Plans for YMCA-led downtown service hub fizzle out after financial troubles

Concerns over funding for a downtown Salem project intended to bring a slew of social service providers under one roof have prompted state officials to pull the plug.

The ambitious project, called the “Block of Humanity,” had $3 million of state lottery funds earmarked during the 2024 session, which was never spent. 

That was about half of the amount requested by the Salem YMCA, which led the project in its early stages. The organization scaled back funding several times before determining that wasn’t feasible, according to Sen. Deb Patterson, who advocated for the project.

The hub was supposed to be a one-stop shop for people to access help for a variety of needs, including employment, rent or health care.

The YMCA planned to establish the hub in the former Statesman Journal building at 280 Church St. N.E., next door to the organization’s existing gym. Tim Sinatra, the YMCA’s executive director, said they originally hoped to build affordable apartments on the north side of the building, but quickly scaled back those plans due to cost.

The location would have placed the hub within a few blocks of the downtown transit center, a housing project for domestic violence survivors and a YMCA veteran housing project.

But since the YMCA didn’t own the building, project leaders said the idea posed a long-term risk if the property owner eventually decided to sell it. Environmental issues with the building also required testing which would have exceeded the grant funding available.  

In a short-notice effort to make the project work, the Marion Polk Early Learning Hub in February stepped in to lead the project and shift its focus to children and families. The organization identified a new building it was considering for the project.

Lisa Harnisch, executive director of the early learning hub, said the Oregon Department of Administrative Services and state legislators declined to back the project on March 18 over concerns that it no longer included housing and had strayed too far from its original scope. 

State officials didn’t contest the early learning hub’s ability to lead the project, but they couldn’t fund it because it wasn’t an “exact match” to the original proposal, according to Patterson.

“We didn’t have time to draft another bill,” she said.

Sinatra said the decision put an end to more than two years of work on what would have been a dream come true for over 20 local service providers who were in talks to join the project, including Catholic Community Services, Church at the Park, the Willamette Health Council and the state Department of Human Services.

He said in an email March 25 to dozens of service providers that the lottery funding awarded to the project “was ultimately insufficient to fully realize our original vision.”

“Though this opportunity did not come to fruition, the partnerships and networks we’ve built remain strong. Our collective commitment to expanding access to essential services is undiminished, and we are confident that these relationships will continue to drive meaningful impact in our communities,” he wrote.

Asked why the funding and building issues weren’t sorted out earlier, Sinatra told Salem Reporter that the project was a “learning curve” for those leading it.

“Whenever you have multiple players, multiple organizations together and so on, it creates a bit more complexity in any process,” he said. “There’s so many things we’ve learned along the way that we didn’t know, even with our past experience working with capital projects already.”

Sinatra said the providers involved in planning the service hub need to reconvene and figure out a way to collaborate in the future.

“We have to find a more efficient, effective way to have consistency and service delivery while dealing with the relevancy of a lack of funding,” he said. “Nevertheless, there are other service delivery models that happen every day that are highly effective and will continue to be effective. This was just one extra opportunity that can help strengthen the foundation of our community.”

Patterson said when she first learned about the hub idea, the YMCA had recently received state funding for its downtown gym and the Courtney Place veterans housing project, both of which were completed smoothly. 

“I had no reason to believe that this third project wouldn’t also be a success,” she said.

Patterson said she has committed to working with the early learning hub to revive the idea and hopes to get funding approved in the 2026 legislative session.

“The project is so worthy, and there’s got to be a setting for it,” she said. “They’ve outgrown their space, and they have the capacity to do so much more.”

RELATED COVERAGE:

YMCA will move forward on downtown service hub with state grant

Retooling Salem building for social services awaits legislative action

Contact reporter Ardeshir Tabrizian: [email protected] or 503-929-3053.

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