Being on call for fellow residents

(PORTLAND) — Looking at his own heart and motivation, Wesley Mahan talks about the evolution of why he wanted to be a good neighbor.

Today, he lives in The Empress Building at 20 N.W. 16th Ave. in the Alphabet District, and Mahan has developed a reputation as the go-to neighbor—ask Wes, he’ll know, ask Wes, he could do it. Mahan will do household fixes and errands for people in the five-floor, 73-unit building, and the condominium owners learned to count on him, to the point that it became a part-time job.

In another arena, Mahan has personally escorted women to abortion clinics, helping support them and shield them from protestors.

How did 2024 Mahan come to be?

“The funny thing is, the first three-quarters of my life was so religious, that was the motivation for everything I did,” said Mahan, 76, a former graphic designer for The Oregonian newspaper who currently helps design the NW Examiner publication.

“After I gave up religion at about age 62 or 63, there was no motivation like that. I just wanted to be a good person. There was no reward that I was looking for. It’s so cool to help people and have them be happy for solving a problem for them.”

He added, “My parents were very generous and helpful. I may have subliminally picked some of that up.”

Neighbor Laura Curry also does neighborhood fix-it jobs, and she founded the Association Owners Group — not the Homeowners Association (HOA), but a group of owners who want to be involved in their building.

Curry said that Mahan is one of the type of people that just wants to help others.

“Wes goes out of his way to help his neighbors in an affordable building of 73 families,” said Curry, his neighbor for seven years. “He does plumbing for free, fixes windows for free, runs errands, etc. He cares deeply for his neighbors and his community, helping others. … He shares his home fix-it knowledge.

“He’s such a generous person with his time. It’s his energy. He’s very patient and very, very informative and happy to share information about how things go and what happens. And, he’s about making sure things stay harmonious, as harmonious as a condo building can be.”

Indeed, both Mahan and Curry talk about the number of homeless issues around the building and back alley, including drug use and camping. They take it upon themselves to keep the area clean.

“The No. 1 thing is keeping the building safe,” Mahan said. “There’s a lot of graffiti. We paint over graffiti. We have security cameras, I monitor them. I’ve been able to track down some criminal activity. It’s a pretty safe community compared to what it could be.”

Mahan was a “Navy” brat growing up and attended schools in Spokane, Washington and at the Multnomah University in Portland. He was a missionary in Europe and also picked up graphic design while living in England. Back in the States, he worked for the old Auto Trader magazine. After his tenure at The Oregonian, he considered retiring, but it was “boring.” He served as a deli host at Fred Meyer and then became a part-time designer for NW Examiner.

His work around The Empress came about because he simply had time on his hands.

Mahan figures that he does about 20-25 projects per month. After years of volunteering, he now gets a little pay for his work.

“Somebody needed something done, ‘Hey I can do that for you,’” said Mahan, who’s married with two grown children. “It’s 100 years old (building). There are always things to fix.

“Word spread throughout the building, ‘Wes knows how to fix this and that.’ … That’s the driving force behind what I do in the building: I like to help people. It makes their lives easier. I feel like everybody’s grandpa; ‘He’s the grandpa who knows how to fix things.’”