Portland, Ore. — Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon has partnered with Bridge Meadows, an intentional, intergenerational housing community in Portland, to help support the continued growth of its communities throughout the state.
To support the growth of Bridge Meadows, Regence formed a skilled volunteerism cohort to develop a strategic plan, which will help to guide the nonprofit as it continues to scale its successful housing model. The cohort includes Regence Marketing, Communication and Brand Strategy professionals who will dedicate approximately 50 hours each over a six- to nine-month period to work alongside Bridge Meadows staff, members of the board of directors and Lawrence PR.
The selected Regence volunteers are:
- Leslie Constans, Assistant Director, Brand Strategy
- Angela Hult, Director, Corporate Social Responsibility
- Steve Mendes, Marketing Brand Manager
- Matt Schaeffer, Marketing Strategy Manager
The Bridge Meadows model is the first of its kind in Oregon and serves 70 different residents, which include youth formerly in foster care, adoptive families, and elders. The community has seen beneficial growth between the residents, and improvements in health, affordable housing and school success.
“In less than five years, Bridge Meadows has seen incredible success of their intergenerational community model. All three generations of residents improving in the areas of health and wellbeing,” said Angela Hult, Director of Corporate Social Responsibility at Regence. “Our goal in this unique partnership is to help prepare them for growth, so many more people feel the impact of Bridge Meadows.”
Each year, Regence works with a few select nonprofits as Community Partner Organizations (CPOs). In addition to providing funding, Regence collaborates with each CPO to create thoughtful, mutual, ongoing partnerships that help forge sustainable, positive change to improve the health of our communities.
“We could not be more appreciative to have the expertise and partnership of Regence as we approach this exciting new season at Bridge Meadows,” said Dr. Derenda Schubert, Bridge Meadows executive director. “Leslie, Angela, Steve and Matt each provide a unique perspective that has not only helped Bridge Meadows as we approach the opening of our Beaverton expansion, but also as we look to all that’s on the horizon in 2017 and beyond.”
About Bridge Meadows
Bridge Meadows is a 501(c)(3) intergenerational housing community serving youth in foster care, adoptive parents and elders (55+). Its mission is to offer permanency in the lives of foster children by providing forever homes, supporting adoptive parents with resources and giving elders purpose in their daily lives. The nonprofit has one existing location, which opened in April 2011 and can be found on the site of the former John Ball Elementary School in the Portsmouth neighborhood of North Portland. Bridge Meadows will expand to Beaverton in 2017 and has plans to open additional locations, including New Meadows, in the future. For more information, please visit: www.bridgemeadows.org.
About Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon
Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon, headquartered in Portland, has been serving Oregonians since 1941 and now provides approximately 750,000 members with comprehensive health insurance solutions. As a nonprofit independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, Regence is part of a family of companies dedicated to transforming health care by delivering innovative products and services that change the way consumers nationwide experience health care. For more information, please visit regence.com, facebook.com/regencebluecrossblueshield, or twitter.com/regenceoregon.