HAP privately fundraised to hire landscape architecture firm MIG to re-envision this dock as a non-motorized swim dock. Pulling examples from similar facilities around the world, HAP made a strong case for swimming use. As a result, the City of Portland committed to making Duckworth Dock a world-class urban swimming site – open to fishing and non-motorized boating. MIG’s work has received national attention including a design award from ASLA Oregon and a feature in Landscape Architecture magazine. Learn more here!

For four years, HAP hosted the annual Mayoral Swim, where Portland residents had the opportunity to swim across the Willamette River with their Mayor. The event, free and open to the public, was a supervised swim with AMR River Rescue Lifeguards and safety paddlers. We called it healthy civic interaction. Check out video footage from 2019 event with former Mayor Ted Wheeler here!

In 2014, HAP helped forge a path to a semihidden Willamette River beach under the Marquam Bridge nicknamed Poet’s Beach. It became Portland’s first official beach, and served as the launch point for The Big Float. Stones along the path are engraved with children’s poems from the Honoring Our Rivers anthology, and native Chinook words from the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde.

A movement disguised as a party, The Big Float (TBF) marked the beginning of our small but mighty grassroots nonprofit. For ten years, this parade, float and beach party—both a celebration of the Willamette River and a fundraiser for HAP—helped people get into their river and embrace its many gifts. The event included live music, a beer and wine garden, food carts, costume and watercraft contests, kids’ activities, and more. Bringing over 25,000 people to the water, TBF served as a catalyst for river culture in Portland, normalizing Willamette recreation while creating demand for increased river access. For more info visit www.thebigfloat.com.

At HAP, we believe art is an essential form activism, long employing it as a tool to shift the public's opinion of the Willamette River. For ten years, we channeled this creative movement building into The Big Float through vibrant poster art, featuring Lady Neptune as our iconic guide and visual symbol of our mission. These posters encouraged Portlanders to reimagine the role of the river in our city, from a forgotten backdrop to symbol of pride and connection. This approach reflects HAP’s belief that when creativity and joy are part of advocacy, cultural change becomes not only possible, but contagious. Click here to see the fun work of Karen Wippich, Jon Wippich and Chris Bigalke over the years.

The Valentine's Day Dip was an annual cold plunge bringing attention to the safety of Willamette River swimming in the winter time. Many people believe that the Willamette is unsafe for recreation in the rainy season due to combined sewage overflow in the river. This is no longer true; thanks to the success of the Big Pipe Project and the introduction of new green infrastructure projects like green street planters, ecoroofs, rain gardens and more, which absorb millions of gallons of rainwater each year, overflows are exceedingly rare. Check out a video of our Valentine's Day Dip here!