Creating a healthy community with respect, compassion and acceptance for all.
OUR MISSION
Working together to empower individuals to improve their health, well-being and safety.
COMMUNITY The safe, caring, and inclusive environment we create
COMPASSION The inspiration that guides our work.
COMMITMENT The teamwork we exemplify through our passion, motivation, and dedication
INTEGRITY The foundation of our work ethic
Northwest Human Services began in 1970 with the establishment of the Crisis & Information Hotline. The Hotline began as a temporary information line for those planning to attend the Vortex concert, organized by Governor Tom McCall as a response to a planned protest. When volunteers answering the line realized that the majority of calls were from local citizens who just wanted to talk to someone, the "Hotline" was formally established as a 24/7 crisis line serving the local community.
The following year in the summer of 1971, two UCLA medical students arrived on the scene as part of an internship with Marion County Health Department. Appalled by the lack of health care services available to the low-income and homeless, the students, Phil Yule and Paul Kaplan, requested the assistance of the health department in opening a clinic to serve disadvantaged populations. With the department’s support and assistance, The Cry of Love Free Clinic was opened, named after a popular Jimi Hendrix album of the day.
In 1979, The Cry of Love Free Clinic became the West Bank Health Network, and later the West Salem Clinic, as it is currently known. In 1982 the agency as a whole took on the name 'Northwest Human Services' in an effort to move with the times and away from its counter-culture image - though the original mission to serve underprivileged citizens with respect and compassion remained, and remains, as strong as ever.
About Us: History, Mission & Vision
Administration Offices: 681 Center St NE, Salem, OR 97301 | Ph. 503.588.5828 | F. 503.588.5852 | Email: info@nwhumanservices.org
America has a long history of racism and injustice towards people of color. Northwest Human Services is committed to taking a stand denouncing all violence or oppression towards people of color. We stand in solidarity with the movement calling for justice and an end to violence against black communities. We support the action steps needed to ensure racism no longer exists in our health care systems, our communities, and our country.
Northwest Human Services is a federally qualified health center and a local social service provider who recognizes that organizational and/or systemic biases lead to inequitable access to care and must be abolished to ensure optimal health for all people regardless of ones identified color, gender, culture, age or socioeconomic status.
Our programs are safe and inclusive and focus on addressing the Social Determinants of Health. Our goal is to remove barriers that prevent individuals and families from receiving care in our community. We have a diverse workforce, which enables us to build strong, trusting and long-term relationships with individuals that we serve.
Our pledge as an organization is to lead with compassion for social justice, make bold decisions and changes to break down barriers for people of color, and work together to build a community that ensures all voices are heard, validated, and respected, and that the humanity of all people is upheld.
We support the “Black Lives Matter” movement and believe that the lives of all people of color in our community have value. It is time to learn from our history and break the systemic cycles of oppression and violence so all people have the ability to live prosperous, healthy and fulfilling lives.
NWHS Statement on Racial Justice & Social Equity
OUR CORE VALUES
OUR VISION
