In response to the homelessness and affordable housing crisis gripping communities across greater Portland, Metro is working to create a region where everyone has access to a safe, stable and affordable home. This concept of home extends beyond the housing itself, to include equitable access to neighborhoods that support wellbeing and enable individuals, couples and families to flourish. To achieve this vision, Metro is leading a regional housing strategy by stewarding funds from two voter-approved initiatives.
But home is so much more than the buildings we live in or the roads we travel; home is something we make. Six years after voters passed the Metro affordable housing bond, thousands of people are living in the over 2,000 completed affordable homes paid for in part by the fund. This year, Metro decided to ask the residents of one of the bond-funded apartment communities to explore what home means to them.
Terrace Glen Apartments in Tigard opened in summer 2023, with 144 affordable apartments available to a mix of households making under 30% and between 31-60% of the area median income. Metro’s affordable housing bond contributed over $17 million to its construction.
Over the course of a six-session workshop, nine residents of Terrace Glen considered the meaning of home through 35mm film photography, written reflection, group discussion and other activities.
Metro partnered with EngAGE Northwest, a nonprofit that “works to make affordable housing communities feel like home through community connection and enrichment programs,” according to Executive Director Laura Spidell. EngAGE Northwest has an office at Terrace Glen, where they provide regular programming for the residents.
The workshop was led by Emily Fitzgerald, an artist and assistant professor in photography at Portland State University. In designing the curriculum, the intention was to use images and writing to “better understand people’s experiences,” Emily explained, and “have a dialog about those experiences and stories.”
This storytelling approach is in the spirit of ‘socially engaged’ art, where instead of the traditional roles of photographer and subject, the emphasis is on “self-representation and authorship, and how people want to tell their own story,” said Emily.
The nine participants were from diverse cultural backgrounds and ranged from age eight to in their 60’s. Some families decided to take the workshop together, with a mother and young son, and three retirement-age sisters in the group.
In the first class, the participants got to know one another and did a writing exercise exploring home through the experience of the five senses. They learned about the basics of film photography and received point-and-shoot 35mm film cameras and their first homework assignment.
Using film instead of a cell phone or other digital camera meant the participants had to slow down and carefully consider each image they created. Participants were encouraged to observe technical elements like light, shadow and framing as they thought about how they wanted to tell their own stories. Some of the younger participants had never used film before, which it was an exciting new experience. All participants were able to keep their cameras after the workshop concluded.
In addition to creating new images with their cameras, the group engaged in other exercises to explore the theme of home. In one activity each person was invited to share three photos from their personal collection that represent home. EngAGE staff made photocopies of the photos, and the group wrote collaboratively on the copies with Post-Its. Another week, participants brought objects that reminded them of home and mapped the interior of their apartments.
“The image and the camera are both tools for building a more rich and intimate space, so the conversation kind of went deep quickly” Emily said. “There was this sort of depth of human experience from grief to joy and across the whole spectrum, and how that relates to how comfortable and safe we feel at home, or what the experience of family is and how that shifts.”
As participants turned their cameras toward their own lives, they created images of their families, friends and each other. They explored what home is for them through capturing domestic life in their apartments, the common areas of Terrace Glen, and in the wider world. Subjects ranged from one participant’s family farm, to wildflowers, to one of the building’s maintenance staff.
Over the course of the workshop, Emily observed participants forming relationships: “The participants of the group connected when we were outside of the group and really cared for each other,” she said — “[they] watched out for each other.” This has included sharing food, learning about each other’s religion, or just saying hello when they encounter one another in the common areas. Laura, from EngAGE Northwest agreed, explaining that the workshop “was a wonderful experience that helped the residents of this new community build meaningful connections.”
Reflecting on what she learned in the workshop, “I feel like home can be anything; the main thing about being at home is love,” said Anna. “I have different homes with my family and other families that are not related to me so I think it's where you feel comfortable, warm, and loved.”
For Anna’s sister Rose, the workshop — and particularly her new photography skills — changed how she sees the world around her: “I'm thinking maybe I have a different perspective now and look at things differently,” she explained. “I catch myself trying to pay more attention to things around me — my surroundings.”
Jasmine moved to Terrace Glen with her four young children for a fresh start after fleeing an unsafe situation. The family briefly experienced homelessness, and Family Promise of Tualatin Valley helped them find a new home. Jasmine has an affinity for creative practices and was excited when she learned about EngAGE’s programming, with monthly events she and her kids could participate in.
Her experience in the community voices photo workshop helped Jasmine feel more connected to her new home at a time when she wasn’t sure if she wanted to stay in Oregon: “At that point in time, when I did the workshop, I was feeling very displaced,” she said. “I was really homesick and missing home.”
Photo by Carmen Anderson.
When the workshop started Jasmine didn’t know what she would take pictures of because she didn’t consider where she was living to be home. But as the group shared and processed their ideas about what home is, Jasmine began to see things differently. “It was kind of fun to kind of get everybody else's perspective of what home meant,” she explained, “and in learning about that with my community — with the residents here — I really was like, yeah, home is not necessarily a place; it’s what you make it.”
Jasmine appreciated connecting with Rose, Carmen and Anna — the three sisters who share her Puerto Rican heritage. She also enjoyed getting to know Deena and her kids and learning about their Afghan culture. Gradually, Jasmine realized that Terrace Glen is a place with cultural diversity similar to where she is from. It made her realize that “there is this community here that I do want to be a part of.”
The workshop culminated in an exhibition of selected black and white prints at Blue Sky Oregon Center for The Photographic Arts in Downtown Portland, which hosted an opening celebration on December 5. Seven of the nine workshop participants were in attendance.
Though Jasmine is used to taking photos on her phone, seeing her film images printed and enlarged was a whole new experience. “I had a lot of people express how they enjoyed my photography,” she said, “it was kind of refreshing, kind of eye-opening.” Jasmine is interested in continuing with film photography and learning how to print in the darkroom. Eventually, she would like to pursue a career in art therapy.
The Terrace Glen Community Voices Photo Project is on display at Blue Sky Gallery through the end of December. Beginning in mid-January, for a month, the images will be installed at the Washington County Public Services Building in Hillsboro.
Credits for the black and white photos in the carousel: Carmen Anderson, Jasmine Werner and Anna Perez.