Scott Kerman resigns from Blanchet House
After holding the executive director's post for six years, he says he is interested in seeking projects where nonprofits band together
As Portland and Multnomah County have struggled with a continuously worsening homelessness crisis, workers on the front lines—including at the leadership level—endure the struggle between their pride in making a difference and the weariness of not being able to do enough.
Scott Kerman, executive director of Old Town’s Blanchet House, is no stranger to this duality. On Thursday, he announced his decision to seek new levels of impact. His resignation is effective immediately. Director of Programs Emily Coleman and Director of Strategic Initiatives Steve Cook will serve as co-interim executive directors.
“I think 2026 is going to be an extremely brutal year for nonprofits,” said Kerman, reached Thursday evening. “I have to evaluate, am I in the best position to be engaged in meaningful change? I’m at a point where I want to move to the macro level. We’ve got to fix this community.”
In light of the news that Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson will not run for reelection next November, Kerman hastened to add that he would not be throwing his hat into the ring. Instead, he said he is interested in consortium projects where nonprofits band together for strength and best practices. The Claremont Colleges in Los Angeles are a model for him.
“Clearly there is space for it and the idea that I could be working on things that would help the sector overall is really appealing to me at this point in my career,” Kerman said.
Kerman, 58, lasted longer than many leaders in this field. His six years as executive director—through the pandemic and into the maw of accelerating mental illness, substance use and homelessness—has been arguably the toughest in recent history.
He got a law degree from the University of Virginia and did Teach for America before a brief criminal defense career. He returned to teaching and then served as a school administrator, shifting to nonprofit work from there.
He ran Blanchet House as the beacon of compassion, respect and service on which it was founded in 1952 by University of Portland alumni as a “House of Hospitality” in the model developed by the Catholic Worker Movement. (Read From powerless to purposeful)
The nonprofit serves breakfast, lunch and dinner six days a week at its Founders Cafe at Northwest Third Avenue and Glisan Street, a clothing program, and two residential programs for men struggling with addiction, unemployment, mental health and housing challenges. Some of the men live above the cafe and others on the Blanchet Farm, a working farm in Carlton.
In February, Blanchet House is slated to open Bethanie’s Room, an emergency overnight shelter with space for 75 women at Northwest Lovejoy and 17th. The shelter will include peer support to connect women with services. Shelter guests will need to leave each morning, but the time by which they will need to leave has not yet been set, said Julie Showers, Blanchet House spokesperson. Blanchet House has made an effort to work with neighbors, many of whom have expressed trepidation about livability impacts.
News of Kerman’s resignation started a ripple through the homeless services ecosystem.
“Scott has been a strong, consistent and principled leader in the homeless services space and a thought partner and mentor to so many of us,” said Lance Orton, executive director of CityTeam Portland, which moved within blocks of Blanchet House in November. “This is sudden news, yet I know it comes with the level of consideration Scott puts into everything. We will miss him at Blanchet but I am excited for whatever he chooses to do next.”
Blanchet House issued a statement:
“Scott’s leadership has had a meaningful and lasting impact on Blanchet House. During his tenure, he helped strengthen our programs, deepen our commitment to dignity and hospitality, and build a strong, talented team that carries our mission forward every day. We are grateful for his many contributions and wish him the very best in his next chapter.”
And added, “Our work continues without interruption, as we can’t pause in providing urgent aid to our guests.”
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We're not allowed to say this--but Blanchett was a magnet for bums and druggies and helped, in its compassionate way, to put Old Town into the dumper. They sustain "homelessness," and keep the feral alive, barely, to roam the streets and create disorder and a public health crisis. They have nothing to do with cutting the allure of an open drug market and the incentives that other cities around Portland don't allow to create a permanent underclass.
And now Kerman wants a "consortium" of the constituent parts of Homelessness Inc.™ More bureaucracy on top of a system that fosters and protects the disaster on our streets.