OUR RESILIENT TEAM
By Ernesto Fonseca, PhD
Chief Executive Officer
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Despite the challenges and difficulties brought on by the pandemic over the last eight months, I remain inspired by the extraordinary resilience of our staff and our community.
Below you will read about the work and activities of Hacienda to serve youth, families and entrepreneurs through this pandemic.
What’s happening behind the scenes to pull this off is what truly inspires me.
Staff who thrive in delivering in-person programming have quickly learned new technology and software so they can continue to meet the needs of our residents, clients and community. Now, activities like our after school programs and classes like financial education are delivered virtually. The digital divide that so deeply impacts our community means that each staff person has also become IT support for families to ensure they stay connected.
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"There is lots of help in this community, specifically here in Hacienda. I feel like all families are protected here,” Wendy, Hacienda resident.
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In addition to this extraordinary shift, Hacienda is part of a network of community-based organizations that state and local government are partnering with to deliver relief funds allocated by the CARES Act. While this means that our workload has increased dramatically, the benefit is that we can ensure our communities are not left out of the recovery.u
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All of this is possible thanks to your critical support and trust. I know that this pandemic has tossed us a curveball. But I also know that our strength is more significant than any pandemic, and we will emerge stronger than ever. We are Hacienda!
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More affordable homes on the way |
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Safe, affordable housing is the heart of our mission. Despite the pandemic, Hacienda is set to deliver more than 530 new affordable homes in the region in the next three years.
We are scheduled to start construction on the long-awaited Las Adelitas on January 18, 2021 - 142 new affordable homes just across the street from our main office in the Cully neighborhood. Las Adelitas is fueled by the passion of the Cully neighborhood to replace a challenge with opportunity. It is also fueled by an array of partnerships, that started with Hacienda, Habitat for Humanity and Verde, and will include Cascadia Behavioral Healthcare, Familias en Acción, Hacienda’s Youth and Family Services, and the Joint Office for Homeless Services when the building opens.
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In addition, we’ve teamed up with Community Development Partners (CDP) to build our first housing communities in Gresham and Oregon City. Rockwood 10 will include 224 new affordable homes in Gresham. Construction is well under way and we anticipate opening the first of six buildings in fall of 2021.
Initial funding was approved by Metro and the Housing Authority of Clackamas County for The Maples Apartments, 171 new homes in Oregon City. Our plans include dedicating 12 of the new homes for for agricultural workers and their families and 9 for individuals and families transitioning out of homelessness.
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Here for homeowners and first-time homebuyers |
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Hacienda’s Economic Opportunity team is now providing financial and home buying classes online and assisting clients via phone or video conference.
We received funding from Oregon Housing and Community Services and the Portland Housing Bureau to support first-time homebuyers with down payment assistance of $15,000-$60,000 and 0%loans. Our counselors are busy meeting with clients who are working on achieving the dream of homeownership to determine eligibility for these programs.
In addition, we now have funding from the Portland Housing Bureau to support homeowners impacted by COVID-19. Eligible households can receive up to $6,000 to pay delinquent mortgage payments, homeowner’s insurance, homeowners association fees, and utility bills.
EO is also assisting clients to apply for the Oregon Homeownership Stabilization Initiative (OHSI). OHSI’s COVID-19 Mortgage Relief Program is great for homeowners unable to attain a forbearance, or just exiting a forbearance program and need assistance with the deferred payments.
In other news, we had to say farewell to Terry Davis, Hacienda’s Lending Manager, who retired at the end of September. We were honored to work with Terry and we appreciate her goodwill, enthusiasm and inspiration. While we will never replace Terry’s unique skills, we are recruiting a new lender. Please visit our website to learn more about this exciting position.
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Economic Opportunity (EO) services:
- Education & counseling for first-time homebuyers and for households at risk of mortgage default or delinquency
- Asset building opportunities such as IDAs (Individual Development Accounts) and lending circles or tandas
For information about these programs, email [email protected] or call (503) 961-6432.
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Mercado focused on small business recovery |
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Our Mercado Empresarios team has been working diligently to support our community of more than 100 Latino and POC entrepreneurs in Oregon: helping increase online presence; identify alternative online sales channels; connect companies with retail buyers through the Bridges Program; and access relief funds through a variety of funding sources and partners tied to the Federal CARES Act.
Our regularly scheduled Fall programs like Café y Pláticas and Small Business Bootcamp will be held virtually, providing practical tools and resources to our empresarios so they are equipped to face the challenges of the COVID 19 pandemic.
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Thanks in part to the support of Business Oregon, we will be offering a free bilingual online bootcamp in November focused on COVID-19 recovery for small businesses. There will be 12 keynote lectures by specialists from each area of business development including marketing, business insurance, taxes and business plan development.
Our monthly Café y Pláticas, celebrating 42 consecutive months, transitioned to an online format welcoming micro entrepreneurs from all over the Portland Metro area as well as our neighbors in Washington county and we even have representation from Spanish speaking countries like Argentina, Peru and Costa Rica.
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If you know of a business owner, or someone that wants to start a business, tell them about our upcoming courses. All programs are done in English and Spanish.
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Youth & Family Services Delivering Fun and Support |
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It’s our opportunity and challenge to figure out how to best support youth and families during the pandemic. The answer? Partnership. |
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OSU’s Nutrition Department is teaching an 8-week nutrition and health workshop for our Portland Niños families. Our Early Childhood Educators connect with families once a week virtually with parents and their children in our “play and learn” groups.
The Girl Scouts Puentes program returned to four of Hacienda's after-school sites in late October for a 6-week series of science, leadership, and enrichment activities with girls in Expresiones. Portland Audubon Society will continue nature education for one session in Fall 2020 and a longer series in Winter 2021. Activities include nature walks tailored to youth’s neighborhoods and migrating birds of the Pacific Northwest.
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Connecting households with relief and support has been a top priority. Hacienda CDC is partnering with Portland Housing Bureau to provide Household Assistance and Rent Assistance to residents and clients of our programs. We will be assisting in the application process for up to $6,000 in rent assistance to 150 households and $500 in household assistance to 2,000 individuals.
SUN Youth Advocacy is supporting clients with household assistance through CARES Act Funding and from the generous donations from the Beaumont PTA. We will be able to support 30 families, 20 coming from Beaumont Middle School to purchase equipment for youth to engage in distant learning and other household items.
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Give!Guide is a two-month, community giving campaign which runs Nov. 1 – Dec. 31st at midnight. Our goal is to raise $20,000 and donating has never been sweeter.
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The first 50 donors to Hacienda will receive a free scoop of ice cream from Salt & Straw.
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Nossa Familia Coffee will give you a free cup of coffee if you donate $25 or more and a free bag of coffee if you give $100 or more.
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New Seasons Market will donate a holiday pie for a family served by our youth programs for each donor of $100 or more by December 17th.
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Muchas Gracias to everyone who sponsored, attended and generously invested in Hacienda during our first ever virtual event on September 18th! Thanks to our donors and sponsors, we raised over $166,000 for Hacienda’s programs and services. If you missed the event, you can watch it here.
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