Our History

Portland Collective Housing
Because Rent is a Ripoff!

PCH grew out of a dissatisfaction of our lot as renters. We never liked the fact that our rents are large enough to pay for our houses, but, because we are not each of us wealthy enough to scrape together a downpayment, we are forced to buy our homes for our landlords. Before we organized as PCH we did not control the conditions of our housing. We had no say in this vital area of our lives. So we organized.

The housing coop models we found with the most longstanding and widespread success seemed to be predominantly organized along the lines recommended by, and often directly affiliated with, the North American Students of Cooperation. One advantage of their model is that housing is kept affordable in the long term, with a steady and growing pool of collective capital for emergencies and for the acquisition of future houses. It did not seem to be an accident that these local coop systems seemed not only to provide well for the needs of their residents, but also to foster and encourage greater civic participation in their communities. It was and is our hope that by demonstrating a fair and democratic way to provide housing for ourselves we would ourselves be a kind of laboratory and living example of the dynamic power of democracy to meet human needs of all sorts.

Along the way, NASCO has been a tremendous help to us. They distilled their experience and histories, gave excellent advice, helped us prepare financial projections, and helped us raise capital for the purchase of our first two houses.

PCH incorporated as a non-profit in 2002 and has been meeting regularly since. The Board of Directors has written the bylaws, outlined the PCH strategic vision, developed policies and procedures, applied for 501(c)3 tax status, and is just beginning fundraising activities.

In March of 2003 we started assisting the Mississippi collective in purchasing their home.

In May of 2003 we completed our first home purchase for the benefit of house-seeking group from the board of directors.

In August of 2003 we closed on the Mississippi house.