Hacienda CDC’s Empresarios programming supports entrepreneurs to start, grow, and scale their businesses. Read more about our featured Empresario and learn about our amazing community of small business owners.
Business Name : Tita’s Kitchen
Area of Origin: Lima, Peru.
Significance of Name: "Tita" is how her younger sister started calling her since she was a baby because she couldn't pronounce "Hermanita" and after a while all of her cousins started to call her by the same name. Since Tita's Kitchen is a family oriented Food Truck, it only makes sense to name it after her family-given name.
Goals for Business: Tita’s goal is have a successful launch and acceptance from the community. She hopes to one day grow and expand her business to a location outside of the Portland Mercado and eventually have multiple locations throughout the North West.
Tita’s Story
Meet Fabiola Chipoco a 28-year-old entrepreneur from Lima, Peru, and owner of the new Portland Mercado Food Truck: Tita’s Kitchen. Fabiola's story as an entrepreneur began early on thanks to her father's influence. As the oldest daughter of two, she always had an urge to get things done. She entered college at the age of 16 and graduated with a Digital Marketing and Advertising degree from a university in Peru. During her schooling, she began working with local businesses as an independent contractor in advertising and branding to make extra money. Little did she know that was the start of what was to become her first company. When she graduated, she got a full-time job at an advertising company while she continued to work independently with private clients. It was during her time at this job when she realized that she preferred the more intimate interactions of her side hustle versus the agency job. She explained that the difference in how the work gets done and the freedom of creativity is unmatched between both jobs. When working with smaller clients, she felt more listened to and with more space to propose unique and creative ideas that she had.
After quitting her full-time job, she focused a lot more on her own company and eventually worked with up to 8 businesses simultaneously before deciding to drop everything and go! She wanted a change in her life; One with new ventures and opportunities where she could be herself and utilize her skills. At the age of twenty-three, she sold her car and used up her saving to move to explore the world and eventually settled in Miami, Florida, where she knew some friends. As always, Fabiola did not have trouble adapting to her new life. She utilized her talents and skills as a dancer to become a dance instructor and even performing in videos for famous musicians. She was creative and with a drive to be successful. Sadly, she never felt at home and always felt out of place. One day, thanks to a friend's recommendation, she decided to move to Portland, Oregon, with hopes of filling the void.
About Tita’s Kitchen
Titas Kitchen offers innovative, tasty, and healthy Peruvian food in the North West. They specialize in Peruvian cuisine and are influenced by traditional recipes and with a fresh touch of local ingredients to enhance or replace seasonal and foreign ingredients.
Owner, Fabiola Chipoco, who is from Lima, Peru, says her inspiration behind the business is the idea of bringing the warmth and the sense of home that food brings to her and her family, to her whole community. Fabiola, who goes by the nickname “Tita” left Peru at the age of 23 to travel around the world. When she did she left behind two of the most important things in her life: her family and her home. Tita was lucky enough to meet amazing people and see new places during her travels, but nothing ever felt like home. Tita's Kitchen is her way of recreating the atmosphere, flavors, and traditions that she so dearly misses from Peru. The feeling of unity and the connection with family while sharing a meal was something that she could not feel anywhere else, so she wants to create it.
Tita has always had a love for food and cooking. After arriving in Portland and seeing the diversity of foods from all over the world available, she felt inspired and urged to bring her culture to our table. Her venture in the food industry started thanks to the guidance of a well know Peruvian restaurant in Seattle, Washington, known as Don Luchos. Tita reached out to the business owner of Don Luchos and asked for a chance to meet him in person to ask him some questions. Thanks to his generosity, he helped her learn and perfect traditional Peruvian recipes while teaching her about the food industry. As a sort of apprentice, she grew knowledgeable enough to leap into starting her own business. A vision that started to manifest itself when she learned about the applications for the vacant Portland Mercado carts. She did not doubt in applying and expressing her vision and instantly became a reality.
Learn more about our Empresarios program and other businesses at the Portland Mercado.
Hacienda’s community card is a new initiative that will enable you to seamlessly access programs and services in Hacienda’s network. Read more to learn about this card and its benefits.
About the Community Card
Hacienda’s affordable housing and holistic programming have supported our residents and broader community since 1986. During that time, we have grown to over ten communities with thousands of residents and community members.
Our growing impact requires innovative new systems that increase access to our array of programs and services. The new Community Card initiative will provide Hacienda’s current and future clients with a seamless way to access our programs with the scan of a single card.
This card can currently be used to access to our bi-weekly food pantry, transit assistance, and our state-of-the-art Learning Centers. In the future, Hacienda's Community Card will be implemented in additional Hacienda programs.
Why a Community Card?
This new initiative allows residents and community members to seamlessly access our array of holistic programming with the scan of a single card. The Community Card allows Hacienda to centralize our program intake process and support accurate and efficient data collection while ensuring a positive client experience.
