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Home Builders Foundation breaks ground at area shelter

The Home Builders Foundation of Metropolitan Portland recently began major renovations at a local area shelter for victims of domestic violence.

Raphael House of Portland is a domestic violence agency dedicated to addressing intimate partner violence. Over 350 women and children are served in the emergency shelter each year, and more than 3,500 callers are offered safety planning and advocacy on its crisis line.

The $570,000 renovation will turn a 5,000 square-foot attic space into a comprehensive advocacy center, a place where community partner agencies gather on-site to offer resources to survivors of domestic violence.

Project builder captains Rick Lesniak of Blazer Development, Inc. and Jim Standring, of Touchstone Townhomes, LLC, said they are excited to begin their work, which is expected to be complete next spring.

“Blazer has built luxury homes in our area for decades,” Lesniak said. “We are happy to be part of renovating a place that will benefit thousands of Portland families.”

The Foundation, which is the charitable arm of the Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Portland, has been working for nearly 11 years with local non-profit care providers to create dignified housing for Portland’s temporarily homeless by supplying the funds, materials and labor necessary to fulfill the shelters’ desperate expansion and restoration needs.

“Most shelters operate on shoestring budgets and simply don’t have the time or extra resources to dedicate to much needed maintenance and renovations,” said 2009 HBF President-elect George Lorance. “By harnessing the resources of the building industry, the Foundation is able to help shelters better serve those in need. We do what we do best to help them do what they do best.”

The Raphael House renovation is one of two major projects the Foundation has scheduled for this year. The other is an overhaul of the Cordero House, which is a residential abuse treatment facility for teens. 

For more information about these projects, contact Mel at 503-603-4511.