'My life's completely changed.'
Recovery-oriented community at Meridian Gardens provides transformative support for Cori
For Cori, Meridian Gardens is more than just a place to live — it’s a community of people with similar experiences to her.
Meridian Gardens, an 85-unit affordable housing community in Southeast Portland managed by Central City Concern, opened its doors in late 2024. It offers 65 permanent supportive housing units, made possible thanks to funding from the Multnomah County Homeless Services Department and the Supportive Housing Services measure.
The program is designed to support people like Cori, who was experiencing homelessness as recently as about 14 months ago and was also struggling with an addiction.
“When you get into drugs, you don’t think that you’re going to lose everything,” she said. “I had a huge house, I had my life together, I had a great job — I had all those things.”
‘I was just trying to survive’
She says major life changes factored into her challenges with substance use.
“My addiction started after my kids graduated and were on their way on to their own lives. And I didn’t know what to do with my own life,” she said. “It was a bad relationship that definitely pushed me into using. And then with my son passing away, like I just hit rock bottom. I didn’t care about anything at that point.”
Eventually, she says, her addiction played a role in losing her housing.
“I was off and on the streets for about eight years,” she said. “I was just trying to survive.”
She gets emotional when reflecting on that time, especially the fact that her adult children didn’t know where she was. “They didn’t know if I was alive or what was going on,” she said.
Things began to change for her when she connected with a peer wellness specialist who was conducting street outreach. Cori said that before, she hadn’t been interested in talking with outreach workers. “Trust is a big issue when you’re on the streets,” she said.
Her peer mentor kept coming back and building up that trust. “No matter where I was, she’d come and talk to me about it and she was really just there for me,” Cori said.
Peer mentor helps Cori find way back to housing
Things began to change for her when she connected with a peer wellness specialist who was conducting street outreach. Cori said that before, she hadn’t been interested in talking with outreach workers. “Trust is a big issue when you’re on the streets,” she said.
Her peer mentor kept coming back and building up that trust. “No matter where I was, she’d come and talk to me about it and she was really just there for me,” Cori said.
When Cori found out that her daughter was pregnant with Cori’s first grandchild, it helped motivate her to make a change. “I think my granddaughter was a huge part of me wanting to get sober. I knew I wouldn’t be a part of her life if I wasn’t,” she said.
With the support of a peer mentor Cori had connected with through street outreach, Cori was able to access an addiction treatment program. After treatment, she moved into sober housing, and eventually, secured her spot at Meridian Gardens.
She says the community at Meridian Gardens is what sets it apart from any other housing situation. Not only are the other residents also in recovery, many of the service providers and case workers have been through similar life experiences.
“They’re all people who have been there before. They understand where we’ve been,” she said.
‘I have a good group of people here’
In addition to working with on-site case managers, Meridian Gardens residents can attend recovery meetings in the building, including Alcoholics Anonymous and SMART Recovery. Activities like barbecues, karaoke and game nights offer additional ways to build connection and community.
Since moving into Meridian Gardens, Cori’s been able to reconnect with her kids and gets to spend time with her granddaughter. And she’s working toward going back to school to become a drug and alcohol counselor.
“My life’s completely changed. I have my family surrounding me, my daughter’s back in my life, and I have a good group of people here,” she said.
