Rosewood Plaza, a joint venture between Human Solutions and The Wallace Medical Concern, is a mixed-use project that combines community revitalization with new development to bring 45 units of quality affordable housing and low-cost dental and medical services.
The goal is to improve the health and self-sufficiency of homeless and low-income families in East Multnomah County through increased access to high-quality oral health care and expanded medical services. The multi-purpose project will expand The Wallace Medical Concern’s existing medical clinic so that more homeless and low-income people can receive high-quality, low-cost health care. The project also includes renovation of an existing 26-unit apartment building and construction of 19 new apartments on the floors above the new dental clinic. The Wallace Medical Concern’s current medical clinic in Human Solutions’ Rockwood Multi-Service Center, adjacent to the project site, will be expanded after the agency moves its administrative offices to the new Rosewood Plaza building.
The new sliding-fee-scale dental clinic will serve more than 3,000 people per year, and will be a training site for the OHSU School of Dentistry. The expanded medical clinic will serve an additional 1,500 patients per year. Human Solutions and The Wallace Medical Concern chose to partner on the Rosewood Plaza project to meet the need for dental and medical services – and affordable housing – in high-poverty areas of East Multnomah County that suffer from a lack of affordable housing and limited access to comprehensive health care and social services. Traditionally, homeless and low-income people in East Multnomah County have had little or no access to dental care. Close to half of the project vicinity is a federally designated dental “Health Professional Shortage Area,” and dental health has been identified as one of the area’s greatest needs.
Project Funders
Donors: Cambia Health Foundation, Collins Foundation, Legacy Health Systems Foundation, Meyer Memorial Trust, M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, Oregon Community Foundation, Spirit Mountain Community Fund, Ann and Bill Swindells Charitable Trust, and the Wells Fargo Housing Foundation. Donors also include individuals and the Boards of Directors at Human Solutions and Wallace Medical Concern. The housing portion of Rosewood Plaza will also benefit from a substantial grant through the City of Gresham.
Financers: Bank of America, Housing Development Center, Network for Affordable Housing, Oregon Housing & Community Services, and Pacific Continental Bank.
Human Solutions is the largest provider of shelter and housing to homeless families in Multnomah County, sheltering or housing about 1,200 people in 400 homeless families on any given night. The Wallace Medical Concern is a Federally Qualified Health Center with multiple locations that provide primary care and urgent health care to patients in need. Services are provided at daytime and evening clinics, as well as three-days-per-week on the Mobile Medical Clinic where patients can be seen and cared for by a physician right in their own neighborhood. Human Solutions will construct the 4-story Rosewood Plaza building and The Wallace Medical Concern will operate the dental clinic on the ground floor. To date, Human Solutions and The Wallace Medical Concern have raised more than $2.4 million toward a capital campaign goal of $2.7 million.
In-kind donations to the project include seven dental stations from the OHSU School of Dentistry and pediatric X-ray equipment valued at $232,000.
About Human Solutions Human Solutions promotes self-sufficiency for homeless and low-income families and individuals in outer East Portland and East Multnomah County. The agency’s four primary program areas are direct services to homeless families, affordable housing, employment and economic development, and safety net services to prevent homelessness, such as rent and utility assistance. For more information, visit www.humansolutions.org.
About The Wallace Medical Concern Wallace provides affordable primary and urgent medical services for thousands of Portland and Gresham residents who have no insurance or face other barriers to care. Over 300 volunteer doctors, nurses and other medical professionals serve patients at a primary care clinic and two urgent care clinics, as well as a Mobile Medical Clinic with physician and nursing staff. Services include basic urgent care; chronic condition management; well child visits and immunizations; and prenatal, dermatology, podiatry and chiropractic services. For more information, visit www.wallacemedical.org.