Updates about Nehalem House & Robyn

Dear Community,

What sacred days we are living.  When this message was scheduled to go out, we wanted to share with you an important decision regarding Nehalem House. 

In the past few days, our focus has shifted to honoring and spending time with core member Robyn Dowell as she was nearing the end of her earthly journey.  Robyn passed away this morning, surrounded in love by family, friends, and L’Arche community with her.  To fully honor Robyn, a tribute and more details will be forthcoming later this week.  We hold all who know and love her in our hearts and look forward to singing, dancing, and sharing stories of Robyn in the days ahead.

Death has a way of distilling what is truly important–our relationships, our love, and our care for one another.  So this message feels different now, but  it is also timely and important to know.  Thank you for holding space for both of these sharings.

In regard to Nehalem House, following serious discernment with our dedicated L’Arche Board and a recommendation from a special exploratory group of L’Arche staff and community members, we are moving forward with the decision to sell Nehalem House, which has served our community for 37 years. This decision was based on the reality of the evolving needs of our core members, significant repair needs of Nehalem and limited accessibility in the structure of the home, financial reality, and planning for the future.

In 1987, L’Arche Nehalem (now L’Arche Portland) got a zero-interest loan from the Archdiocese of Portland to purchase its first home in southeast Portland after renting a small home for over a year.  It was a house in foreclosure that transformed to be filled with love, laughter, meals, shared sorrows, working through communication challenges, holiday celebrations–the many things that make a house a home.  Over the years, Nehalem House was expanded to an 8-bedroom home on four levels to accommodate the growing community. 

As L’Arche grew, new plans emerged to build a second fully accessible home as core members' mobility challenges and medical needs evolved with aging. A generous grant from the Sisters of Providence fulfilled that dream with the construction of Neahkahnie House, enabling L’Arche to better serve our community and welcome new core members.

In 2019, L’Arche Portland purchased Gabriel House from Holy Trinity Church in Beaverton, making possible a new model of life together as L’Arche community.

As of today, the core members formerly living at Nehalem have moved to Neahkanie and share life together under one roof. 

Co-founder Paul Lipscomb shares, “this house came as a gift to help us launch our community and it now serves to gift us again.” 

Co-founder Dorothy Coughlin shares, “Just as in 1987 at the heart of our decisions was always how best to provide for the needs of our core members and our hope for the future of our L’Arche community in Portland, this same wisdom has guided our decision to sell Nehalem House with gratitude for the blessing it has been these many years.”

We will be hosting a bless and release celebration to share stories about both the sacred and mundane days that have been lived within the walls of Nehalem House.  Please join us Saturday, June 29 at 11am for this time together.

If you have any questions or would like to connect with me, I welcome your call at (503) 251-6901 x700 or feel free to email me.

“For all that has been, thank you.  For all that is to come, yes!”  (Dag Hammarskjold)

  ~Julia