CCC & BCA - Good Neighbor Agreement
On January 2nd, 2024 the news broke that Central City Concern quickly and quietly made a deal with the county, city, and OHA, to jointly fund the purchase of the Lolo Pass Hotel at 1616 SE Burnside. According to their webpage, Central City Concern (CCC) seeks to end homelessness by treating the whole person. They provide housing, healthcare, and addiction services and plan to further their support of addicted patients through the purchase and conversion of the Lolo Pass Hotel into a 70-bed treatment facility.
On January 11th, the BCA hosted CCC leadership at the monthly community meeting to hear more about the plans. Buckman and Kerns neighbors of the complex came with mixed feelings on the news; some residents believe in CCC's mission and want to see additional addiction treatment while other residents are concerned about the profile of patients being treated and the proximity to local daycare facilities. The Ankeny Rose Early Learning Center provides Preschool (ages 3-5) and summer camp programs (ages 3-12) and sits directly across 16th avenue from the Lolo Pass facility. One block east of Lolo Pass hosts Childroots which provides daycare and pre-school for children ages 6 months to 6 years.
The January 11th meeting had the biggest turnout of any BCA meeting in recent years with attendance from more than 60 community members. Rather than reassured by the responses, many residents of the Buckman and Kerns neighborhoods felt their fears were exacerbated by testimonials from CCC representatives Mary-Rain O'Meara and Laura Recko. In total, there were five representatives from CCC in attendance as well as Hank Smith representing the Mayor's office and Stacy Borke who serves as Senior Policy Advisor to Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson.
Some highlighted information learned from CCC leadership include:
Discussions will resume February 8th at the next monthly meeting.
On January 11th, the BCA hosted CCC leadership at the monthly community meeting to hear more about the plans. Buckman and Kerns neighbors of the complex came with mixed feelings on the news; some residents believe in CCC's mission and want to see additional addiction treatment while other residents are concerned about the profile of patients being treated and the proximity to local daycare facilities. The Ankeny Rose Early Learning Center provides Preschool (ages 3-5) and summer camp programs (ages 3-12) and sits directly across 16th avenue from the Lolo Pass facility. One block east of Lolo Pass hosts Childroots which provides daycare and pre-school for children ages 6 months to 6 years.
The January 11th meeting had the biggest turnout of any BCA meeting in recent years with attendance from more than 60 community members. Rather than reassured by the responses, many residents of the Buckman and Kerns neighborhoods felt their fears were exacerbated by testimonials from CCC representatives Mary-Rain O'Meara and Laura Recko. In total, there were five representatives from CCC in attendance as well as Hank Smith representing the Mayor's office and Stacy Borke who serves as Senior Policy Advisor to Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson.
Some highlighted information learned from CCC leadership include:
- The facility will have 74-beds including a mix of residential and transitional housing.
- Residential housing (or bed spaces) is for patients with "high acuity" and while transitional housing is for those who have progressed further through the program. Participants of the program in transitional housing will have more freedom to leave the facility.
- The center will be considered a medical treatment facility and will treat those referred through specific partner agencies. The center does not currently intend to review criminal histories of referred patients despite the proximity to local childcare facilities, and may not be required to due to its status as a medical treatment facility.
- The deal is not yet finalized, but is expected to be fully finalized on February 15th.
- CCC is amenable to creating a Good Neighborhood Agreement (GNA) with the Buckman Community similar to what they have with the Hazelwood community in relation to the Blackburn Center. Some members of the Kerns neighborhood who have experience with that agreement were present at the meeting and expressed dissatisfaction with CCC's commitment to upholding their end of the agreement.
Discussions will resume February 8th at the next monthly meeting.
February Update (Published February 9th)
On February 7th, CCC provided their current agreement with the Hazelwood Community regarding the Blackburn Center. No other information from the agency was provided but it is currently believed that CCC intends the agreement with the Buckman community to be functionally identical their standing one with the Hazelwood community.
