One in 10 People Killed by Heat in Multnomah County Were Residents of Home Forward Buildings

The largest affordable housing provider in the state didn’t disclose that fact until WW obtained public records.

Northwest Tower Northwest Tower saw two deaths during the June heat wave. (Aaron Mesh)

On Aug. 2, the Multnomah County district attorney ordered the county medical examiner to release the names and addresses of people who died of hyperthermia—that is, overheating—from the 117-degree temperatures that blistered Portland in June.

That decision came after a handful of news outlets, including WW, appealed to the DA’s office when the county declined to release the names.

As another wave of 100-degree highs bears down on Portland, the data released by county officials suggests some of the people facing the greatest risk from heat live in buildings run by Home Forward, the city housing authority.

Six of the confirmed 59 heat deaths were residents of Home Forward buildings, the newly released list shows.

That means 1 in 10 heat deaths in the county occurred in buildings run by the largest affordable housing provider in Oregon. Home Forward-owned apartment units account for 2% of Portland households.

It’s also double the number of heat deaths Home Forward had previously acknowledged. It told reporters it knew of only three deaths in its units.

In fact, only when the county was compelled to release its data Aug. 6 was it revealed that two of the deceased were residents of the same building: Northwest Tower, the 13-story Section 8 building on Northwest 19th Avenue.

The new data notes that all six fatalities either occurred or were discovered on or before July 6. (The medical examiner’s office told WW: “The date of death may reflect the date the person was discovered, but it may also indicate the date they died. It depends on the circumstance.”)

But on July 7—after denying to WW that a third death had occurred at one of its buildings for three days after residents told WW about it—Home Forward director Michael Buonocore told reporters on a private Zoom call that a third death had occurred in a Home Forward building after all.

Home Forward spokeswoman Monica Foucher says Buonocore shared “the extent of what we knew about people who died in our apartments due to the heat wave.”

In a follow-up response, Foucher called the new reporting “surprising.”

“After the report from Multnomah County was released on July 13, we were satisfied that we had accounted correctly for the heat-related deaths at our properties during the heat wave. I don’t know why the reporting is different now,” Foucher said. “I can confirm the addresses are Home Forward addresses, but I can’t confirm that each person died at them.”

When asked about the discrepancy, county spokesperson Kate Yeiser told WW: “The preliminary report was based on the number of confirmed cases at that time. That number has changed.”

As the county released the contested data, officials admonished the press about potential harms of its use.

“Releasing names and addresses violates the privacy of friends and family members of those who died, creates vulnerability to vandalism of occupied and unoccupied residences and increases the risk for identity theft,” Yeiser wrote. “Over the longer term, we are concerned that individuals will be less likely to cooperate with death investigations, making it more difficult to fully understand cause and manner of deaths in our county.”

But the county neglected to update the number of housing authority-run buildings at which residents died. Here’s where those buildings are located:

heat deaths. The five Home Forward buildings whose residents died in the June heat wave.

Northwest Tower (2): 335 NW 19th Ave.

Peter Paulson: 1530 SW 13th Ave.

Ainsworth Court: 1515 N Ainsworth St.

Peaceful Villa: 2835 SE 47th Ave.

Bud Clark Commons: 665 NW Hoyt St.

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