Bridge Financing for Living Cully

Start-up nonprofit
Located in a high-poverty area
$1.7 Million additional funds leveraged
$2.5 Million locally-owned real estate improved

For more than a dozen years, the Sugar Shack Strip Club operated in NE Portland’s Cully neighborhood—across the street from community centers, a pediatric health clinic, school bus stops and affordable family housing. Neighbors had long hoped that this complex would go away and something focused on children and families would take its place.

In response, Living Cully—an innovative collaboration between Habitat for Humanity Portland/Metro East, Hacienda Community Development Corporation and Verde—set out to purchase the property and build economic, social and environmental assets for low-income Cully residents.

Over 500 individual donors and businesses helped to purchase the site through a crowdfunding campaign, raising over $60,000 in less than a month. Additional funding for the project was provided by Business Oregon, Craft3, Meyer Memorial Trust, Oregon Community Foundation and Portland Development Commission.

Craft3’s loan to Living Cully supports efforts to redevelop the property into a neighborhood destination that serves Cully’s rich and diverse community.