March 9, 2012

By David Nguyen

Last Thursday, Nick was honored to join community partners to celebrate the grand re-opening of Chaucer Court, at the corner of SW 10th and Salmon.

Chaucer provides quality, affordable homes to more than 85 older adults.

Since 2008, the Portland Housing Bureau has helped preserve more than 500 affordable homes across Portland, generating over $50 million in federal subsidies for our community.

In its first Strategic Plan, issued last year, the new Portland Housing Bureau identified building and preserving affordable homes as its top priority.

We were proud to invest $2.6 million from the South Park Blocks URA to help the older adults at Chaucer Court stay in their homes.

At the re-opening, Nick shared part of a letter he received from a resident of Chaucer Court:

"I will not dwell on the circumstances that got me to TPI...I simply looked up one day and I had run out of road. I realized I was facing a truly horrible future, that my ascending years would be fraught with struggle just to exist. What was provided to me during my 4 months at Transition Projects, and specifically through my Case Manager, was virtually a new lease on life. I went literally from a place of darkness to the joy of a new beginning. I recently moved into a new apartment, just renovated, at Chaucer Court...Now, all I have to do is find a job to supplement my social security - which I will - and life will literally be back to normal, almost as if nothing happened in the interim. It is utterly fair and accurate to say that what has been provided to me...is nothing short of a miracle."

Special thanks to our partners from HUD, US Bank, Oregon Housing & Community Services, Multnomah County, NOAH, HDC, Walsh Construction, the Energy Trust of Oregon, and the Union Labor Retirement Association.