Learn more about the ‘three parting wishes’ Nick Sauvie shared for the future of outer East Portland housing, public investment, and youth development …
Many people came to wish Nick Sauvie well at his retirement celebration on the evening of September 14, at the Asian Health and Service Center in Southeast Portland – honoring his founding of, and 34 years of leading, ROSE Community Development Corporation.
Story and photos by David F. Ashton
A “who’s who” of influential community members – about 60 people in all – gathered on the evening of September 14, at the Asian Health and Service Center in Lents Town Center for a special retirement celebration.
The evening was to honor Nick Sauvie, who founded ROSE Community Development Corporation (CDC), and then guided the nonprofit organization through 34 years of dedicated neighborhood revitalization. For a quarter century, ROSE maintained its primary administrative offices at the corner of SE 52nd Avenue and Duke Street in the Woodstock neighborhood, before recently selling the property.
Founding a grassroots movement in outer Southeast Portland
With guests, Nick Sauvie happily reminisces about 34 years of neighborhood revitalization and affordable housing development in outer East Portland.
ROSE was originally established in 1992 by Sauvie, alongside fellow neighborhood organizers, following a period of economic and social hardship across outer southeast neighborhoods in the late 1980s. Sauvie reflected on those formative years, recalling his early experiences of door-to-door canvassing in Brentwood-Darlington in the early 1980s.
“It just was a pretty scary place,” Sauvie recalled to East Portland News. “There were a lot of drug houses, and all the unpaved streets got people [calling it] ‘felony flats’, although we hated that name.”
At that time, a city study identified more than 300 vacant and abandoned houses across outer southeast neighborhoods, threatening the community’s overall trajectory.
Moving from one table to another at his retirement celebration, Nick Sauvie thanks community partners for supporting ROSE CDC’s mission since 1992.
“We thought we could get some of these houses and fix them up, and that’d make a big difference,” Sauvie explained. “Housing’s become so unaffordable to average Portlanders, we’re just trying to find things that people in the neighborhood can afford to rent.”
Sauvie expressed deep gratitude for the collective effort that transformed the local streets over the past four decades. “I just have been blessed to work with so many people, but people love their neighborhood,” he said. “So many people put so much effort and heart into making the neighborhood better, and it worked.”
Expanding impact and intergenerational wealth
Knife in hand, Nick Sauvie cuts his retirement cake at his farewell celebration.
Since its humble beginnings rehabilitating single-family homes, ROSE has expanded significantly. To date, the nonprofit has developed more than 500 units of affordable rental housing in outer southeast neighborhoods.
In addition, ROSE operates its Resident Assets Program – providing activities supporting personal growth and community resiliency – and also the signature Lents Youth Initiative, which engages up to 40 teenagers annually in leadership training, soft skills development, environmental stewardship, and career exploration.
At the podium, Mac Cunningham, current Board Chair at ROSE CDC, tells the audience that the nonprofit is “as close as you can really get to the archetypal definition of a community development corporation.”
Speaking at the gathering, Mac Cunningham, current Board Chair at ROSE CDC, recalled his first contact with the organization in May 2020, while completing graduate studies at Portland State University. He was immediately struck by the organization’s holistic approach to serving East Portland.
“In any conversations that I’m having with so many folks in the housing sphere, I always talk about how ROSE is as close as you can really get to the archetypal definition of community development corporation,” Cunningham observed. “You can find that, in large part, thanks to the leadership by Nick of this organization.”
Cunningham highlighted the tangible long-term impact of ROSE’s affordable homeownership initiatives on local families. “If you do the math now, from when families got into those homes – if they held them to this date – that is tens of millions of dollars of intergenerational wealth that has been created for residents here in our community!”
“Nick has been my go-to person always when I needed guidance,” remarks Frieda Christopher, Co-Chair of the East Portland Housing Committee, speaking of Sauvie’s readiness to help community members navigate housing systems.
Frieda Christopher, Co-Chair of the East Portland Housing Committee and former David Douglas School Board member, shared how Sauvie mentored her when she joined housing advocacy efforts in 2015.
“I considered Nick my mentor,” Christopher confirmed. “He’s a great resource about the issues around housing, and especially affordable housing. My learning curve was very steep, but I found Nick was available to answer questions and explain details. I feel he taught me a lot about the various issues facing affordable housing developers, and the difficulties facing nonprofits like ROSE.” She added that her sister resides at Lents Village, an affordable senior housing complex – and it’s owned by ROSE.
Standing in the audience, Nick Sauvie listens to presentations at his retirement reception, as community leaders highlight his legacy of affordable housing development in outer Southeast Portland.
A leader’s three wishes for East Portland
Taking the podium for his retirement address, Sauvie opened with lighthearted humor. “One of the things I was most looking forward to in retirement is not having to give speeches. Darn! I guess I’ve got to do one more tonight!”
Presenting his ‘Three Wishes’ for outer East Portland, Nick Sauvie addresses attendees at his retirement celebration, calling for expanded public investment, and safe homes for future generations.
Reflecting on 40 years of public service – beginning at SE Uplift before founding ROSE – Sauvie outlined his three central wishes for the future of outer East Portland:
1. Increased public investment: Sauvie pointed out that while East Portland contains 25% of the city’s total population, it holds only 16% of its rental housing and 16% of its subsidized affordable housing. “More than half of East Portlanders pay more than they can afford for rent, and a third of them pay more than half of their income,” he emphasized – calling for decision-makers to address longstanding funding disparities.
2. A return to innovative community development: Sauvie urged Portland to reconnect with its historic roots in place-based community organizing and asset-based development, citing “social capital” theories from Robert Putnam, John McKnight, Robert Sampson, and Raj Chetty.
3. Nurturing future generations: Sauvie emphasized that healthy communities must offer opportunity and stability to young people, citing Southeast Portland success stories of such individuals as Nobel laureate Linus Pauling, culinary icon James Beard, and Nike co-founder Phil Knight. “My third and final wish is that Portland once again becomes a place that generates people who do great things,” Sauvie expressed. “That begins with making sure that every child has a safe home and a nurturing environment”.
Welcoming new executive leadership
During his address, Sauvie acknowledged Co-Executive Director Ana Meza, who will transition into an asset manager role, focusing on the health and stability of ROSE’s housing portfolio. He then introduced Helmi Hisserich, who officially assumed duties as Executive Director on August 31 of this year.
Posing together for a photo are ROSE CDC incoming Executive Director Helmi Hisserich, and Nick Sauvie – celebrating the leadership transition at ROSE CDC as Hisserich builds on Sauvie’s 34-year founding legacy.
“I could not be more delighted that Helmi will be leading ROSE into the future,” Sauvie remarked. Hisserich, who brings extensive public sector experience to the leadership role, shared her enthusiasm for working directly alongside community members.
“I’m really excited to build on the foundation that Nick created,” Hisserich commented. “I worked most of my professional life in the public sector. So really coming in to work with community is exciting. It’s inspiring – something I’ve always wanted to do. And so I’m just really happy to be here, and really happy to work with ROSE and this team.”
Learn more about ROSE CDC by visiting their website: CLICK HERE.
© 2026 David F. Ashton ~ East Portland News™
