The Next Door currently has over 50 full-time employees housed between our offices in Hood River and The Dalles. We serve seven counties, 5 in Oregon and 2 in Washington.

We our proud of our rich history, spanning more than four decades, changing lives and building communities in the Columbia Gorge.

2011—In March, all three Hood River offices moved into the new building. The community generously gave time, money, and discounts, State and regional foundations funded half of the cost of our new facilities. We ended up with an occupancy cost that is less than what we were paying before, a much happier staff and safer environment.

2010—After searching for over ten years for a building or land in Hood River where TNDI could consolidate staff and programs, we bought our building on Tucker Rd and spent the next year renovating it.

2007—Nuestra Comunidad Sana was combined with two other programs of The Next Door, Latino Outreach and Youth & Family Services, to consolidate health promotion and crime and substance abuse prevention work within the organization. Claudia Montaño, who started at TNDI nearly a decade earlier in the Latino Outreach program, became the Program Manager of Nuestra Comunidad Sana.

Janet Hamada was promoted from Program Manager of NCS to Executive Director of The Next Door.

2002—Mid-Columbia Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) merged into The Next Door and changed its name to Columbia Gorge CASA. CASA staff members recruit and train volunteers as advocates for abused and neglected children in court. The Next Door served as an incubator in which CASA was able to grow and develop until 2007. CASA once again functions as a separate non-profit.

It was also in 2002 that Nuestra Comunidad Sana (NCS) join The Next Door. After being a separate non-profit agency for four years, board members of NCS approached The Next Door to merge. This health promotion program had begun at La Clinica del Cariño in 1988 as El Niño Sano, one of the first programs in the country to train and utilize community health promoters to provide health and prevention services to Latino families and children. Maria Antoñia Sánchez was one of the first health promoters to work in this program. She and Joel Pelayo remain at NCS as Lead Health Promoters.

2000—Bob Johnson became the Executive Director of the Next Door. Shortly before Bob arrived, Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Columbia Gorge (BBBS) began, funded by a grant. Big Brothers Big Sisters is an evidenced-based mentoring program for children ages 6-14 with chapters throughout the United States.