Tag: Kay Toran

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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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

Kay Toran’s VOA Oregon Legacy

Volunteers of America Oregon (VOA Oregon) recently announced its President and CEO, Kay Toran, will retire in the first quarter of 2025. For over 25 years, she led the 128-year-old social services and community support organization as the first Black woman to serve in that role. Toran was instrumental in VOA Oregon’s purchase of a NE Glisan and 90th Avenue property that will host a new campus and treatment center. Her quarter-century of leadership will have a lasting impact on Oregon and the Montavilla neighborhood long after she completes her work with VOA Oregon.

Toran’s career included several management positions in the State of Oregon, culminating in six years as the Director of Oregon’s Child Welfare Agency and seven years as the Director of Oregon’s Affirmative Action Office. She received the Portland State University Center for Women’s Leadership Power Lunch 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award and the CEO of the Year for Non-Profits from the Portland Business Journal. A Portland native, she graduated from the University of Portland with a BA in Sociology and Psychology. Later, Toran attended Portland State University, earning an MSW from the School of Social Work, and later joined the educational institution as an Assistant Professor of Social Work.

Looking Northwest at future NE Glisan site. Rendering by Opsis Architecture provided courtesy VOA Oregon

Kay Toran is known for leading VOA Oregon in innovative new directions that better serve the community. She has expanded programs addressing addiction recovery, reentry services, domestic and sexual violence, and early childhood education. Her efforts to create a new six-acre campus at 8815 NE Glisan Street will significantly enhance the organization’s capabilities, consolidating administrative services and some of its substance use, behavioral health, and childcare services onto a long-dormant church property.

Organization leaders and the VOA Oregon board are committed to seeing the Montavilla project continue to fruition. VOA Oregon will announce details regarding the transition to new leadership in the coming months. The organization is actively working with a recruiting partner to find a new leader whose vision for the services provider can continue the growth trajectory that Toran enabled. VOA Oregon will host a retirement celebration for Kay Toran on March 6, 2025, paying tribute to her life’s work. The celebration will recognize her advocacy for underserved populations, which focused on addiction treatment and support for women in crisis.

By

Jacob Loeb

Title image of VOA Oregon’s President and CEO Kay Toran provided courtesy of Volunteers of America Oregon

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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

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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

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