The Healthy Homes Coalition of Multnomah County's mission is to empower the constituents of the Coalition member organizations and agencies to maintain and provide healthy, stable homes. We do this by supporting policies and programs that improve the health and quality of housing in Multnomah County, whether it's educating community members on how to clean up mold in their homes, how to weatherize their homes, how to address lead hazards, or working to ensure habitability standards in our local codes and ordinances address issues like mold, pest, lead, and other health and safety concerns.
We are made up of several community-based nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and property management entities that convene every other month to work towards our common vision of ensuring everyone has access to stable and healthy housing in our county.
Please explore our blog for information on the history, members, and current initiatives. If you are interested in joining our Coalition, reach out to one of our members and they will invite you to our next meeting. We typically meet on the 4th Wednesday, every other month (January, March, May, July, September, and November).
In addition to attending bi-monthly meetings, our members are active in various working groups according to their skills and expertise. Working groups meet between meetings towards their various initiatives and present informational updates, discuss and agree on courses of action, and share opportunities for funding and collaboration. See the Initiatives tab for more information on our projects.
The Healthy Homes Coalition traces its origin back to 2001 during the first Multnomah County Community Environmental Health Assessment, which lead to the County using environmental justice principles as a foundational value. Many of the member organizations added environmental health programming, and since then, we've accomplished much towards our goals. (You can read more about our goals on the Initiatives tab and background on the History tab.) Beginning with an advisory group for a HUD grant, to a local, ground-breaking Health and Housing Summit, which lead to the herculean effort of the Quality Rental Housing Working Group to get their final recommendations approved by Portland City Council, to now working towards implementing the requirements of these visionary code changes, we've got a lot to be proud of, and a heck of a lot of work to do. So contact us, if you'd like to join in the efforts!
Healthy Homes Coalition (HHC) Steering Committee
Jennifer Coleman, Oregon Environmental Council, HHC Chair
Barrett Karnes, Reach CDC, HHC Co-Chair
Jonathan Clay, Multifamily NW & HHC Secretary
Kim Tierney, Multnomah County Environmental Health Dept. Liaison to HHC
