HBF aims to increase shelter beds for women & children in St. Johns

Community of Hope serves homeless single mothers and their children, providing shelter for up to six months, offers mentoring, classes and community support. Their goal is to help families build skills, heal from trauma, and find stable jobs and homes for their families. They are a program of AllOne Community Services, a collaboration of churches called the Church of North Portland.Eric Bell, Executive Director of Westside Drywall & Insulation, Inc’s Home Performance division, will serve as HBF Builder Captain for an upcoming project that will add capacity to the shelter for women and children in St. Johns. The shelter is located in North Portland, an underserved area of Portland and is supported almost entirely by donations and volunteers. They have been able to serve 26 families in the past two years.This new HBF project will renovate a 2,736 sq. ft building, a former community office space owned by Red Sea Church, to double the bed capacity and serve an average of sixty people per year. It will also add shower facilities to replace the shower truck that currently comes only twice a week, add new laundry facilities, an ADA bedroom and bathroom, renovate the kitchen, electrical, plumbing and HVAC upgrades and includes exterior improvements including new siding, roof and windows.“It will be great to be a part of helping my community,” says Builder Captain Eric Bell, who heads up the Home Performance division at Westside Drywall, and also has past experience with Habitat for Humanity, Energy Trust and has years of building and remodeling experience to bring to this project. He will be assisted by Clearwater Construction Services who will provide onsite management during the project which is expected to break ground in spring 2016.If you would like to donate product or services to this project, or find out how to get involved in future HBF projects, please contact Brenda Ketah, HBF Project Manager