Teaming up for greater impact: Hacienda CDC and PSU

Since Ernesto Fonseca took the helm of Hacienda CDC in 2017, the Latino community development corporation has become Oregon's largest social service provider, doubling its number of affordable housing units to more than 1,000, launching a home lending program, awarding scholarships to Latiné youth and expanding its entrepreneurial support services.

"I am extremely tired and exhausted, but also elated at the fact that we have been able to expand Hacienda beyond the walls of what it was for decades in Northeast Portland," said Fonseca, who teaches courses in PSU's urban studies and planning program and serves on the President's Council on Engagement and Impact.

Fonseca's vision and leadership recently earned him high honors from his native Mexico for his "significant work advancing many different aspects of the sciences and humanities" in the U.S., but he is quick to credit his staff of 70 — many of whom are Portland State alumni — for Hacienda's success and growth. 

"Being a leader is finding people who know better than you do in that space and bringing them on board to help you achieve whatever goals you may have," he said. "The success Hacienda has had is a result of bringing great people to the organization."

And thanks to a new partnership made official this month, Fonseca is looking forward to tapping into PSU's expertise and talent pipeline even more in years to come.

Though PSU and Hacienda have collaborated on a variety of projects over the years, the more formalized partnership emerged from Fonseca's work on the President's Council on Engagement and Impact. The council is tasked with advising PSU President Stephen Percy and PSU on an engagement strategy by helping to identify priorities, key partners, impactful projects and resources.

"Collaborating with [PSU is] giving us the opportunity to understand more about what the university is looking for, and for the university to know what we are looking for, both in preparing the next generation of professionals to join our forces and how the university can work a lot more in short and midterm solutions for our current social crises," Fonseca said.

The agreement aims to strengthen existing ties between PSU and Hacienda, identify new opportunities for collaboration and put staffing and structures in place that will enable the partnership to adapt and persist as leaders and contexts shift. The two organizations will partner on research collaborations, student engagement and events in three areas of focus: cross-laminated timber, climate justice and affordable student housing.

Building the Future

Hacienda has been piloting the manufacturing of modular homes that use Oregon-produced cross-laminated timber — large-scale, prefabricated, solid engineered wood panels — with the idea that mass timber can provide a more efficient, faster and less expensive way to build housing. 

"We need to build the most efficient homes that we can deliver — high-quality permanent homes built in a factory," he said. "We're already doing it, but we need to iterate and change and make these designs a little more efficient and affordable, so that is one of my dreams that I'm hoping I can solidify with the university."

The six "Mass Casitas" prototype homes will be donated and delivered to nonprofit organizations in four Oregon communities by June, and the team will use what they learn to improve the design, inform the production process and assess the potential of creating the units at scale. Cynthia Goméz, PSU's director of community and civic impact, says the university has significant capacity to support Hacienda's efforts, including providing research support on the mass timber market, understanding the environmental benefits of different product innovations and supporting student placements within the industry.

Advancing Climate Justice

PSU and Hacienda also share a commitment to advancing climate justice. PSU launched a climate initiative in 2021, identifying more than 100 faculty and staff with research and work portfolios related to climate action and justice. Preparing students to be leaders in climate justice is also a priority for PSU, as this issue impacts everything from housing to health and requires the centering of marginalized communities who overwhelmingly bear the brunt of climate impacts.

Fonseca knows that all too well and says Hacienda, whose Cully location is surrounded by polluting highways, industrial plants and the airport, has taken climate justice work seriously. Hacienda is using a $9.4 million investment from the Portland Clean Energy Fund to retrofit six of its multifamily communities (243 units) with energy-efficient appliances and electrical systems, solar arrays, heat pumps and cooling devices where needed as well as LED lighting and new bathroom fans.

"For us, climate justice work is extremely tied to the built environment and to transportation," Fonseca said. "I do see a very serious intersection with the university coming with us and helping us ideate what new initiatives we need to undertake in terms of reducing carbon emissions and making our properties healthier than ever."

Providing Affordable Student Housing 

The third area of focus is affordable student housing. Goméz says PSU is interested in providing students with reliable low- to middle-income housing — something Hacienda has a long history of developing and managing.

With each core theme, Goméz anticipates expanding the connection points for students to engage with Hacienda. Hacienda most recently brought on five interns from programs as diverse as social work, urban planning, real estate and finance — and Fonseca says Hacienda is committed to bringing on as many paid interns as it can. Two interns have already transitioned to full-time employment with the nonprofit.

"I want them to understand that work that is socially oriented is just as valuable as any corporate job and we can pay you those salaries as well," he said. "This is work that is the right thing to do for our communities."

That community connection is important for PSU, Goméz said.

"As PSU develops from an Emerging Hispanic Serving Institution toward a federally recognized HSI, we're engaging in community integration efforts with organizations providing culturally relevant services," she said, adding that another agreement is in the works with Latino Network. "Hacienda CDC is an excellent example of how PSU can collaborate with community-based organizations to serve our broader community."