Oregon land trust uses CCHD grant to help restore neighborhood

Published: 2006-10-02

PORTLAND, Ore. (CNS) -- Using money from a Catholic anti-poverty program, a small agency in a Portland suburb is restoring a worn-out neighborhood and helping low-income residents remain. The Clackamas Community Land Trust will share a $45,000 Catholic Campaign for Human Development national grant with a Portland land trust to slowly transform the district around Catholic LaSalle High School. Developed after World War II, Overland Park is characterized by small houses, many in need of renovation, few sidewalks or streetlights, and many old cars. In this urban renewal area, civic governments will work on infrastructure, with light rail coming in the next two years. The trust will try to renovate existing houses and keep mortgages within reach of low- and middle-income residents. "What we want is to help people stay in their neighborhoods and preserve housing," Nancy Yuill, executive director of the Milwaukie-based land trust, told the Catholic Sentinel, Portland's archdiocesan newspaper.

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