In the wake of 2021’s deadly heat dome event in the Pacific Northwest, Portland vowed to distribute between 12,000 and 15,000 cooling units to the most vulnerable in our community over the next 5 years.
Portland initially said it wanted to install about 3,000 units by the end summer but has not yet been able to provide an estimate of how many units have been installed.
"We met our goal with the first unit installed on June 9," said Magan Reed, Public Information Manager for Portland's Bureau of Planning and Sustainability. "We are so proud to be working with such dedicated nonprofit partners to meet that goal successfully." [full statement below]
An initial bid to purchase and oversee the installation of the cooling units was granted to nonprofit organizationDiversifying Energy in November of 2021. After a news outlet published an exposé on the nonprofit's executive director, Linda Woodley, the city noted that it conducted its own investigation into "financial crimes and tax liens." This ultimately led to the city pulling nearly $12million in funding from the organization and granting it to the secondary applicant, Earth Advantage.
When asked if the bid delay slowed down momentum on the installation of cooling units, the city did not respond.
On Monday, four cooling units were installed in an apartment complex in Northeast Portland. A representative from Verde, one of the nonprofit groups (overseen by Earth Advantage) doing the installs, said so far they have put in 20 cooling units in Portland.
Juana Pascual Pascual was one of the residents that got a little relief from the heat. She said she lived in the same apartment in 2021 with her three children. During the heat dome, when temperatures soared into the triple digits, she had nothing but bottles of water to provide relief.
"The kids would come out into the living room, they would stay out here because it was really hot in their rooms and the small air conditioner we used to have stopped working and was not helpful," Pascual Pascual said.
She says her son's asthma worsened because of it, and they were often unable to sleep at night.
Pascual Pascual said through an interpreter that she is very grateful for the cooling unit.
In the meantime, other residents are still hoping for relief.
Full statement from Magan Reed, Public Information Manager for Portland's Bureau of Planning and Sustainability:
"Our original goal was to install 3,000 units by end of this summer and to begin installations this May or June. We met our goal with the first unit installed on June 9. We are so proud to be working with such dedicated nonprofit partners to meet that goal successfully. Earth Advantage has done a great job stepping up to meet this project's goals and our nonprofit partners are working as quickly as possible to get these units installed and provide life-saving heat relief to Portlanders in need. From authorization to initial installation, this program was put together in about six months, which is incredibly fast, especially given constraints and challenges associated with the ongoing pandemic. We will be bringing on additional distribution partners as the program ramps up, and we are proud of how quickly we have implemented and begun execution of this program to help vulnerable Portlanders through future heat-related crises."