Your housing team had its monthly meeting on April 9 with far reaching results. The meeting opened with several members sharing their far reaching experiences in Salem while trying to make a difference for affordable housing. Linda, Anna, Diane and Ervin were part of a large coalition that spent the day planning, coordinating and educating our legislators on several issues which are on the docket. The coalition included the Leaven Land and Housing Team and was part of a 330 member group from 75 of 90 legislative districts in Oregon. The highlight of their day was to see the pre-development legislation, HB 2964, pass through the Housing Committee work session unanimously, putting it before the full voting body in the future. For HB 2964 details, see previous newsletter articles.
Closer to home, a few of our team met with King of Kings and St Stephen, both located in Gladstone. They are merging to become Spirit of Life and are exploring options for their land, one of which is to build affordable housing. They requested a meeting with our team so that we can share our experiences. After much discussion, many questions and good answers, everyone felt that the meeting was productive for both sides.
The planning part of our Team meeting resulted in several excellent ideas for the future. In anticipation of receiving more detailed plans for the housing project, we outlined two aspects of the next steps – congregation presentation and community engagement. We have already done work in both of these areas. With the congregation, we have had individual discussions, small group discussions, and all-church presentations which have answered a multitude of questions and given the Team invaluable input. Planning has begun for presentation of the more detailed project. We have also begun community engagement by speaking with area individuals, chatting with the principal of Linwood Elementary and sharing general concepts of our hopes for affordable housing with the Linwood Neighborhood Association. After congregational approval of the final project, we will work out the details and a timeline for communicating with the community. On both fronts, congregation and community, our goals are transparency, understanding of all details and full disclosure as the result of answering all questions.