Tag: VOA

Business Relocating, Community, Construction

VOA Oregon Seeks Input on NE Glisan Campus

On Wednesday, April 3rd, Volunteers of America (VOA) Oregon will hold its second public meeting to present preliminary designs for the group’s six-acre campus at 8815 NE Glisan Street. People planning on attending should RSVP for the event and then arrive at the Multnomah University President’s Dining Room at JCA Student Center by 4 p.m. for the start of the event. The University is located near the future VOA site at 8435 NE Glisan Street.

Article originally published on March 7th, 2024

On February 24th, Volunteers of America (VOA) Oregon held its first town hall meeting, where organization leaders and architects presented preliminary designs for the group’s six-acre campus at 8815 NE Glisan Street. Over the coming years, VOA Oregon intends to consolidate its administrative services and some of its substance use, behavioral health, and childcare services onto this former church property. Project designers with Opsis Architecture explained that the multi-phased project would utilize the site’s sloped topography to hide increasing building height and borrow inspiration from residential rooflines to match nearby structures. A second meeting is scheduled for April 3rd from 4 to 5:30 p.m. at Multnomah University in the President’s Dining Room.

Looking Northwest at future site. All renderings by Opsis Architecture provided courtesy VOA Oregon

Designers structured the proposed campus with external functions in buildings adjacent to NE Glisan Street and internal services in the site’s northwest half. VOA Oregon buildings will stand two stories tall along the site’s southern edge, increasing to three levels as the land slopes downhill, presenting a consistent scale along its frontage. Crews will reconstruct the existing parking lot to include more trees and landscaping between the 92 stalls. Another cluster of lots along the property’s northern edge will provide an additional 54 on-site parking spaces. The early redevelopment will raze the 1950s-era church building and add frontage improvements along NE Glisan Street with significant work on NE 90th Avenue. Road Crews will reconstruct sections of NE 90th, adding sidewalks, street trees, and 17 curbside parking spaces to the street’s western edge.

Image looking north, courtesy VOA Oregon

VOA Oregon’s schedule for development is dependent on fundraising efforts. Construction will occur in phases, and the nonprofit will reuse existing site attributes, such as the main parking lot’s location, to save on costs. The first phase will prepare the site to host future buildings. The second phase will construct the NE Glisan adjacent administrative building and one of the residential treatment structures. Additional buildings will follow as funding allows. VOA Oregon also owns property across NE 90th Avenue. That site will allow for future multi-use development on the northeast corner of NE Glisan and 90th. Crews will construct a secure storage facility for company vehicles and supplies north of that building after demolishing the church’s storage structure, which is currently serving that purpose.

Opsis Architecture will design all buildings to serve distinct uses and complement VOA Oregon’s support programs. The main building will contain offices and community space with outward-facing uses, including a cafe and meeting rooms. Two L-shaped buildings will offer short-term units for the Women’s Residential Treatment program, where people and their children can stay between three and six months while receiving care. Each housing building can support 50 residents, meaning up to 100 people will reside on campus when fully occupied. Staff will work all hours of the day, year-round, making this formally dark and underutilized property consistently more active. Other structures will support community clinic services and childcare for employees and program participants.

Site map showing all phases, by Opsis Architecture provided courtesy VOA Oregon

In 2022, VOA Oregon President Kay Toran spoke with Montavilla News about the group’s hopes for the property. Since then, Toran has worked with the organization’s Board of Directors, staff, and designers to create a facility that she expects will provide the positive change that Portland’s behavioral health crisis requires. For 125 years, VOA has worked to rebuild lives after experiencing substance use and behavioral health issues. This campus will bring operational efficiencies to the organization and expand some offerings. However, they will maintain many other locations throughout the Portland Metro area and Oregon. They operate in an environment that has a nearly endless need for services as people transition out of addiction, incarceration, or trauma and into stable lives. VOA Oregon invites the community to attend the April 3rd meeting to receive more information, ask questions, and provide feedback.