A pilot of the Hacienda Community Card began in June 2022 and has been successfully implemented with over 100 community members. Through this pilot we learned that the Community Card created a better client experience, improved accuracy of information collected, and increased engagement within other Hacienda programs that currently accept the Community Card.
Where can I get one?
Register for a Hacienda Community Card at a Learning Center near you or visit our bi-weekly food pantry at the Hacienda headquarters to receive a card and gain seamless access to our services.
What information is collected?
Hacienda’s Community Card gives us insight into individual and community trends so that we can do our best work.
When requested, demographic and programmatic trends may be shared with partners that support Hacienda CDC’s work. Information collected via the Community Card will only be distributed as numbers and trends that broadly demonstrate the impact of our work. Individual information is confidential and never shared with third parties.
How To Use the Community Card
(New Users)
Receive a card from a Hacienda employee
Click
“I need to register”
Fill out Intake form
Scan the QR code to finish registering!
How to Use the Community Card
(Returning Users)
Click
“Check-In”
Select method for check-in
Scan the QR code or enter your unique pin and
follow the prompts on screen to check-in!
Hacienda CDC’s Empresarios programming supports entrepreneurs to start, grow, and scale their businesses. Read more about our featured Empresario and learn about our amazing community of small business owners.
Business Name:
area of Origin:
Gresham, Oregon
Significance of Name:
The name was selected because Florence wanted a name that was classy and celebrates yesterdays. She included “Nana’s” later on when she became a nanny and also to celebrate the other women in her life who taught her what she knows: Her mother and grandmother.
Goals for Business:
When COVID-19 hit, Nana’s Exquisite Confections shut down completely due to the fact that she did not want to be liable for anything and she was not too sure what the county would mandate. As she learned more about the precautions needed to fulfill orders in a sanitary way, she opened back up and has since followed all the safety protocols to provide the highest quality and service possible. Her goal to grow her digital presence to connect with more individuals and customers who love and appreciate the fine work of yesterday deserts.
Florence’s Story
Meet Florence Jenkins, owner, and founder of Nana’s Exquisite Confections. She was born and raised in Portland, OR, and was blessed to have parents and grandparents that advocated and role-modeled the importance of working hard. They intentionally instilled entrepreneurial characteristics in their children hoping that one day they would go on to be their own boss. In 2008, Florence brought that investment from her parents into fruition by starting an In-Home Baker business that focuses on providing high-quality, up-scale “Yester Year” style desserts to a varied audience.
Florence has a love for children and especially the youth. A few years ago she began facilitating Cooking Classes for youth (Teen Cuisine) where she’s not only able to teach the youth basic cooking skills within their own homes, but she’s also able to speak words of affirmation through the process and see on-site transformations in the kids she teaches. Florence has had the opportunity to provide cooking session services for, Kitchen Commons, HomeForward, New Avenues for Youth, The Oregon Youth Authority’s MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility, and for a host of private participants. Florence declares that our youth shall live and not be destroyed from having a defeatist mentality. Although Florence’s vision hasn’t come to full fruition, she firmly believes that even baby steps are deemed as a forwarding movement.
Florence is a kind lady who is ready to put a smile on your face and full belly with a clean plate. Her recipes are traditional and made with high-quality ingredients.
About Nana’s Exquisite Confections
Nana’s Exquisite Confections is proud to be a women-owned bakery that passionately produces up-scale versions of “Yester-Year” desserts. They believe that there is an untapped, limited market for home-style desserts made of premium ingredients, traditional recipes, and a lot of love. If you’re an individual that appreciates the time and preparation that goes into making high-quality desserts from scratch, then Nana’s is the bakery for you!
The fruition of Exquisite Indulgence Desserts, now called Nana’s Exquisite Confections, was not something that happened by chance. In 2006, through the tugging of her heart and soul, Florence Jenkins felt the need to begin using her gifts, talents, and abilities to make a difference for others. As a middle child, she has always been a peacekeeper and always loved sharing and showing love to others. She decided to start a bakery because of her love for cooking which came from growing up baking with her mother and grandmother. She loves to see the warmth and happiness in people’s faces as she presents them with a cake or dessert. What she loves the most, however, is spending time teaching the youth about basic home cooking while talking and coaching them in life to become better people and making sure they know they are loved. Love is a key ingredient in all of her confections.
Learn more about our Empresarios program and other businesses at the Portland Mercado.
Effective September 1st Hacienda CDC offices will be closed on Fridays. Existing clients, partners, and funders have been notified of the upcoming change. read on to learn more about this initiative.
