MPCI/Affordable housing
PRELIMINARY PROGRAM
BUILDING A
-
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
7,200 GSF
-
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
8,600 GSF
-
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
8,600 GSF
-
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
8,600 GSF
Total : 33,000 GSF
BUILDING B
-
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
3,400 GSF
-
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
3,400 GSF
-
AFFORDABLE HOUSING
3,400 GSF
Total : 10,200 GSF
CHURCH RENOVATION
-
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION & CULTURAL COMMUNITY SPACES
5,600 GSF SOUTH WING
-
WEALTH (& INCOME) CREATION INSTITUTE
2,000 GSF SOUTH WING
-
CHRONIC HEALTH SUPPORT
3,000 GSF NORTH WING
Total :10,600 GSF
TOTAL DEVELOPMENT = 45,800 GSF
PROJECT GOALS
On October 20 a design charrette was organized to engage Emmanuel Church congregants, community members and leaders
in a Radix Consulting Group’s Right 2 Root™ community workshop to capture the visions, aspirations, strengths and needs of
affected community members into a community-level plan to guide future development and funding. ZGF Architects, supporters
of Radix Consulting Group’s Right 2 Root™ since 2016, co-sponsored and collaboratively designed the in-person event and cocurated the list of architects and planners who generously volunteered their time and expertise in service to the African American
community.
This event formed an initial imagining of the potential of a future development project on the N Sumner Ave site with other
churches and nearby properties. The project is a testament to the community’s capacity to reconstruct the heart of Black Portland
in an inclusive and supportive way for current community members, as well as potential returning members.
The following project goals were identified:
1. Breadth of child services: infant to pre-K daycare, language skills/ESL tutoring, arts programs, a library to increase joy of
reading, counseling and mental health, and a school supply pantry.
2. Economic opportunities for teenagers and young adults utilized through a café in the building.
3. Housing focused on supporting intergenerational families grow and become self-sufficient; a safe place to heal and learn
with proper support.
4. Community spaces as a critical bridge between the new building and the church; meeting spaces for classes, training and
support groups that promote healthy interactions and a sense of community.
5. Economic incubators and small business spaces to help jumpstart endeavors and entrepreneurship.
6. Programs desired for the expanded campus (both in the new building and in the existing church) include a senior center and
senior housing, translation and multicultural support, re-entry support and support for those with criminal records, affordable
housing, childcare and single parent support, early childhood education, computer and science lab, community garden,
healing garden, outdoor cooking and bbq space.
FOUR PILLARS
HOUSING FOR FAMILIES
Amenity Space
Family Housing
Guest Housing
WEALTH (& INCOME) CREATION INSTITUTE
Incubation Space
Co-working Space
Conference space
CHRONIC HEALTH SUPPORT
Therapy
Dialysis
Wholistic Medicine
Yoga
Counseling
Nutrition
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION & CULTURAL COMMUNITY SPACES
Day Care
Outdoor Garden
Agricultural
Indoor/Outdoor Spaces
Service Spaces
STATEMENT FROM BISHOP WELLS
Communities of color in Portland face enormous challenges. The pressure and stress of everyday life has given way to
chronic conditions of ill health. Persistent poverty and economic inequality have left our communities with a fraction of the
wealth of their white counterparts. We live in communities where nearly 20 generations of wealth have been lost. As it’s
been said, “our poverty has fueled the economies of others.” 1
As if this is not enough to contend with, many of our neighborhoods have undergone massive gentrification which displaces
the vulnerable and drives up the cost of living for those who remain – thus people become poorer and poorer as cost grows
higher and higher. Our people are now dispersed to the far reaches of Multnomah County and no longer find a sense
of community. We can’t fix all that plagues our urban areas, but we can begin to raise up approaches toward physical
wholeness and economic viability that inspires us towards a new sense of community, while also partnering with those of like
concern to contribute to the revitalization of the soul, health and economic wealth of our community.
PURPOSE
The Conquering Health and Wholeness Center will be a multistory complex with the mission of providing much needed support to our community in the areas of wealth creation, holistic health, early childhood education, and housing. The center will be an extension of the ministerial work of Emmanuel Church, a prominent and historical church in the AfricanAmerican community with a long and impressive record of community advocacy and human development projects.
The Conquering Health and Wholeness Center is the realization
of a vision Bishop C.T. Wells has had for over ten years. During
reflection on the prominence and history of Emmanuel Church,
Bishop Wells began to imagine what it would look like for
Emmanuel to extend its mission of community outreach and
good works beyond the four walls of the church. He knew that
Inherent in this expanded mission would be socioeconomic
and holistic health aspects of ministry outreach. Bishop Wells
concluded that if he believed the church is “the salt of the earth
and light of the world,” then its inherent responsibility must be
to partner and participate in the collective effort to add to the
livability and vibrancy of the community it serves.
MISSION STATEMENT
To inspire and cultivate health, wealth, and educational
prosperity in the community we serve.
PRESENCE IN THE COMMUNITY
From 2004 to the present, Emmanuel Church through
its community development non-profit, Emmanuel
Community Services has been at the forefront of some
of our community’s more innovative projects including:
• Completion of our 33,000 sq. ft Emmanuel Church
campus.
• The redesign and subsequent ownership of
Renaissance Market, a highly innovative community
supermarket and economic development center.
• Our organization also owned and oversaw the
upkeep and maintenance of seven additional living
properties in North Portland between 1979 and
2017.
