The Tillamook Family Counseling Center is nearing completion on a project that will add 30 affordable apartments in Tillamook, following the conversion of the Kilchis House into the Turnstone Commons Apartment Community.
The project carries a total price tag over $1.75 million and is being paid for with funding from the Oregon legislature that aims to help those with mental health challenges find stabile housing.
“We know that there are challenges for housing across the county and this provides an additional resource that addresses some of those challenges that certain populations may have,” said Tillamook Family Counseling Center (TFCC) Executive Director Frank Hanna-Williams.
Work on the project began last year, after TFCC was awarded $1.75 million out of $100 million that was made available through Oregon House Bill 5202. The goal of that bill was to give funding to community mental health programs across the state so that they could add housing to their offerings.
After receiving the funding, TFCC identified the then-vacant Kilchis House as a good candidate for affordable apartments. Built in 1995, the building was formerly home to a senior living facility operated by Tillamook’s Community Action Resource Enterprises.
The property sold to TFCC for $1.4 million in February 2023 and renovations began, including an overhaul of the building’s plumbing and interiors. When complete in May, Turnstone Commons will feature 24 studio apartments and 6 one-bedroom apartments, affordable to residents making either 30, 50% or 80% of the area’s median income, depending on the unit.
TFCC has hired Shauna Johnston to oversee the project and property management at the new apartments and serve as the organization’s housing coordinator.
Johnston said that the team at TFCC is still working to finalize a list of qualifying mental health diagnoses to access the apartments, and that it will be ready by the time a waitlist opens on April 22.
While the apartment complex will not include any mental health services on-site, TFCC staff will help coordinate residents’ access to services. Local support and recovery groups will also be able to use common areas in the complex to host meetings.
“People need a roof over their head but we also want to ensure that they have the supports needed to keep that roof over their head,” Johnston said, “so, we want to connect people with resources in the community as much as possible, we just won’t be directly providing those supports.”
Johnston said that she is especially excited for the addition of the units affordable to those making 30% of the area’s median income, stressing the lack of that type of housing in Tillamook. Each apartment will feature a kitchenette and the facility’s old hair salon is being upgraded to a communal kitchen during the renovation process.
In addition to verifying applicants’ income eligibility for the property, the application process will also include background and credit checks, though nobody will be turned away based on their credit score. After moving in, residents will need to complete an annual income review, although increases in income will not necessitate residents’ departure.
Rent will include the cost of utilities and there is a laundry room onsite, as well as common areas and a relandscaped interior courtyard.
Visit https://tfcc.org/turnstone-commons/ for more information about the project and for updates as the grand opening approaches.
TFCC will be working with other local nonprofit organizations to coordinate referrals for the complex, which is slated to open in May and will only accept applications from people already residing in Tillamook County.
Hanna-Williams said that the new apartments would serve to give those facing mental illnesses a stable foundation for recovery. “It’s difficult to recover from any illness if you don’t have a good place to live,” said Hanna-Williams.
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