Hacienda CDC is proud to announce a four day, 32-hour workweek pilot for our 56 employees effective September 1st, 2022. This initiative aims to support Hacienda’s team in prioritizing their wellbeing and build sustainable work-life balance as they continue to put the needs of the individuals and families we serve at the forefront. Hacienda remains committed to maintaining high-quality services for its residents and community members and looks forward to the positive benefits offered by this alternative work schedule.
A host of data demonstrates the benefits of a 32-hour work week on staff wellbeing, productivity, creativity, and retention. Hacienda CDC hopes that this change will bring lasting impacts to its existing and dedicated workforce, to the organization, and to the community we serve.
This initiative spearheaded by top leaders at the organization will begin September 1st. In anticipation of this change Hacienda CEO, Ernesto Fonseca remarks, “I am proud to work with a team that is as dedicated and driven as the group we have at Hacienda. Our team takes care of community members, often treating them like family, and now is our opportunity to do the same for our staff. We are excited to pilot a 32-hour work week and we hope this pilot will demonstrate that investing in our team’s wellbeing can bring lasting positive impacts on the work that we do collectively.”
This change follows an unprecedented pandemic, throughout which, employees in all sectors reflected on the importance of work/life balance, family, and security. Hacienda’s pilot is an effort to support existing staff and their wellbeing as they champion the needs of individuals and families across Northwest Oregon.
“We know that this will take some time to adjust, but we are hopeful that the benefits will outweigh the learning curve of implementing this initiative. Our current and prospective clients will continue to be served to our fullest abilities and efforts.” Says Carolina Castañeda del Río, Chief Operations Officer at Hacienda CDC.
With this initiative Hacienda CDC is redefining what work can look like during a time when individuals and organizations have been forced to innovate and adapt to changing tides. Hacienda hopes others in Oregon will take innovative steps to support their team’s wellbeing and be inspired by similar initiatives that have been successfully implemented around the world.
Hacienda CDC’s Empresarios programming supports entrepreneurs to start, grow, and scale their businesses. Read more about our featured Empresario and learn about our amazing community of small business owners.
Business Name:
Country of Origin:
Chumayel, Yucatán, Mexico
Significance of Name:
The name was selected because by the owner because he wanted to represent his origins in the name and the fact that a lot of these recipes are often served to royalty or people of high status.
Goals for Business:
Edilberto’s focus is to settle down and find his rhythm with his new business and to grow. He hopes to one day open up a restaurant where he owns the property to avoid paying rent but most importantly, he wants the independence that being a small business owners can offer him.
Ediberto’s Story
Edilberto Puch arrived to the United States in 2001, leaving his hometown after his brother suffered a critical accident which put him in a coma. He wanted to be able to help pay the bills which were stacking up.
After arriving to the U.S, Edilberto settled down and worked in restaurants as a dishwasher. With time, he gained and improved his skills. Eventually, he moved up positions to being a cook where he learned essential skills and techniques which have helped him improve his craft.
As time passed by, he began to miss the foods and rich flavors from his hometown. This led him to reach out to his family for their traditional home recipes with the hopes of learning them. Later on, he was able to connect with an aunt who also immigrated to Portland, and he asked her to teach him how to properly cook these ancient recipes. She was delighted to help and not only did she help him perfect his recipes but she also now helps cook in this new venture. You can be left assured that these recipes will take you back centuries to the era of the Mayan civilization.
It was not until years later after connecting with his aunt that this dream of opening up his own business became reality. In 2020, during the start of the pandemic, Edilberto lost his job due to labor cuts. Because he was having so many difficulties finding a new job, he decided to start looking into the opportunity of starting his own business. He reached out to the Portland Mercado after learning about their services and entrepreneurship opportunities. After a lot of coordination, paperwork, and handwork, Ediberto was able to finalize a deal on renting a food Cart at our Portland Mercado Location. He and his traditional flavors and recipes are members of our beloved family and community!
About Principe Maya
Principe Maya joined the Portland Mercado food carts with a focus on recreating traditional recipes from the Mayans, who once flourished in the Peninsula of Yucatán. Their Ancient Mayan diet focused on four domesticated crops: maize, squash, beans, and chili peppers. Tortillas, cooked on a “comal” were also staples of their diet. These were often used to wrap other foods like meats, beans, etc. Tortillas are perhaps the best-known pre-Columbian Mesoamerican food but they used maize in many ways. Some notable uses were on their Tamales and Pibes, which were usually “Masa” stuffed with meats, adobos and wrapped in banana leaves to be slowly cooked in dug-out fire pits.
Ediberto grew up eating these dishes from his mother and elders who learned the recipes through their elders. Having survived generations, most of the dishes have evolved now that we are in the 21st century. The way these dishes are made and cooked have adapted to our modern life and thus fire pits are no longer used. The goal at Principe Maya is to prepare dishes true to their origins by using local ingredients mixed with imported spices. Sadly, no fire pit is possible.
