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Clatsop Behavioral Healthcare (CBH) last month broke ground on a new housing development that will provide 32 supportive housing units, making comprehensive mental health services more accessible to people who need them along Oregon鈥檚 North Coast.

The project, in Astoria, is being developed by Edlen & Company and was designed by TVA Architects. The project team also includes general contractor Walsh Construction, ColeBreit Engineering, VALAR Consulting Engineering, KPFF, landscape architect Shapiro Didway, and specifications consultant m.thrailkill.architect.llc.

Scheduled for completion in late December, the three-story, 23,880-square-foot building will house CBH鈥檚 Open Door Program, which provides treatment, support and employment services for clients living with serious mental illness and addiction.

In TVA Architects鈥� project description, the firm notes that Clatsop County has the highest rate of unsheltered homelessness in Oregon 鈥� nearly six times the state average. The building will serve individuals earning up to 30 percent of the area median income and house an on-site manager.

The studio apartments will be complemented by supportive spaces such as common rooms and kitchens as well as spaces for group therapy, TVA Architects design principal Tim Wybenga said. It also was essential that the building fit in with Astoria鈥檚 maritime culture and history, he added.

鈥淭his was a chance to do what we really love to do, which is make contextual modern buildings,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really nice when we get the chance to work on projects like this and feel like we鈥檙e making a difference.鈥�

Situated near the historic Astoria-Megler Bridge, the building is designed to harmonize with the neighborhood. Special consideration was paid to balance the durability and maintainability of interior finishes with the promotion of a comforting, calming and supportive atmosphere.

Appropriate layers of security and privacy between residents and daily users will be integrated without reducing the agency or choices available to either population. The team sought to minimize potentially traumatizing triggers by carefully considering elements like color, views of nature, lighting and spatial layout.

Wybenga described the collaboration with CBH and Edlen & Company as a 鈥渞eally nice partnership鈥� and the project as both personally and professionally rewarding.

鈥淲e find that working on these projects that are community good and public benefit really have so much meaning,鈥� he said, 鈥渁nd it just makes for a great feeling every time we meet.鈥�

Jill Sherman, co-founder of Edlen & Company, said the CBH project is the first the developer has done in a rural area and provides a significant number of housing units for the region. While CBH provides smaller housing options in other cities along the coast, this is its largest such endeavor to date.

鈥淲e know how to develop buildings, but we鈥檙e not specialists in providing the services people need to be successful in permanent housing and mental health services, so this was a perfect opportunity for us,鈥� she said.

The project took several years to come to fruition, Sherman noted. After an initial location was met with resistance, CBH and Edlen & Company had to identify a second site that had the support of city and county leaders, local businesses and residents.

Shyra Merila-Simmons, CBH鈥檚 executive director, credited her predecessor, Amy Baker, with having the tenacity to find the site and move the project forward despite the difficulties along the way.

鈥淚t really got to the point where we were tired of seeing our clients languish and not really have the benefits of our services,鈥� Merila-Simmons said. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 see meaningful progress unless people鈥檚 basic needs are being met. I think having that staffing capacity and ongoing support will make the success of people living there more meaningful and more probable.鈥�

Funding for the CBH project comes from low-income housing tax credits, tax-exempt bonds, and grants from Oregon Housing and Community Services, the Oregon Health Authority and Columbia Pacific CCO (a coordinated care organization).

On the Boards is a 91视频 feature offering a look at projects in Oregon and Southwest Washington being tackled by local architecture firms. To have your firm鈥檚 projects considered, contact 91视频 reporter Hilary Dorsey at [email protected].