Source: Sts. Peter and Paul’s archives
Every year on St. Nicholas Day, December 6, the choir elected one of its choristers to serve as Boy Bishop until Epiphany, January 6. The Bishop of Oregon installed the Boy Bishop, who would wear boy-size vestments and carry a bishop’s cross (crosier). He had various duties, including managing the choir, giving sermons, and leading processions. The last Boy Bishop was elected in 1965, Rev. Haley’s last year at St. Peter’s.
Other aspects of church life were improved under Rev. Haley’s leadership with the enthusiastic support of his membership.
In 1953 and 1954, the hall next to the church and the basement were enlarged. A new kitchen was added.
In 1955, St. Peter’s became an official parish, and Father Haley was instituted as its rector.
You would think, with all this activity on top of his religious duties, Haley would be pressed for time. But in 1954, he launched a children’s television show called “Noah’s Ark” on a local station. He told stories with his own drawings, just as he did for his Sunday school classes. The show ran weekly until 1957.
TV Life cover showing Father Haley with one of his biblical illustrations in the background
By 1956, St. Peter’s membership needed a bigger church, so the parish bought the vacant lots just west of the church. They also purchased the lot and house next door on Ash Street to serve as a new vicarage.
In 1958, the architectural firm of Dukehart and Kinne was hired to design a church that would seat 200 congregants and 50 choristers. St. Peter’s parishioner, Robert Kyle, oversaw the construction.
Groundbreaking occurred on November 30, 1958, and the new church was dedicated on November 27, 1959.
Architect’s sketch for the new St. Peter’s Church. Source: Oregonian, November 29, 1958
Father Haley wanted—and got—a traditional church design. He wanted architecture that reflected Anglican High Church traditions.
Father Haley described himself as an Anglo Catholic—or High Church—priest to distinguish Episcopalians from Protestants. In 1955, the Oregon Episcopal Convention dropped the word Protestant from the name of the Episcopal Church to stress continuity with traditional Roman Catholic practices. Haley was not happy when, in 1976, the national Episcopal Church reversed its position.
Besides getting a traditional Anglican church design, Rev. Haley argued for a pipe organ to provide a richer, smoother sound. A pipe organ was vastly more expensive, but fortunately, Bishop Benjamin Dagwell donated a Wicks pipe organ. The pipe organ needed its own room, but parishioners agreed to this added building expense. The church’s interior was designed with optimal acoustics in mind: lots of flat, smooth surfaces, including floors without carpets.
Ground level plan for the Sts. Peter and Paul campus. The 1959 church is on the left. The 1926 church was renamed Jenkins Hall. Source: Sts. Peter and Paul archives
Interior view of the completed church showing a portion of the nave with pews and the altar. By the time this photo was taken, the choir stalls had been removed. Photo source: Montavilla News
While church membership grew in the 1950s, it declined in the 1960s. In 1968, the Oregon Diocesan leaders recommended that it merge with another low-population church, St. Paul’s in Lents. The congregations agreed and the two churches became Sts. Peter and Paul. St. Paul’s rector, Rev. Lee H. Young, headed the combined church until 1977.
Under Rev. Scott H. Helferty, 1984-1994, Sts. Peter and Paul began programs to serve local communities in need, which had multiplied in the 1980s. Due to various economic and political conditions, there was a crisis of homelessness. Churches began programs to provide shelter and food.
Rev. Helferty and his parish began offering free dinners on Wednesdays to low-income and homeless people. So successful was this program that, in 1993, the Montavilla Business Association gave its Outstanding Citizen award to long-term parishioner Douglas M. Parker for his contribution to the program. The meal service continued as Brigid’s Table.
In subsequent years, under rectors Kurt Neilson, Sara Fischer, and others, new services were added. These services include Rahab’s Sisters, the Crisis Kitchen, the Red Wagon Project, and the Montavilla Wellness Fair.
Rahab’s Sisters was started in 2003 by a group of Episcopal lay and clergy women. It was inspired by the Maze Marigold project in London’s East End, which Rev. Fischer had observed firsthand in 2002. Rahab’s Sisters emulated the London project, offering non-judgmental hospitality to marginalized women and gender-diverse individuals in east Portland. Desiree Eden Ocampo, executive director of the project, refers to the service as harm reduction.
Beginning in 2011, Sts. Peter and Paul also reached out to Montavilla’s growing Latino community by offering Spanish language services, where visitors were welcomed by familiar images of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Spanish services continued until COVID arrived in 2020 when all in-person gatherings ended at the church.
While Sts. Peter and Paul reached out to the homeless and the hungry, it was slower to welcome female clergy. Lay women had long served in church guilds, but the Episcopal Church was slow to accept women clerics. Women were officially allowed to become deacons in 1970 and to become priests in 1976. Yet at Sts. Peter and Paul, only three women have held clerical positions: Jannis Goold, a deacon in 1990; Rev. Eleanor Applewhite Terry, a part-time assisting priest from 2003 to 2004; and Rev. Sara Fischer, a priest from 2020 to the present.
