The Harbor Begins a New Chapter with the Purchase of The Daily Astorian Building
The Harbor is growing and we’re excited to share an important milestone in our work supporting survivors and our community.
As recently reported by both KMUN and The Astorian, The Harbor has purchased the former Daily Astorian building on Exchange Street in downtown Astoria. The new space will give our organization much-needed room to grow while allowing us to remain centrally located and accessible to the Clatsop County community we serve.
“This is much more than acquiring a building,” said Terri Steenbergen, Executive Director of The Harbor, in The Daily Astorian. “It’s about creating a place where people feel safe, supported, and connected.”
For nearly 50 years, The Harbor has provided free, confidential advocacy and support for survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking. What began in 1976 as a group of volunteers and a phone line has grown into an organization providing a wide range of services throughout Clatsop County.
Today, those services include our 24-hour crisis line, emergency shelter, housing support, legal and medical advocacy, culturally specific services, youth programming, and violence prevention education.
As our programs, partnerships, and staff have grown, so has our need for space. Our current Advocacy Center on Commercial Street has served us well, but we have outgrown it. Limited private meeting areas can make it challenging to provide the confidentiality survivors need while also creating enough room for our growing staff and programs. The Exchange Street building gives us an opportunity to think bigger about what support could look like in the years ahead.
Creating Space for What Comes Next
While plans for the building are still taking shape, its additional space opens new possibilities for The Harbor and the people we serve. These could include expanded areas for survivor services, youth programming and prevention activities, and potentially additional shelter capacity.
Before those plans are finalized, we’ll be listening. The Harbor will be working with community partners, leaders, stakeholders, and others to help shape a long-term vision for the building and determine how the space can best meet the needs of survivors and our community.
This new chapter was made possible in part by a generous donation that enabled The Harbor to make a down payment on the property. We are deeply grateful for the community support that continues to make our work possible.
For nearly five decades, The Harbor has evolved alongside our community. Our new building represents another step in that evolution, and an opportunity to create a space that can grow alongside the needs of survivors and the broader Clatsop County community for years to come.
Our location may be changing, but the heart of our work remains the same: providing advocacy, prevention, and support while promoting self-determination and hope for survivors.
We look forward to sharing more about the new space, our plans, and ways the community can be part of this next chapter as the project moves forward.
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