Portland apartments to be converted to 60 affordable housing units

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - A new affordable housing project that recently started welcoming residents is changing lives in North Portland.

The Hattie Redmond Apartments will serve 60 families facing homelessness and is run by Home Forward and The Urban League of Portland. This latest addition of affordable housing in Portland is all part of Metro’s Affordable Housing bond passed by voters in 2018 to provide funds to build housing for 12,000 people in the Metro Area.

Nkenge Harmon Johnson, CEO of the Urban League of Portland says its grand opening is a huge win for historically under-served communities of color in this part of the city.

“A project like this, we knew it was important for the Urban League to begin to develop and own units for the benefit of our community,” said Harmon Johnson. “We saw too few folks who were building and housing African-Americans.

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The Hattie Redmond Opened March 1, and includes on-site case workers from the Urban League who provide case management to those living there. Charles Coleman has lived here for two weeks after being in and out of homelessness for 16 years. He says having his own space is a breath of fresh air.

“I woke up in the morning and I felt as if I had dreamed, only to witness a reality,” he said. " I walked around my house, my apartment by myself. Although it may not be the biggest, it still to me was like all the room in the world.”

Coleman says he slipped into housing insecurity after an injury years ago made it difficult to maintain work, and the disability checks he was getting were not able to cover even the cheapest rent. By living in the Hattie Redmond, Coleman says he can finally start picking up the pieces.

“It gives you your esteem back. It creates an avenue where you can continue to grow, where you’re able to pay forward what is being given to your life.”

According to Metro, the total cost of development for the building is about $24 million, and about $4.5 million came from Metro’s affordable housing bond.

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