Tag: 8815 NE Glisan

Business Relocating, Community, Event

VOA Oregon’s 130 Year Celebration Kicks Off Montavilla Campus Fundraising

On Thursday evening, March 12th, supporters and guests of Volunteers of America Oregon gathered near the Convention Center to celebrate the family safety, substance use treatment, behavioral health, and post-criminal justice system support organization’s 130 years in the state. After hearing from VOA Oregon’s current President and CEO, Maree Wacker, and Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read about the benefits of a planned 5.67-acre campus at 8815 NE Glisan Street, attendees were asked to donate towards the facility’s construction and support the group’s other active programs.

Event banner showcasing '130 Years from Past to Possibility Community Changemakers' with a mountain and city skyline backdrop, dated March 12, 2026.
VOA Oregons’s Community Changemakers: From Past to Possibility event on March 12, 2026

Volunteers of America Oregon purchased the Montavilla-based property in 2021, which had previously served as a church. The organization’s President and CEO at the time, Kay Toran, was instrumental in selecting the NE Glisan and 90th Avenue property as a new campus and treatment center. Her quarter-century of leadership concluded when she retired in early 2025, with few updates on campus development plans during the nonprofit’s leadership transition. The new location should allow the organization to co-locate some of its programs in an East Portland site, creating new community resources and one-stop service delivery alongside centralized administrative functions.

Aerial view of a modern building complex featuring solar panels, surrounded by landscaped green areas and a parking lot with several cars.
Looking Northwest at future NE Glisan site. Rendering by Opsis Architecture provided courtesy VOA Oregon

In February 2024,area residents reviewed renderings of the proposed facility and learned about the phased buildout plans. Designers with Opsis Architecture arranged the proposed campus with external functions in buildings adjacent to NE Glisan Street and internal services in the site’s northwest half. The proposed VOA Oregon buildings will stand two stories tall along the site’s southern edge, rising to three levels as the land slopes downhill, maintaining a consistent scale along the frontage. Crews will reconstruct the existing parking lot, adding 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 curbside parking spaces to the street’s western edge.

During the 2024 community outreach, Toran noted that the construction schedule is dependent on fundraising efforts. Since that time, VOA Oregon began using two buildings at Jessup University’s Multnomah Campus for its residential treatment for women with children. This partnership leverages surplus dormitory space at the faith-based higher education campus located at 8435 NE Glisan Street, just west of the future VOA Oregon site. Jessup University placed its 20-acre Multnomah campus on the market in 2025 and is still seeking a buyer for the entire property. Depending on which group purchases the university site and its redevelopment timeline, VOA Oregon staff may have a limited timeframe to relocate to the new property. Making this fundraising effort essential to maintaining long-term operations in the area.

A woman speaking at a podium during a community event, with a city skyline backdrop and attendees in the audience.
VOA Oregons’s President and CEO Maree Wacker speaking at the Community Changemakers: From Past to Possibility event on March 12, 2026

A successful fundraising effort should advance the timeline for work at the VOA Oregon’s NE Glisan Street Health and Family Services Campus. Maree Wacker explained to the Thursday night audience what they intended to create at their site and why people should support their efforts. “Located in Northeast Portland, our campus will become a regional hub for healing, recovery, health, and hope. It will include 100 residential treatment beds for individuals facing severe substance use disorder, co-occurring mental health conditions, and pregnant women with children. Integrated intensive outpatient services that help individuals coming from residential care and back into the community, serving over 15,000 people each year.” She went on to explain that their trained staff will offer recovery housing with outpatient services, including peer support from people who have lived experience redirecting their lives from addiction. The campus will include space for essential health care, along with support, to create mental and physical stability so program participants can succeed in finding housing, employment, and long-term success. The organization provides specific support for families, and the planned campus includes facilities for childcare, helping people stay connected to their parental role as they seek behavioral health services.

A speaker in a suit stands at a podium with a banner reading 'FROM PAST to POSSIBILITY.' The background features silhouettes of buildings and a bridge.
Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read speaking at the Community Changemakers: From Past to Possibility event on March 12, 2026

Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read followed up with a declaration that the proposed campus was “the kind of solution Oregon deserves. It’s a model that is integrated. It’s evidence-based. It’s place-based. And that vision becomes even more transformative when we recognize the power of placing services designed to care for people and families through some of the most difficult moments in their lives, all in one place.” Read continued to highlight the nonprofit’s campus design’s efficiency and effectiveness. “It’s not about convenience, it’s about connections, reducing duplication, simplifying access, and strengthening accountability. Above all, it is centering dignity and equity, ensuring that the people we’re serving are meeting a system that is designed around them.”

In both speakers’ descriptions of the planned site development, they highlighted the value of having a single location that serves the range of needs of people interested in improving their lives. “Imagine those 100 new residential treatment beds alongside outpatient services, alongside recovery housing, alongside family support. It’s not a collection of disconnected programs, but a true continuum of care, one that welcomes people at the turnstiles of crisis and walks with them through stabilization and healing and through long-term recovery,” exclaimed Read. “This campus is not merely a collection of buildings. In this case, it is a coordinated system. It’s not coordinating programs, but coordinating people, organized and designed around people.”

Collage of images depicting diverse groups and individuals receiving counseling and support from Volunteers of America Oregon, with text highlighting their treatment options.

“We are building a future where services are integrated, where isolation is replaced with connection, and where people now needing recovery encounter support instead of obstacles,” said Wacker. “This campus is more than buildings. It declares loudly and clearly, you belong here. No matter your past, hope lives here. A place that restores your dignity and gives you a chance to leave behind who you’ve been and finally become that person you always knew you could be.”

