After conducting a community needs assessment, PeaceHealth found one of the biggest health needs is access to housing.
“It’s hard to meet your health needs if you’re unhoused,” Gregory said.
“The development is also an opportunity for our own employees who are struggling with affordable housing,” added Gregory. “We know the need is real across the community. And this project is really designed to help particularly single working parents and other people that have really been hit hard by the pandemic.”
Because the project is in a neighborhood of primarily single-family homes, it was designed to be smaller in scale. Instead of one large apartment block, there are multiple smaller buildings. Units are set back from the road and will be landscaped like the surrounding homes. The community will be a transition in scale between the hospital next door and the neighborhood that surrounds it, Bendix said.
The development, which has been in the works for four years, is a collaboration between PeaceHealth and Mercy Housing Northwest. The two organizations have partnered on a similar development in Bellingham. Mercy Housing Northwest is a regional nonprofit affordable housing developer with properties across Washington. It specializes in providing housing that includes on-site enrichment programs like health and wellness assistance, homework clubs for kids, and financial wellness and housing stability help. It’s the first project in Vancouver for Mercy Housing Northwest.
“A lot of residents come to us with challenges finding conventional housing,” said Bendix, adding overall financial stability can play a role.
“So, we’re available to provide on-site services that assist people in households to find more stability and overall set themselves up for future success,” he said.
Mercy Housing Northwest has seen success with its other properties, Bendix said. The organization’s Bellingham property has seen almost all of its high school student residents graduate on time, which Bendix said is in part due to the on-site services. The organization’s communities also develop relationships with schools, so they can be a liaison between schools and resident families.
“I hope this sort of partnership can serve as a catalyst for other large institutions who may have either the land or the financial resources to think about how they can play a really active role in ensuring housing stays affordable in whatever community they’re located in,” Bendix said.
