Hattie Redmond Apartments
Hattie Redmond Apartments is the result of a partnership between co-developers, Home Forward and Urban League of Portland, with design and construction by SERA Architects and Bremik Construction. This project provides 60 affordable residential studio units with permanent supportive housing (PSH). An active community engagement process ran throughout all phases of development to encourage community input in the physical design of the property, economic participation during construction, and ongoing resident support programs provided by peer support specialists at Urban League of Portland.
Hattie Redmond Apartments was designed for people with disabilities, who are exiting homelessness and request culturally specific services within the Black/African American community. One of the goals of this housing community is to reconnect Black residents to the Albina community, a historically Black neighborhood of Portland.
Home Forward manages the property while an on-site team includes a resident services coordinator, case managers, and peer support specialists from Urban League of Portland. The vision for this project is inspired by Urban League’s successful Project HAVEN. The model provides focused services to address homelessness among Black Portlanders, a population over-represented yet underserved in the homeless community. Please also visit The Urban League of Portland to learn more.
In 2016, Home Forward purchased the original 8-unit site and began construction on the re-development in October, 2021. We held our Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony on April 4, 2023.
Hattie Redmond Apartments
Sixty new studio apartments
- Kitchen
- Bathroom
- Bedroom/living area
Community Room and Common Space
- Computers and free Wi-Fi access
- Laundry facilities
- Bike storage
- Common kitchen and pantry
- Outdoor plaza, dog run and rooftop terrace
Construction and Design
Bremik Construction
SERA Architects
Resident and Supportive Services
Urban League of Portland
Financial
Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS)
Portland Metro Bond
US Bank
PGE Renewal Development Fund
Energy Trust of Oregon
The building features original commissioned artwork by six Black and brown artists, who were selected through an engagement process led by Daren Todd, who also contributed art to the building.
Nia Musiba (insta @niamusiba)
Portrait of Hattie Redmond by MonieLove Creations
Recognizing Hattie Redmond
In 2021, a team of Home Forward and Urban League board members, volunteers, and staff undertook a naming process for the Baldwin redevelopment site. Their goal was to celebrate the lives of historic or contemporary Black people, who have rarely been recognized for their contributions to the vitality of Portland neighborhoods.
With the support of the Oregon Black Pioneers, the life of Harriet “Hattie” Redmond quickly rose to the top of the list. As one participant summarized, “I’ve lived in Portland all my life and had never heard of this leader in the African American community. It’s time we value our history, especially today when attempts to limit voting rights are still underway.”
Due to her activism and vision over the three decades prior to 1912, Hattie Redmond came to be known as Oregon’s leading Black Suffragist. Her perseverance and countless hours organizing and speaking at community meetings, during a time when Black people in Oregon were mostly unrecognized as legal residents, ensured that women’s voting rights, including Black women’s voting rights, were won. After six ballot initiatives, beginning in 1884, her decades of advocacy were finally achieved in 1912 when Oregon men finally approved a woman’s right to vote. Hattie Redmond took her first opportunity to register to vote in April 1913 and continued to be active in community life until her death in 1952 at the age of 90.
Thank you to the volunteers at Oregon Black Pioneers for their help with the research for our naming process.