At the February 8th meeting, the board unanimously approved a motion to create a community subcommittee to review the Good Neighborhood Agreement proposed by CCC and, as necessary, propose any modifications. Initial members of the subcommittee will be able to add members to the discussion without approval from the board and will report at Board's general meeting each month. Initial members include board members Susan Lindsay, Jens Knudsen, Nick Olsen, and Michael Woods as well as general member Richard Harrison. Anyone else wishing to join this subcommittee should email [email protected] clearly expressing the desire to join the subcommittee.
For general updates on the progress of this subcommittee, keep tuning into the monthly meetings held every second Thursday or check back here shortly after.
On February 7th, CCC provided their current agreement with the Hazelwood Community regarding the Blackburn Center. No other information from the agency was provided but it is currently believed that CCC intends the agreement with the Buckman community to be functionally identical their standing one with the Hazelwood community.
At the February 8th meeting, the board unanimously approved a motion to create a community subcommittee to review the Good Neighborhood Agreement proposed by CCC and, as necessary, propose any modifications. Initial members of the subcommittee will be able to add members to the discussion without approval from the board and will report at Board's general meeting each month. Initial members include board members Susan Lindsay, Jens Knudsen, Nick Olsen, and Michael Woods as well as general member Richard Harrison. Anyone else wishing to join this subcommittee should email [email protected] clearly expressing the desire to join the subcommittee.
For general updates on the progress of this subcommittee, keep tuning into the monthly meetings held every second Thursday or check back here shortly after.
March Update (Published April 2nd)
I apologize for the late update. The committee, including Buckman and Kerns members, have put together a rough draft to present to CCC that we feel has better stated goals. These goals were presented at the BCA March meeting and was received well. Thank you Rich for presenting!
There will be further edits to the rough draft in the future, but we did get it to a place where we feel very strongly it is on the right track. However, CCC's projects has been stalled and they are looking at a later start date. While we cannot give an exact date, we can say that the opening of the Lolo Pass Facility has been pushed back to "spring" 2025 (CCC previously expected a November opening).
Because the project timeline has been pushed back, the sense of urgency from CCC and the county is similarly diminished. Updates may slow simply because our BCA/KNA committee's work will not have quick responses from CCC and County leadership. In the meantime, our committee will continue to meet periodically and do what we can. Meaningful updates may not come every monthly meeting, but we will share anything of interest as it develops.
I apologize for the late update. The committee, including Buckman and Kerns members, have put together a rough draft to present to CCC that we feel has better stated goals. These goals were presented at the BCA March meeting and was received well. Thank you Rich for presenting!
There will be further edits to the rough draft in the future, but we did get it to a place where we feel very strongly it is on the right track. However, CCC's projects has been stalled and they are looking at a later start date. While we cannot give an exact date, we can say that the opening of the Lolo Pass Facility has been pushed back to "spring" 2025 (CCC previously expected a November opening).
Because the project timeline has been pushed back, the sense of urgency from CCC and the county is similarly diminished. Updates may slow simply because our BCA/KNA committee's work will not have quick responses from CCC and County leadership. In the meantime, our committee will continue to meet periodically and do what we can. Meaningful updates may not come every monthly meeting, but we will share anything of interest as it develops.
June Update (Published June 25th)
It has been several meetings since the last update, but there is little to update on regarding Lolo pass. However this particular installation is not the only thing we are keeping our eye on. The county is currently working on finding a location for a sobering drop-off center and there are rumors that it will also be placed in the Buckman neighborhood. Fortunately these are only rumors so far with few concrete and verifiable details. BCA will keep an eye on the situation and pass any updates along at our monthly meetings, as always.
It has been several meetings since the last update, but there is little to update on regarding Lolo pass. However this particular installation is not the only thing we are keeping our eye on. The county is currently working on finding a location for a sobering drop-off center and there are rumors that it will also be placed in the Buckman neighborhood. Fortunately these are only rumors so far with few concrete and verifiable details. BCA will keep an eye on the situation and pass any updates along at our monthly meetings, as always.