When University Park United Methodist—now Portsmouth Union Church—first began dreaming of building affordable housing on our plot of land in north Portland in early 2015, we thought, “We’re in a housing emergency, so clearly this is going to be easy.” Eight years later, 20 units of permanent supportive housing units for veterans is scheduled to open this fall. In the intervening years, there were many things our small congregation wasn’t prepared for.
First, we learned that building affordable housing wasn’t in the conditional use allowance for religious communities’ ministries on their land, and that we’d need to be a part of a movement to first change Portland’s zoning code and then Oregon state law to make it so.
Many other congregations (Christian, Sikh, Jewish and others) saw the same holy vision—some of whom had tried and been prevented from building housing on their land. Together, we have created a powerful collective of over 50 faith communities across the state organizing toward that horizon called the Leaven Community Land & Housing Coalition (learn more at leaven.org/land-housing-organizing).
Faith communities are some of the largest landholders in Oregon. Second only to the state of Oregon, faith communities steward and own the most combined land assets of any entity in Oregon. We are land- and relationship-rich, and affordable housing developers often reflect that we are easy to work with because we are patient, mission-driven, and deeply connected to our neighborhoods.
Our congregation also learned that our own motivation—housing our houseless neighbors—would alienate our housed neighbors. This led us to develop a new process for countering NIMBYism (not in my backyard) attitudes, so that we’d turn toward one another and not against one another. This effort is some of the most important work that is often neglected in affordable housing, and it’s something we as people of faith—who are diverse theologically, politically and economically—may be uniquely suited to lead.
Increasingly, Oregon’s housing crisis is disrupting the fabric of communities and even our congregations. Many of our congregations are experiencing these realities personally, as our own members are displaced or priced out of their homes, some into houselessness.
The mission of the Land & Housing Coalition is for all Oregonians to come home. We believe that faith communities in Oregon can solve the housing crisis, if we find the will to do it together.
To date, we have supported over 50 congregations; cultivated a network of over 500 neighbors, clergy, and congregants who are organizing people, land, and money for housing justice and community wholeness; accompanied two congregations to complete housing projects on their land; and accompanying eight more congregations slated to break ground on their own developments over the next several years.
But we will need even more of us to commit to this courageous vision: congregations with land, congregations with a commitment to the ministry of housing for all, congregations in relationship with members and beloveds impacted by the housing crisis. We began in isolation, but we’ll inspire and transform our communities—and the lives of our neighbors—together.
Rev. Julia Nielsen (she/her), a United Methodist deacon, is the Executive Organizer and one of the founders of the Leaven Community Land & Housing Coalition.
