Neighbor to Neighbor

IN SOME WAYS, the pandemic changed the focus of Tara Benavente’s day-to-day work. In other ways, she is doing what she has always done since she graduated from UP in 2014—bringing her abiding belief in hospitality to the community where she lives. A longtime barista (if you’ve ever frequented Cathedral Coffee in St. Johns, she’ll be a familiar face), she is now working as the program manager for St. Johns Village, a new transitional housing community for formerly houseless individuals.

A social work major at UP, Benavente tends to jump in wherever she sees a need. “I’ve always had a heart for working at the margins,” she says. “I’m a big believer in neighbors taking care of neighbors, that everything we need can be found in the community.” That local businesses donated more than $200,000 toward St. Johns Village seems to support her belief.

She officially works for Do Good Multnomah, an organization that focuses on getting housing and services to veterans. Before opening St. Johns Village, Tara was part of the effort that transformed the Charles Jordan Community Center into a 90-bed shelter, and she also managed one of the emergency motel shelters that opened last year in response to the pandemic.

Then she jumped into getting St. Johns Village ready, painting and caulking and furnishing the single occupancy pods and preparing the communal kitchen, washroom, and restroom. At this point, 16 of the 19 pods are occupied, and she is doing less painting and more community work with the villagers. A recent meeting involved finding the process for tackling the universal shared-space dilemma: dishes. The residents came to the meeting with great ideas.