By

Jacob Loeb

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Community, Infrastructure

VOA Site No Longer Considered for Outdoor Shelter

The City of Portland will not pursue a Volunteers of America (VOA) Oregon owned property for shelter use. On March 8th, VOA Oregon’s CEO, Kay Toran, explained in a public letter that the site at 8815 NE Glisan Street did not meet the City’s requirements for their tent-based housing and support service hub. The Oregonian/OregonLive revealed on February 18th that the 5.8-acre VOA property could become an alternative outdoor shelter for up to 150 people experiencing houselessness. However, those early conversations did not yield a short-term lease, and City staff will continue searching for new properties elsewhere.

The VOA letter says that the site is larger than the City needed for an encampment, and the sloped parking lot was not ideal for their planned use. VOA Oregon purchased the property on NE Glisan Street from Central Bible Church in May of 2021. In an interview published in the Montavilla News last October, Kay Toran outlined a multi-year plan to transform the site into a headquarters and treatment center for the organization. Those plans continue to develop and will lead to the eventual demolition of existing structures on the property. Groundbreaking on new buildings is several years away.

This update follows weeks of community conversations over the potential use of the NE Glisan Street property. The message also arrived the same day as several Montavilla residents expressed their concerns at City Council. Those conversations also included comments regarding two Multnomah County-owned sites in development. Although the VOA site is no longer in consideration for houseless support, the City will continue its efforts to find a solution to unsanctioned camping in Portland.

By

Jacob Loeb

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Community, New Residence

Portland Considering VOA Property for Outdoor Shelter

Update: The VOA property will not become a shelter site

City of Portland staff are in talks with the Volunteers of America (VOA) Oregon regarding the property at 8815 NE Glisan Street. As reported by the Oregonian/OregonLive on February 18th, multiple sources say this site could become an alternative outdoor shelter for up to 150 people experiencing houselessness. VOA Oregon CEO Kay Toran confirmed on February 20th that the City is seeking short-term use of the vacant NE Glisan Street property through a posted message on the organization’s website.

VOA Oregon purchased the large property on NE Glisan Street from Central Bible Church in May of 2021. In an interview published in the Montavilla News last October, Kay Toran outlined a multi-year plan to transform the 5.8-acre site into a headquarters and treatment center for the organization. Those plans continue to develop and will lead to the eventual demolition of existing structures on the property. Groundbreaking on new buildings is several years away, and at the time of the interview, Toran did not know what temporary uses that site would support.

Although the VOA Oregon message does not specifically reference the City’s proposed short-term use for the Glisan Street land, the statement does reference an “opportunity to assist them with the homeless crisis here in Portland.” The Portland Mayor’s office is currently evaluating several sites that could handle 150 people, possibly increasing to 250 people at a later expansion. In two community engagement sessions held by the Mayor’s Office in late 2022, staff outlined their goal for six professionally managed camping sites with an initial capacity for 100 tents and support for 150 residents. City Council would have the ability to approve an additional 100 people at a site sometime after the first phase completes. These managed outdoor shelters aim to provide better access to physical, mental, and behavioral health services for those living outdoors. Clustering large numbers of people together would allow support staff to better assist people into more permeant housing and access to other resources.

VOA Oregon CEO message from February 20th, 2023

The residents would receive two meals and a hefty snack in the proposed plan. People would need to be invited to live at the site and must provide legal names and dates of birth so support staff can help them access services. Each location would have one entrance and exit where people would need to surrender any weapons. All shelter sites would have 24-hour on-site management to assist residents and enforce a 1,000-foot no-camping perimeter around the property. A slide deck from the second meeting outlines additional camp amenities and restrictions for residents.

The final selection of the large outdoor shelter sites is ongoing. The Mayor’s office has yet to engage in conversation with Montavilla’s neighborhood or business associations regarding this site. Although, if the VOA organ site is selected, the City staff have committed to working with those groups and entering into a Good Neighbor Agreement for site operations. As this process moves forward, residents and business owners in the area should expect to receive more details about what will happen to the NE Glisan Street site.