The VOA Oregon’s Health and Family Services Campus at 8815 NE Glisan Street is likely years away from opening. The nonprofit will continue seeking financial support for the multi-phase buildout. As of yet, there are no active demolition or construction permit applications listed for the property. However, remarks at this week’s fundraising event show the group is intent on continuing the work started under Kay Toran’s leadership and setting up roots in the Montavilla Neighborhood.

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Article and photos by

Jacob Loeb

Disclosure: The author of this article received a complimentary meal at the Community Changemakers: From Past to Possibility event on March 12, 2026.

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Community, Services

VOA Oregon Rents Space at Jessup University’s Multnomah Campus

At the end of October, Volunteers of America Oregon (VOA Oregon) began using two buildings at Jessup University’s Multnomah Campus for its residential treatment for women with children. This partnership leverages surplus dormitory space at the faith-based higher education institution to support the behavioral health and recovery service provider. Thanks to the new partnership, students enrolled at Jessup will have an opportunity to expand social services, healthcare, and counseling internship activities with hands-on experience in a behavioral health setting on campus. Additionally, VOA Oregon will benefit from a modern facility in close proximity to its future campus east of the college.

VOA Oregon leased Memorial Hall and the Ambassador Apartments on the northwest corner of Jessup University’s campus at 8435 NE Glisan Street. Program operators will house participants in designated areas separated from academic buildings by a fence. VOA Oregon staff will have office spaces onsite, with additional rooms for therapy, counseling, and program-related group meetings. The center provides trauma-informed integrated chemical dependency and mental health services in a residential setting to women. Women and their young children can temporarily live at the facility, removed from triggering environments, so they can effectively receive individual and group counseling, medication management, naturopathic health care, and case management. Program participants will also have access to education, training, and other resources through this move to the Montavilla campus.

VOA’s future site rendering looking northwest, courtesy VOA Oregon created by Opsis Architecture

The partnership between the two institutions began with VOA Oregon utilizing Jessup’s catering services for lunch and dinner. Multnomah University experienced a declining student population in its dormitories for several years. When they joined Jessup University in 2023, new leadership looked for ways to effectively utilize school resources to fit the institution’s educational and social goals. That expanded from commercial kitchen capacity to hosting VOA Oregon’s woman-focused program. University food service will continue when program participants move to the campus, and the educational partnership will likely strengthen after VOA builds its facility on the neighboring block of NE Glisan Street.

Leaders at Jessup University’s Multnomah Campus feel that VOA Oregon’s commitment to helping people reach their full potential aligns with their student’s values of service and compassion. The organizations believe everyone deserves access to health care, housing, and supportive services. This partnership also introduces VOA Oregon services to Montavilla, several years ahead of the organization’s expansion into the community on the group’s six-acre site at 8815 NE Glisan Street. Jessup staff created a frequently asked questions section on the University’s website. They plan to update this resource with new information to keep students and the community updated on the partnership. Both institutions expressed a commitment to being good neighbors and hope the expanded access to critical behavioral health services for women in recovery will positively impact participants’ lives and the greater community’s overall health.

Article and photo by

Jacob Loeb

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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

Promotion: Help keep independent news accessible to the community. Montavilla News has a Patreon account or you can pay for a full year directly online. We invite those who can contribute to this local news source to consider becoming paid subscriber or sponsor. We will always remain free to read regardless of subscription.

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, 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

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New Business, Property Sale

Volunteers of America Buys Glisan Property

In May, the Oregon branch of Volunteers Of America (VOA) bought a large property on NE Glisan Street from Central Bible Church. The property spans two blocks, encompassing the large church building at 8815 NE Glisan Street and the unpaved parking lot across NE 90th Ave.

In a message from the Central Bible Church about the sale, they described VOA’s intentions for the property. VOA of Oregon runs programs throughout the State that focus on serving the elderly, youth, individuals released from incarceration, people with disabilities, and recovering addicts. At this facility, they will repurpose the existing building and campus to expand the availability of programs they currently offer in Portland. Although VOA is in the early stages of planning, some services expected at this site include the VOA Family Relief Nursery, recovery services, and counseling services.

The Central Bible Church supported its members for 89 years. However, financial difficulties forced the organization to cease operations last year. They held their final service on Sunday, February 23rd, 2020. In a letter to the congregation, church leaders explained that the staffing levels and size of the property were more than what members could support. Mounting utility costs for the 60,000 square-foot facility outpaced its active use, and 65% of the operating budget went to employee-related costs, 15% greater than similar faith-based operations.

Church leadership also pointed to new seismic requirements in the Portland code and over one million dollars in deferred maintenance as deciding factors in the church’s decision to shut down. Staff gifted historically significant documents and pictures from Central Bible Church to the Multnomah University library, which will become part of the school’s permanent archive. Displaced members and leaders created a new church in NE Portland called Stone Table Church and are slowly building up that congregation.

Central Bible Church leadership was happy to have sold to an organization in line with its goals. Like the previous owners, Volunteers Of America is a faith-based organization. Unfortunately, the sale has displaced the SkateChurch that shared the property with Central Bible Church. SkateChurch is currently seeking a new location. 

With such a large property, VOA has many options to develop the land further. Although, there are significant changes needed to the existing structures to meet future requirements. Look for the long-vacant building return to use soon, as it transforms to serve its new function in the community.

View of unpaved parking lot across NE 90th Ave from the main property