Since the time of Fort Vancouver and Hudson’s Bay Company, the Fourth Plain corridor has connected what is now east Clark County to the west side. A video at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site Visitor Center explains how multiple tribes and foreign traders convened there to do business and share news, and how people of various ethnicities, including native Hawaiians, communicated using pieces of each language. These travelers often came by boat, but many used routes that followed Fourth Plain and Mill Plain Boulevards.

Today, Fourth Plain Boulevard reflects the history of Vancouver, a city that has long been a melting pot of people and cultures. For a taste of delicious international cuisine, one need travel no further than Fourth Plain for options from various regions of Mexico, Thailand, the Mediterranean and more. Murals large and small welcome visitors to these restaurants as well as salons and markets, many depicting different groups of people thriving in their element. “Our murals are key,” says Paul Burgess, executive director of Fourth Plain Forward, a place-based development nonprofit dedicated to supporting both the businesses and residents along Fourth Plain.

Chances are if you are from Vancouver, you’ve heard of Fourth Plain Forward (FPF), but may not know exactly what they do. Burgess, who came to FPF in 2022, and lives just minutes from his office, describes the organization as “the backbone” of the community. In other words, FPF connects residents and businesses owners with other agencies to help them be successful.

“A lot of our work is focused on partnering with local ‘By & For’ community-based organizations who serve our local BIPOC community members. We help by writing grants and providing them with capacity building services . . . We have also started the beginnings of a small business association for the corridor, so any Fourth Plain businesses are welcome to join us,” invites Burgess.

The five target areas of Fourth Plain Forward are:

• Community Wealth Building
• Thriving Neighborhoods
• Housing & Asset Development
• Learning & Evaluation
• Art, History & Culture

Each of these target areas builds upon and overlaps with the others. For example, a new 10-foot-tall spirit totem that will soon be erected in a traffic median near the Veterans Affairs campus helps to create a thriving neighborhood by welcoming visitors and shoppers to the area through art, while also engaging the local neighbors who will plant native landscaping around the base. The totem, crafted by Yakima Tribal artist Toma Villa, “symbolizes the connection between Fourth Plain Forward and the community we serve,” shares Burgess. “[It] marks the beginning of FPF’s journey in honoring the indigenous lands we reside on and to bring the FP community closer to indigenous culture, art and history.”

While FPF’s art programs help local residents feel represented in their community, what Burgess is really excited about this year is working toward developing more affordable housing options.

Many residents as well as businesses in the area are considerably burdened by rent prices. “The challenge is to create housing developments that are affordable and responsive to the needs of the current residents of the area. Gentrification is of significant concern as it displaces communities from their homes and communities,” Burgess says. Homeownership is critical in ensuring that folks are able to remain in their communities. “There are many folks that want to be [here] in 20-30 years and beyond . . . 40% represent a community of color. 70% are renters, and a good 50% are rent burdened.”

The end goal is to build mixed income housing options to create a thriving community. There are a few lots where Burgess envisions more housing, but the process takes time and city codes and policies must be considered, along with the ideas of local residents. “We have a community advisory committee who are helping create our policy and advocacy work. They have been together for over three years [and] we are embarking on a year-long community listening project, to engage with residents to learn more about their aspirations, concerns and ideas,” says Burgess.

Housing and health are connected. Sadly, the Fourth Plain area has the highest rates of diabetes, asthma and depression in the county. Part of the work of FPF is to remove barriers so that residents can feel empowered to make the best decisions for themselves in both housing and healthcare. Three low-income clinics are located in the area, but there is often still a language barrier between patients and providers. Knowing this, FPF partnered with Southwest Washington Accountable Community of Health (SWACH) and Legacy Health to train four local Chuukese residents to become qualified medical interpreters and are working on training BIPOC birthing doulas, helping to reduce maternal mortality rates for women of color.

The breadth of Fourth Plain Forward’s programs and initiatives is vast, but Burgess is still looking forward to a year of more growth with a larger team and expanding programs. He wants people to know that “the Fourth Plain community is a vibrant, welcoming place that has long been maligned as unsafe, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Yes, there are a plethora of problems and significant systemic disparities, but these stem from historical policy making. This is why FPF is committed to uplifting Black, Brown, Indigenous communities, alongside those facing resource limitations and exclusion from mainstream services. We aren’t geographically restricted, and our work encompasses the whole of Clark County.”

Read the Full February 2024 Issue Below.

Go here to read more about Fourth Plain Forward’s new Fourth Plain Community Commons, a mixed-use building for events and affordable workspace, plus a commissary kitchen.