Update: VOA Oregon CEO Kay Toran updated the organization’s posted message on February 22nd, 2023. Toran clarifies that discussions with the City are preliminary, and VOA Oregon has not signed any agreement. She assures people that they will consider all perspectives while evaluating the proposal. “Before formalizing any lease agreement, we need to conduct a thorough review of the proposed operational plans and assess their potential impact on residents, neighbors, and the community at large,” the statement says. Toran also notes that the organization’s long-term plans for the property are unchanged, regardless of any potential short-term use by the City of Portland.

VOA Oregon CEO message from February 22th, 2023
Mayor’s Office Community Stakeholder Meeting #1
Mayor’s Office Community Stakeholder Meeting #2

By

Jacob Loeb

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Community, Construction, Demolition

Reshaping the VOA Oregon Site on NE Glisan

Volunteers of America (VOA) Oregon will raze the existing church building and other structures at 8815 NE Glisan Street within eight years. This demolition work will clear the way for the organization’s consolidation of its family safety, substance use, behavioral health, and post-incarceration services. Until the redevelopment begins, the human services organization plans to reuse the existing buildings for some relocated services and potentially as a childcare center.

President of VOA Oregon, Kay Toran, explained in an interview last week that the organization is in the early planning stages. The massive property spans both sides of NE 90th Avenue at Glisan Street, and plans for the new VOA campus will include purpose-built structures to support their various programs. Toran sees this project as an opportunity to change the perception of supportive services. “We tend to marginalize our oppressed populations by the facilities that they visit. So what I want this property to be a property that not only makes good efficient use of our time and efficient use of our professionals but also to lift up the population we serve,” said Toran.

VOA Oregon currently maintains services across many locations in the Portland Metro area. Development of this site will bring together those disparate locations into one destination and give the organization room to expand into other offerings. “We plan to use the 5.8 acres to relocate our existing services into one space, so we have more of a one-stop-shop,” said Toran. Consolidation is just one aspect driving the redevelopment of this multi-lot property. VOA Oregon is in the process of substantially expanding its medical services.

A sizable portion of VOA Oregon’s work centers on addiction treatment, including substance abuse disorder and gambling addiction. With the development of the new facility, they will focus on growing the behavioral health services by becoming a Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) and a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC). They intend to augment their current behavioral health offerings by providing Primary Health services to clinic patients and their families. This ambitious goal will drastically increase the number of people using VOA Oregon services. “So right now, we serve, over the course of a year, probably 10,000 individuals. That includes families and individuals,” explained Toran. “Well, I think it will grow exponentially because we’re looking at applying for a new service that will support family [healthcare].” This move to include accessible general medical care fills a critical gap in supporting marginalized people. “In our community, health care is not easily accessed by most people who are not insured,” said Toran. VOA Oregon would like to get people on the Oregon Health Plan when possible, but that still leaves people unserved, and this new expansion will help bridge the gap in coverage.

Not all VOA Oregon functions will relocate to the Glisan Street Site when completed. Corporate offices will remain at SE Stark Street and Cesar Estrada Chavez Blvd. The Montavilla location will grow into the central hub for the organization’s client facing services, maximizing all available land for that purpose. “We’re going to use all this space, and that’s where the professional talents of an architect is very important,” explained Toran. Staff will continue working with professional contractors to design the campus over the next four months. At that point, Toran expects to have a loose plan to share regarding the project.

A campus of this size and scope will require extensive planning and substantial donor investment. However, Kay Toran is committed to seeing this project underway with the urgency that current conditions demand. “I can’t tell you whether that’s five years or eight years, but I can say it won’t be ten years.” The site will likely remain empty as plans take shape. Expect to learn more about the NE Glisan Street property early in 2023 and anticipate seeing some temporary use for the building sometime next year.

By

Jacob Loeb

Promotion: Montavilla News has a Patreon account. We invite those who can contribute to this local news source to please consider becoming a paid subscriber or sponsor. We will always remain free to read regardless of subscription.