Our Homes, Our Story
Our three homes in SE Portland and Beaverton are at the center of our story and our community. We gather around our homes as a community of individuals with and without intellectual disabilities finding belonging and relationship.
A few of the founding members of Nehalem House!
Nehalem House
L'Arche Portland was set into motion in the summer of 1983 when Dorothy Coughlin recognized a great need for L'Arche homes in the Portland community. With her friend and colleague, Paul Lipscomb, Dorothy began building community between people with and without intellectual disabilities. The group they formed met regularly for a couple of years – praying and getting to know each other through social gatherings as well as meetings.
Nehalem House is L'Arche Portland's founding home and opened in May of 1987. Five core members and two assistants shared life together initially.
Neahkahnie House
In the early 1990’s, momentum began to build for the community to grow and open a second home. An empty lot was found about a mile from Nehalem House, and the community worked with a skilled architect to design a home that would be especially suited to the community. Neahkahnie House was completed in 1995 and the opportunity to welcome four new core members generated great excitement and new life.
Gabriel House
In November 2019, Gabriel House welcomed six new residents with and without intellectual disabilities. Gabriel House offers flexibility in living arrangements to meet various needs. This model is different from our other two homes because housemates do not provide professional support to one another. Rather, they live together as housemates and friends with and without intellectual disabilities, who may or may not hire their own professional supports.
Learn more about what makes our homes unique.