The People of Heathcote
Neighbours, professionals and residents guiding our work together
A Committed Team of Neighbours
Heathcote is guided by a volunteer board, a small leadership team and a resident council that meets every month. Between them they bring decades of experience in nursing, finance, housing and community work, and every one of them lives or works in the Portland area. Our caregivers complete our own orientation before their first shift and keep learning every year.
Our Board
Volunteers who oversee our direction and finances
Board Chair
Laura joined the board in 2014 and has chaired it since 2020. A retired hospital administrator with more than thirty years in community health, she leads our quality and planning work and meets residents at every community each season. She also mentors new directors during their first year.
Vice Chair
Marcus is a housing finance specialist who joined the board in 2018. He helped plan and fund the Cedar Terrace apartments, chairs our building committee and oversees the long-term maintenance plan for all three communities. Before joining Heathcote he spent fifteen years financing affordable housing across the Pacific Northwest.
Treasurer
Rosa spent thirty years as a certified public accountant in Portland. She joined the board in 2016, two years after her mother moved into Alder Grove, and leads our audit and finance committee. Rosa presents the annual audit summary at our community meeting each spring and is known for explaining budgets in plain words. She also coordinates the volunteer tax help clinic held at Cedar Terrace every spring.
Board Member
Kenneth is a family physician who joined the board in 2021 after many years caring for older patients in north Portland. He advises our care teams on wellness programs, staff training and community partnerships, and helped launch the chair yoga and walking groups now offered at every community. He also chairs the quality committee.
Leadership Team
The people running Heathcote day to day
Director of Resident Life
Elena oversees activities, volunteers and family programs across all three communities. She has been with Heathcote since 2013.
Our Resident Council, Margaret Ellison
Margaret moved into Cedar Terrace in 2021 after forty years as a music teacher in north Portland, and was elected chair of the resident council a year later. The council meets monthly with our leadership team to talk through menus, activities, building projects and anything else residents want raised.
Under Margaret, the council started the Tuesday garden club, a resident-led welcome committee for new arrivals and a quarterly concert series that now draws neighbours from across the street. She still teaches piano on Thursday afternoons in the Cedar Terrace lounge.
How we lead
Leading With the People We Serve
Listening first
Residents and families shape our priorities each year
Open books
Annual audit summary shared at our community meeting
Steady staffing
We invest in pay and training so caregivers stay
Local roots
Every board member lives or works in Portland
Words From Residents
Hear it from the people who live and visit here
I came for six weeks after my knee surgery and stayed for the people.
The staff remember how Dad takes his coffee. That small thing means a lot.
I still cook my own breakfast, and someone checks in every single day.
Mum looks forward to the Tuesday garden club more than anything else.
Moving here was easier than I feared. My room felt like mine in a week.
The pool class is the best hour of my week, and I never thought I would swim again.
Work Alongside Us
Curious about joining the team or the board? We would love to hear from you.