Moving Between Two Housing Settings

Jonathan Curtis's housing experience includes two Central Oregon settings: Cascade Management in Madras and Bridge Meadows Redmond. He describes both as part of wanting his work to help local people have a home.

At Cascade, he says he managed five apartment properties. His account emphasizes the responsibility that came with a group of homes and the people who lived in them.

At Bridge Meadows Redmond, he says he served as manager, handled maintenance and repairs, moved new residents in, organized weekly events, and helped people connect with assistance.

The Redmond account adds a particularly hands-on and community-centered set of duties. Curtis describes fixing problems in the homes while also making time for gatherings and resource connections.

Cascade's published description spans several housing types and multiple regulated funding programs (Cascade Management). Bridge Meadows describes a more specialized intergenerational model for elders and families affected by foster care (Bridge Meadows). These different organizational settings give useful background to the two housing chapters Curtis describes.

Bridge Meadows lists 10 family homes and 26 elder apartments at Redmond (Bridge Meadows). The scale helps put Curtis's account of managing the property in a specific setting.

The two chapters gave him different ways to work with the same broad subject. In one, he describes a five-property portfolio; in the other, he gives a detailed account of repairs, resident arrivals, events, and assistance referrals.

Curtis describes helping turn the Redmond property around. The work behind that assessment, in his telling, involved both the physical condition of the property and how people experienced living there.

Curtis says he is a follower of Jesus Christ and that faith is a big part of his life. That personal commitment belongs in the story with his family, work, and attachment to Central Oregon.

He also describes being born and raised in Bend. Serving people in Central Oregon is part of how he explains the reason for choosing this line of work.

The two chapters can be understood through those differences in emphasis. Curtis describes portfolio responsibility in one account and community events and referrals in the other.

Across the two settings, Curtis describes administration joined to human connection. The Redmond chapter adds a more detailed picture of maintaining homes, welcoming residents, and creating opportunities for people to gather. Curtis says that, through his work at Bridge Meadows Redmond, he also helped families feel safe again.