Disability Support Services in Gresham, OR
In-home attendant care and disability support for individuals and families in Gresham and the surrounding Portland metro.
Gresham at a Glance
- Services Available
- In-Home Attendant Care
- County
- Multnomah County
- Local CDDP
- Multnomah County Developmental Disabilities Services · 503-988-3691
- Nearest Day Support Activities
- Salem
Disability Support Agency Serving Gresham and Multnomah County
Gresham is the fourth-largest city in Oregon and the largest of Portland's eastern suburbs, with a population of roughly 110,000. It sits between downtown Portland and the foothills of Mount Hood — close enough to the metro for daily commuting, close enough to the mountain for the Sandy River and the Columbia River Gorge to feel like part of the neighborhood. The TriMet MAX Blue Line runs straight through Gresham to downtown Portland, and Mt. Hood Community College anchors the north side of town. It's a working-class city with a significant Hispanic and Latino community, a strong public library, and a downtown that has been steadily reinvesting in itself around the Center for the Arts Plaza and Main City Park. For individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, Gresham offers real urban infrastructure without Portland-proper prices — but the disability service landscape here has historically been thinner than in Portland or the west-side suburbs.
North Star Oregon brings its person-centered, in-home attendant care model to Gresham and the rest of east Multnomah County, extending the same approach we've built across the Willamette Valley into the Portland metro's east side.
Gresham residents receive eligibility determination and case management through the Multnomah County Developmental Disabilities Services Division, headquartered downtown at 421 SW Oak Street, Suite 200, Portland, OR 97204 (503-988-3691). Multnomah County operates one of the largest CDDPs in Oregon, and case managers there serve every part of the county — from inner Portland out through Gresham, Troutdale, and the rural areas east toward the Sandy River. North Star Oregon coordinates with Multnomah County case managers to deliver attendant care under existing service plans, and we can help individuals and families new to the system understand how to get started. East-side brokerages — including Eastco Diversified Services and Inclusion Inc. — also serve Gresham residents who choose self-directed supports, and we work alongside whichever planning structure fits a person's life.
Disability Support Services in Gresham, Oregon
East-Side Reach, Oregon Roots
Gresham is North Star Oregon's east-side entry into the Portland metro. We're a Willamette Valley-founded agency — with roots in Albany, Corvallis, and Salem — and we bring that experience into Multnomah County. Our model has always been in-home and person-centered, built around the individual rather than the building. In a metro area where large, institutional providers dominate and many of them are concentrated on the west side or in central Portland, an east-side option grounded in relationship-based care matters. Gresham's working-class character also matters to how we operate — families here are often juggling jobs, transportation, school schedules, and extended family alongside disability planning, and our staffing rhythms need to fit real lives, not idealized ones. We staff Gresham the same way we staff our other Oregon communities: with consistent, trained, background-checked attendant care workers who get to know the individual and the household over time, and a coordinator families can actually reach when something changes.
Quality You Can Verify
In a metro area with more provider choices, families can afford to be selective — and they should be. North Star Oregon is transparent about what we offer: trained, background-checked attendant care workers matched to each individual, consistent scheduling, and direct communication with families. We don't hide behind a call center, and we don't rotate staff without notice. If something isn't working — a schedule conflict, a personality mismatch, a change in what an individual needs — we want to hear about it early, not after it's become a problem. Multnomah County's I/DD population is large, and the demand for quality attendant care providers on the east side is real. North Star Oregon adds capacity to that system. We'd rather grow carefully in Gresham — earning trust one family at a time — than scale faster than our staffing can support. Families in Gresham can expect the same level of direct, personal service our clients in Salem, Corvallis, and Albany already receive.
