The Multnomah County Board of Commissioners on June 26 unanimously approved the lease of the new Women, Infants and Children (WIC) site in the Rockwood neighborhood.
The popular WIC program provides healthy foods, nutrition education, and breastfeeding and chestfeeding support to low-income families across the country. In 2024, Multnomah County’s WIC program served 20,045 unique clients (who made 50,380 total visits) between its four sites. County WIC clients received $8.7 million in healthy foods, significantly contributing to their nutrition and food security, as well as education for new parents. The County has served the largest and most diverse WIC client base in Oregon for the last 51 years.
The County’s current Gateway WIC clinic, with 23 staff members, is the state's largest WIC clinic, serving half% of the County WIC’s annual clients. However, the 4,300-square-foot leased facility is now too small to meet its needs.
Beyond its limited size, the Gateway WIC clinic presents several safety concerns. Health Department Deputy Director of Operations Valdez Bravo explained that a comprehensive security review in the fall of 2023 determined the building could not be fully and safely secured.
“These safety issues sometimes forced the program to pivot to hybrid offerings to ensure staff safety while continuing to deliver services,” said Bravo. “The building also had longstanding issues working with the current landlord to facilitate maintenance and infrastructure support problems.”
The newly approved location at 18604-18688 E. Burnside St. is in the Rockwood neighborhood in Gresham and is more than double the size of the current site, meeting the growing needs of WIC staff and participants. The move is expected to cause minimal disruption to current clients, as 43% of those served by the Gateway clinic live within one mile of the new facility.
“The new East Burnside location meets all of the spacing requirements to successfully support WIC staff and participants,” said Health Department Nutrition Programs Manager Sabrina Villemenay. “It is located in the heart of the community we serve and love, and centers the County’s desire to take an upstream approach for prioritizing the equity needs for marginalized and underserved populations.
“It aligns with our values and actions to lead with race, ensuring a safe location that elevates a culture of belonging, of safety and trust which is critical to supporting good clients.”
Villemenay explained that the new building will also provide adequate space for large training rooms that can accommodate in-person nutrition and breastfeeding/chestfeeding education, other group classes, and staff training and community outreach activities, as well as rooms in which providers can meet with larger families.
WIC services will continue to be offered in-person across all four clinic locations and at various partner sites. The WIC program plans to soon pilot a mobile clinic model to better reach and connect with clients. The program is also exploring how to balance a hybrid service environment, a model encouraged by the state WIC program.
The Rockwood site is slated to open January 2026. Moving costs, including final preparations of the new space, are estimated at $808,000 and will primarily be covered by carry-over grant funds.
Board comments
Satisfied with the materials and presentation, Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards thanked the presenters and shared she "appreciate[s] the excitement about the new site and how it will serve the residents."
Commissioner Vince Jones-Dixon asked Health Department officials to discuss with the facility owners “moving the People's Market back to that location, especially because of the services that we're providing there.”
He also shared his excitement for services to land in “the heart of Rockwood,” which is located in the commissioner’s district.
“When my staff toured the Gateway location, it was pretty clear immediately that this space was not what you all needed and you needed something bigger and something that really accommodated all the beautiful things” the WIC program offers the community, said Commissioner Shannon Singleton.
“As the former commissioner for the district that this WIC office was in, I know there's been a lot of pain points with it not being the right facility to serve the needs, especially with the thousands of people that we're serving each year,” said Chair Jessica Vega Pederson. “I'm very excited for all of this and just appreciate all the work that's gone into finding this site and making sure that it meets the needs of our clients and our employees.”