Learn more about our Empresarios program and other businesses at the Portland Mercado.
Hacienda CDC is proud to announce funding from the Portland Clean Energy Fund—the first ever climate fund in the country created and led by people of color.
This investment in Hacienda’s MEE Casa initiative will provide cleaner air, increased comfort, better health, reduced financial burden, and improved social outcomes by upgrading six multifamily affordable housing communities with a total of 243 units.
These upgrades will positively impact over 1000 low-income residents in our communities, 92% of whom are people of color. The project includes removing gas-powered heating, installing solar arrays totaling 849.5 kW, heat pumps and cooling devices where needed, as well as LED lighting, and new bathroom fans. An average energy savings of almost 70% is expected for residents.
This MEE Casa initiative aims to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels and related greenhouse gas emissions, improve indoor air quality, and support the well-being of over 1,040 members of our resident communities, including 473 children. The vast majority of our residents identify as black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) and all households earn 60% of Area Median Income and below.
The MEE Casa initiative will directly benefit these historically underserved communities and give them the opportunity to directly benefit from climate action investments that will build a stronger Portland.
This $9.4 million investment is critical to providing green and healthy affordable housing in North and NE Portland and includes solar power installation; new cooling and heating units; transition to all energy efficient electrical systems and appliances; heat pump water heaters; LED lighting and bathroom fans.
Hacienda CDC will implement the project over a four-year period with our strategic partners Neil Kelly Company, International Center for Appropriate & Sustainable Technology (ICAST), PAE Engineers, and the Oregon Environmental Council.
“We are thrilled the PCEF Committee is recommending Portland City Council fund this investment which will improve the lives of over 1,000 people. We feel strongly that this is the exact type of investment the Portland Clean Energy Fund was created for– improvements that will measurably decrease energy consumption and increase the quality of life for Portland’s community members.”- Ernesto Fonseca, Chief Executive Officer of Hacienda CDC.
Residential buildings account for one-third of Oregon’s climate emissions. Retrofitting existing buildings is critical to meet decarbonization goals and create green and healthy homes and communities.
Low-income and underserved communities bear the burden of rising temperatures and climate-driven events such as heat domes and wildfires associated with a warming planet. As a Latino-founded and led organization that is an owner and steward of affordable housing and community building, Hacienda CDC is a leader on this front and is committed to increasing the well-being and resiliency of our communities.
Hacienda CDC places the health and well-being of residents front and center, especially now as the warming climate becomes a threat to their well-being. Investments made through the MEE Casa initiative will improve their safety and comfort, resulting in healthier and more resilient households. The implementation of this initiative will allow residents to not only feel supported and secure enough to successfully navigate their day-to-day lives but to also advocate and champion preventative climate-related investments after feeling the benefits of such policies firsthand.
Overnight cooling shelters opening Tuesday at 2 pm
Charles Jordan Community Center: 9009 N. Foss Ave., Portland
East Portland Community Center: 740 S.E. 106th Ave., Portland
Portland Building: 1120 S.W. 5th Ave., Portland
Sunrise Center: 18901 E. Burnside, Portland
Daytime cooling center opening Tuesday, from 2 to 10 pm
Old Town: 435 N.W. Glisan St., Portland
Transportation
TriMet will not turn away anyone riding to a cool place who cannot afford to pay fare. TriMet asks riders to let their driver know they are headed to a cool place.
When riding transit during extreme heat, riders will want to plan extra time and check trimet.org/alerts before traveling, as there may be heat-related delays to service.
Anyone who needs transportation support to a cool space can also dial 2-1-1 (866-698-6155).
Libraries Many libraries are open until 8 p.m.
Extended hours until 9 p.m., Tuesday through Thursday:
Central: 801 S.W. 10th Ave.
Gresham: 385 N.W. Miller Ave.
Holgate: 7905 S.E. Holgate Blvd.
Misting stations
12 pm to 8 pm starting today (Tuesday 7/26):
East Portland Community Center: 740 S.E. 106th Ave.
Glenhaven Park, near skate park: 7900 N.E. Siskiyou St.
Harney Park, near restroom: S.E. 67th Ave. and S.E. Harney Street
Knott Park, west restroom: N.E. 112th Ave. and N.E. Russell Street
Lents Park, at Walker Stadium: 4808 S.E. 92nd Ave.
Mt. Scott Community Center, near playgrounds: 5530 S.E. 72nd Ave.
Community spaces, including Lloyd Center
Community locations, including pools, splash pads, senior centers and Lloyd Center mall, which is welcoming people with extended hours starting Tuesday : Interactive Map of Cool Spaces
The Joint Office of Homeless Services supply center is providing water, electrolytes, sunscreen and more for groups doing outreach. Email JOHSSupplies@multco.us for an appointment.
