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Portland Assisted Living Facility Now a Reality
PORTLAND, OR (January 24, 2002) - Evangelical Covenant Church President Glenn R. Palmberg was among an estimated 500 people attending Sunday's grand opening of Irvington Village, a 104-unit assisted living center co-sponsored by Covenant Retirement Communities (CRC) and
Irvington Covenant Church in Portland.
Palmberg and state Sen. Margaret Carter were guest speakers at the event. State Rep. Deborah Kafoury also attended, as did Bobby Minks, Oregon director of human services.
Palmberg preached at the morning service and served as guest speaker for the grand opening of the $11.5 million project, which was made possible by the first joint partnership between an individual Evangelical Covenant Church congregation and Covenant Retirement Communities.
Irvington Village will help respond to a need for affordable assisted living in Northeast Portland as 70 percent of its studio and one-bedroom apartments are available to Medicaid recipients. The project also offers good potential for future ministries in and around Irvington, those working closely with the project believe.
"Glenn Palmberg preached a wonderful sermon on the inclusiveness of the gospel . . . that God has a heart for the poor," said Harold Spooner, executive vice president of outreach ministries for Covenant Ministries of Benevolence. "And then we saw this high-quality, affordable, assisted
living facility and people were blown away by the fact that such a high-quality building is built for the poor. I came away excited about that building . . . and how Irvington Covenant is impacting the community.
"It is all the good things you like to see (about a project) where all sorts of people are pulling together," Spooner continued. "It was a thrilling day."
Construction of the five-story facility began last January after CRC helped Irvington Village in acquiring a parcel of land adjacent to Irvington Covenant. Residents began moving in two weeks ago, many of whom had been forced to move from their neighborhoods in previous years because of the lack of affordable housing.
"We have been truly blessed," said Serena Stoudamire, Irvington Village's manager. "We've been blessed by a wonderful staff, a wonderful church advisory committee and the support from CRC. The biggest surprise has been the acceptance we've been getting from the community. I think there was a lot of uncertainty at first - having assisted living in the middle of Irvington. But what it has done is to bring families back together. People don't have to move out of the community. They can stay close to home and their friends."
Irvington Village is hiring staff to fill a number of resident care positions, as well as housekeepers, cooks, laundry aides and transportation assistants. Applicants are advised to send a cover letter and resume to Stoudamire by regular mail at Irvington Village, 4003 NE Grand Avenue, Portland, OR, 97212, or by email at SMStoudamire@covenantretirement.org.
For more information about Irvington Village, call Kathy Greenidge, ECC national coordinator of outreach ministries, at 503-546-9292 or email her at kogreenidge@qwest.net.
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