In-Home Attendant Care Services in Gresham, Oregon
In-home attendant care is the service North Star Oregon provides in Gresham and across east Multnomah County. For individuals with I/DD, this means one-on-one support in your own home — help with personal care, daily living, skill building, and community engagement. Gresham's geography makes community access especially varied: the TriMet MAX Blue Line connects Gresham directly to downtown Portland for appointments and events, the Springwater Corridor Trail runs more than twenty miles from Gresham toward the Willamette River for walking and rolling, Main City Park and the Center for the Arts Plaza anchor downtown gatherings like the Gresham Arts Festival, and the Sandy River area and Columbia River Gorge sit a short drive east for outdoor recreation. Mt. Hood Community College on the north side of town offers programs, events, and a campus that many community members use throughout the week.
Our attendant care workers in Gresham help individuals use these resources — riding the MAX into Portland for a medical appointment, walking the Springwater Corridor in the afternoon, attending an event at the Center for the Arts Plaza, picking up a hold at the Gresham Library, or building cooking and household skills at home. The pace is set by the individual, not the schedule.
- Personal care and daily living assistance
- Skill building for independent living
- Community access — MAX Blue Line, Springwater Corridor, Main City Park, MHCC, Sandy River area
- Assistance with medical and service appointments in Gresham and Portland
- Support navigating Multnomah County and east-side brokerage resources
- Consistent staffing from familiar, trained support workers
Day Support Activities Near Gresham, Oregon
North Star Oregon does not currently operate a Day Support Activities (DSA) location in Gresham or anywhere in the Portland metro area. In-home attendant care is the service we provide locally. Our existing DSA programs are in the Willamette Valley — Albany, Corvallis, Eugene, Springfield, Salem, and Tangent — and one further south in Grants Pass.
We recognize that Gresham and east Multnomah County represent a substantial population, and the demand for group-based day programming on the Portland metro's east side is real. East-side families have historically had fewer DSA options nearby than west-side families, and we hear that. As we grow our presence here, expanding DSA into the Gresham area is something we're actively evaluating — but we won't open one until we can staff it the way our existing programs are staffed. If DSA is important to you or your family, let us know if it would matter for your family.
Ready to talk about care in Gresham?
A real person on our team will reply within one business day — no phone trees, no intake robots.
Services are typically at no out-of-pocket cost to families, funded through Oregon's K-Plan (Medicaid).
Multnomah County Disability Resources
- Multnomah County Developmental Disabilities Services Division — The local CDDP and the starting point for eligibility determination and service coordination for Gresham and all of Multnomah County. Located at 421 SW Oak Street, Suite 200, Portland, OR 97204. Case managers serve the entire county, including east-side communities like Gresham, Troutdale, and Fairview.
Phone: 503-988-3691
- Inclusion Inc. — East-side brokerage providing self-directed support services for adults with I/DD across the Portland metro, including Gresham and east Multnomah County. Helps individuals and families plan and manage their own supports through Oregon's brokerage system.
- Eastco Diversified Services — Brokerage and support services organization serving Gresham and the east side of the Portland metro. Works with individuals using self-directed supports to coordinate community-based services.
- The Arc of Multnomah-Clackamas — Advocacy, family support, and community resources for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families across Multnomah and Clackamas counties, including Gresham.
- Mt. Hood Community College Disability Services — On-campus disability services office at MHCC in Gresham, supporting students with disabilities through accommodations, planning, and connection to community resources.
About North Star Oregon
North Star Oregon was founded in the Willamette Valley and has grown into a statewide provider. Gresham and east Multnomah County represent our entry into the Portland metro's east side — a community where individuals with I/DD deserve more options, not fewer, and where the working-class character of the city deserves a provider that shows up the way real life requires. We bring the same model that has worked in smaller Oregon communities to the metro: relationship-based attendant care, consistent staffing, and a focus on the individual over the institution. Gresham families can expect the same level of direct, personal service our clients in Salem, Corvallis, and Albany already receive, as we continue to expand our presence across the Portland metropolitan area.
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@northstarcaresQuestions about services in Gresham?
A real person on our team will reply within one business day — no phone trees, no intake robots.