Rev. Sara Fischer is the first female rector to serve Montavilla’s Episcopal church. Photo source: Sts. Peter and Paul website
Over the years, Montavilla’s Episcopalian church has had its ups and downs, but it survived and served its community for at least 123 years. Now, the congregation is making the ultimate sacrifice, the surrender of its worship and social spaces in the interest of serving those in greater need.
Fortunately, the church’s service-oriented parishioners and their allies will continue their community assistance work. Rahab’s Sisters will operate from its temporary home in the nearby Montavilla United Methodist Church while it seeks funding for a dedicated facility. A new initiative, the Montavilla Collective, explores ways to weave a wider web of connection. In addition, the Episcopal Diocese of Oregon will be seeding a new community, currently under the name St. Mary the Prophet, to minister to those in the Montavilla neighborhood and beyond who are not served by traditional churches. The Rev. Sara Fischer will lead this new mission initiative part-time beginning in 2024.
The St. Peter and Paul’s complex will soon be gone, but its spirit of service and generosity will live on.
Saints Peter and Paul Episcopal Church will hold their last traditional Sunday liturgy at 10 a.m. on December 3rd. A special deconsecration will occur later that day at 5 p.m. followed by dinner. The church community invites the public to attend one or both events held at 247 SE 82nd Avenue.
On December 2nd, HÂP Fresh will open in the former Thai Fresh location at 8409 SE Division Street. After four months of renovations and planning, the Asian fusion restaurant is ready to seat customers and serve its renowned handmade dumplings. This purveyor of Asian comfort food prides itself on fresh ingredients served into the midnight hours.
HÂP Fresh is the fourth restaurant recently opened by Nasy Chan with partner Thomas Trieu. Two locations are north of Portland in Vancouver and Carson, Washington. The first Oregon location previously opened in Gresham but paused operations due to a staffing issue. It is now open again, and the Portland shop will soon join it. The restaurant owners have plans to add made-to-order menu items to the SE Division Street location, where patrons select ingredients similar to how MOD Pizza assembles pies. They will offer custom salad rolls, roll-your-own bun options, and build-to-order banh mi sandwiches. However, the delayed start in Gresham has driven up costs, so the owners pushed back the customization plans to focus on having all locations ready. “We’ve been paying rent for both locations and not opening. We can’t do this anymore, so we have to open,” explained Chan.
HÂP Fresh will launch with their dumpling-focused menu led by chef Gulian Lui, who has a history of making the dish at some of Portland’s more notable restaurants. His creations complement Chan’s dishes, influenced by the foods of Cambodia, Thailand, China, and Vietnam. Chan grew up in many places before moving to the United States at age eight. “I’ve lived in the Philippines. I lived in Thailand and Malaysia. I lived in Cambodia and Vietnam. We moved around a lot during the war, so I experienced different areas,” recalled Chan. Traveling between communities early in life and her parents’ diverse mix of cultures influenced Chan’s tastes. “My mom is 100% Vietnamese, and my dad is Chinese Cambodian. So I learned a lot about their food cultures and combine them all the time,” said Chan.
Nasy Chan learned to cook early in life from her mother, an accomplished street food vendor. She understood that when her mother was sick and unable to cook for the family, it was up to her to fill that role. It is just one of the many instances where Chan embraced adversity as an opportunity to grow stronger. She opened her first restaurant at 21 years old and had a successful career managing chain fast food restaurants. However, her husband’s mismanagement of family finances and an illness that took his life left Chan with practically nothing. The last few years have been about rebuilding for Chan, but from a place of understanding that the community support she has received is up to her to pass along. Much like Thai Fresh before it, HÂP Fresh embraces the idea of community fundraising and support. From the Vancouver location, HÂP restaurant has held fundraisers for a family whose child has a life-shortening illness. Chan is also receptive to other opportunities to support the neighborhood around her restaurants.
Community involvement is a core component of the business, but Nasy Chan knows that her food needs to be memorable to keep people coming back. She uses her life experiences to craft authentic foods that remind people of their family recipes. The detail and time put into her dishes have made her popular with the Cambodian community and other groups with heritage from the region where she grew up. Although tradition plays into the menu, HÂP Fresh has fun with items, making new combinations and creating festive-themed creations. They also offer vegan and gluten-free options with additional substitutions upon request.
HÂP Fresh serves customers late into the evening, with many orders coming in after the dinner rush. They are open from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. The rest of the week, they are available from 11 a.m. to midnight, covering lunch, dinner, and late-night meals. They support many traditional food delivery apps, and their counter-service model makes it easy to order takeout or dine-in. They will offer a 20% discount through December to celebrate their opening and encourage people to try their menu. Customers interested in catering services should call (360)-828-8736 or email customerService@HapRestaurant.com.
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