Portfolio Partner Profile
Central City Concern
Central City Concern (CCC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit agency serving single adults and families in the Portland metro area who are impacted by homelessness, poverty, and addiction. Founded in 1979, the agency has developed a comprehensive continuum of affordable housing options integrated with direct social services including healthcare, recovery, and employment. Central City Concern's innovative strategies for supporting personal and community transformation include direct access to housing, integrated healthcare services for people who are often alienated from mainstream systems, the development of peer relationships to nurture and support recovery, and attainment of income through employment or accessing benefits.
CCC maintains approximately 2,136 units in 27 properties for low income individuals and families. In addition to housing nearly 3,798 individuals, CCC also provides many programs to help community members struggling with illness, addiction and homelessness. CCC operates 12 health center sites, which served almost 9,212 patients in 2019. As people recover, CCC also provides several programs that help individuals to find jobs. 1,275 people worked with CCC’s Employment Specialists in 2019. As CCC moves into their fifth decade, they continue to invest their resources, reserves, and hearts into their mission.
Featured Impact Story

Impact Story
Turning her life around
Charlette was homeless and addicted to heroin for six years — living in cars, sleeping in bus stops, or just walking around all night. Then, six friends died of overdoses in one week. That was when she knew she had to turn her life around. She was one of the first people to walk into CCC’s new Blackburn Center. Within a single day, Charlette:
- Saw a primary care provider, who treated her for her chronic thyroid condition
- Saw a psychiatric nurse practitioner, who started her on buprenorphine (also known as Suboxone) for acute opioid withdrawal
- Immediately filled her buprenorphine prescription via the Blackburn Pharmacy
Over the next few weeks, Charlette saw a drug counselor and became active in groups and one-on-one counseling. She also became one the first residents of Blackburn’s alcohol- and drug-free transitional housing. “Having my housing and health care together under in one building is a big thing!” Charlette says. “I can just go right downstairs and get my Suboxone at the pharmacy, or go to a group meeting, without ever leaving the building. That’s huge.”
Within less than six months, Charlette graduated from her outpatient program and, guided by Blackburn’s on-site employment specialist, began training as an on-call employee in CCC buildings. Clearly, the full slate of services available at Blackburn Center is working well for Charlette. She says, “I’m paying back everything that CCC has given me by being a success. That’s exactly what I want to be.”