At Neighborhood House, we believe there is an art to the act of being neighborly.
Now more than ever, community matters.
Being a neighbor isn’t just about sharing a street or a zip code. It’s about showing up for one another: offering kindness without condition, listening, lending a hand, and making space for everyone to feel safe and supported. But we also believe this spirit of neighborliness extends beyond gestures of kindness: It means ensuring that every person has access to the building blocks of a stable life: nutritious food, quality early education, safe housing, job support, and equal opportunity to thrive.
We work alongside individuals and families to remove barriers, meet basic needs, and build lasting stability, because everyone deserves the chance to grow and flourish, no matter their circumstances.
Unfortunately, recent and upcoming legislation has placed even more barriers for already under-resourced families and individuals. We won’t let that stop our work, but we need your help.
We've outlined how new challenges are affecting our work, and put together a few ways that you can help us build a kinder, more connected, and more welcoming community for every neighbor.
How Are Our Programs Being Impacted?
Recent and ongoing legislation has placed a strain on many of Neighborhood House’s programs. Take a moment to learn just how extensive these impacts are. →
Education Programs
NH offers extensive education programming, including Head Start and School Age programs. Significant cuts to federal grants for education programs are in session. If passed, NH Head Start will lose up to $1M in funding. This leaves hundreds of children and families in our community in a vulnerable place, with loss of access to esential education services.
“When you take it all together it’s kind of like an assault on children and families policy-wise,” said Megan Curran, the director of policy at the Center on Poverty and Social Policy at Columbia University.
“We’re going to see that the effects reverberate well beyond what we’re even understanding” right now, she said, “and schools are going to be on the front lines.”
Access To Food
Today, 1 in 8 people and 1 in 6 children in Oregon and Southwest Washington face food insecurity. The rising costs of food and housing are forcing families to make impossible decisions between putting a roof over their heads and putting food on the table. Our community is in hunger crisis, and recent legislation will only serve to worsen this.
The Neighborhood House Free Food Market works to fill this gap by offering free food, including food boxes. Our Free Food Market provides 650,000 pounds of food to 16,000 people annually. However, new legislation will cut SNAP benefits and widen the already significant gap of food security. We anticipate that this will create an even greater need for food assistance, just as we saw when benefits were cut in 2022 and 2023. Not only will we need to raise more money to cover our ongoing food services, we will likely need to expand our services to meet an ever growing need.
Aging Services
Neighborhood House is a longstanding Portland nonprofit that fosters self-sufficiency and community resilience. Its Senior Services provide a much-needed lifeline to older adults in Multnomah County, offering activities, practical support services, and emergency help.
Recent legislation will elevate barriers for many older adults to access basic support. A newly enacted tax-and-spending bill imposes strict work and volunteer requirements to remain eligible for Medicaid (Oregon Health Plan) and SNAP. This is projected to strip up to 200,000 Oregonians of Medicaid and cut food benefits for many more, disproportionately affecting low-income seniors.
This threatens Neighborhood House’s ability to connect seniors with essential health and nutrition resources at a time when such services are critically needed.
Housing Security
A recent study found that Portland ranks last in the nation within the housing crisis outlook. Under new federal policies, Medicaid will be harder to access, which will create more barriers and make the process to move out of homelessness even harder. For Neighborhood House, this legislation will remove a major funding source for supportive housing like our 19th Avenue housing complex.
GIVE A GIFT
INVITE A SPEAKER
Did you know that you can invite a Neighborhood House representative to speak at your function? Whether its at a faith community service, a local business council, your neighborhood book club, or corporate retreat, we would love to join you and share about our work, mission, and impact. To learn more, contact us!
DROP A LINE
Do you have an idea for a fundraiser on behalf of Neighborhood House? Does your company match gifts and you want to learn more? Is there a group that you would love us to join, or an event you think our team should have a table at? Let us know! We would love to hear more!
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