Helen Sause: NAHRO Visionary, Pioneer and Leader

Photo Credit: Brant Ward

Helen Sause, NAHRO’s first woman president (1987-1989), passed away on October 28, 2023, leaving behind a legacy that will forever be etched in the history of NAHRO. She will be remembered as the leader who kept the R in NAHRO alive; who inspired the creation of the International Committee; and who broke the mold not only for women in NAHRO, but for a more inclusive and democratic NAHRO.  

Helen was born on a dairy farm in Smith River, Oregon where she lived with her parents, Howard and Blanche Perkins, and her brother Jim. In an experience that no doubt shaped her future, she and Jim rode on the mail boat to school every day. As a child, Helen loved spending time up in trees, reading books and learning about the world beyond her home. These early passions for reading, learning and venturing beyond the familiar set the stage for her leadership that left a global imprint. 

It may be that she got the “housing bug” at her first job with Scott Built Homes. When she left Scott, she worked next for the Eugene (OR) Dept of Urban Renewal.  This first urban renewal job would evolve into a lifelong commitment to transforming cities and neighborhoods and improving the lives of countless individuals.  In 1968 she was hired by the San Francisco (California) Redevelopment Agency and 12 years later was named the project director for the nascent Yerba Buena project in San Francisco. 

Helen will be remembered as the driving force behind what is today known as Yerba Buena Gardens, a world class public space, a residential and cultural catalyst for downtown San Francisco, home to low income seniors, high rolling former mayors, arts and cultural centers, the Moscone Convention Center, and five star hotels.  Says the San Francisco Chronicle, “The transformation of a vast and vacant South of Market parking lot into Yerba Buena Gardens and Center for the Arts involved five San Francisco mayors, but only one mastermind: Helen Sause, an infinitely patient and persevering project manager.” 

William Carney, the Agency’s architect for Yerba Buena, remembers Helen as a mentor to him and many others. “Hers was a life from which we can all learn,” said Carney.  He described her as the spark behind everything that was to come at Yerba Buena, “providing the singular and sparkling leadership that spread that vision to everyone she worked with at the Redevelopment Agency and throughout the city.  She attracted all of us to build something of great beauty that was larger than ourselves. She built the momentum needed to sustain a project of that scale, importance and sometimes controversy through the decades that it took to create.” 

Helen brought that very same passion, vision and sparkling leadership to NAHRO. Her colleagues at the time marveled that Helen found the kind of professional collegiality and support she needed in an organization that, while named NAHRO, in fact focused primarily on housing.  

But Helen was never one to follow the trend. She broke molds wherever she went. Founded in 1933 as NAHO, the name changed to NAHRO in 1953 in recognition of the need for new partnerships to fulfill the city renewal and slum clearance mandate of the US Housing Act of 1949. But in truth, it wasn’t until Helen joined NAHRO that the organization began to live the connection. As longtime NAHRO member and former NAHRO President Reneé Rooker said, “Helen brought the R to NAHRO.” 

Former NAHRO President Karen Thoreson remembers that “as a community development (CD) professional, it took a huge amount of courage to lead an organization where there weren’t a lot of CD members. She was passionate in her belief that community development is a huge part of housing.” 

When Helen was elected Senior Vice President in 1985, NAHRO was run by the “good old boys” who decided the chain of succession of leadership. Helen broke that mold in her classic Helen way: with clarity and even-temperedness. She was so effective as a leader that business as usual could no longer be tolerated. 

She is remembered for leading in such an even-handed way that she could get people to listen to even the most divergent ideas. Says Thoreson, “Helen encouraged a level of conversation that hadn’t been part of the NAHRO culture.” Terner Center for Housing Innovation Research Affiliate Ophelia Basgal observes that, “Wherever she was, she was the glue that held things together.” 

Helen firmly believed that complex challenges needed a wide lens. Her quest for knowledge beyond our shores, led her to propose that NAHRO, the UK and Canada meet to share their experiences with housing and redevelopment. That idea was not the least bit popular with a housing-focused, budget-strapped NAHRO. Longtime member and NAHRO leader Norleen Norden remembers the extent to which Helen had to fight for the committee.  

“There was almost no support for it when she introduced the concept,” said Norden.  But Helen persisted with a gracious and passionate campaign about the advantages of international learning, Helen managed to create not only the Tri-Country Conference, but later, the International Committee. Helen was a devoted member of the International Committee long after her professional retirement. 

“Helen stood for the need to change the way we think about problems and bring a different perspective to the challenge. She ushered in enormous change for NAHRO with great elegance and skill,” remembers Thoreson.  

Helen was a mentor to so many members of NAHRO, including myself. She had a particular passion for encouraging women. “Women were not doing what Helen was doing at the time,” her daughter, Carole McClintock relayed. “Women didn’t choose career over family. It wasn’t done. She balanced it well.”  As a rule, Helen believed that work was work and home was home. NAHRO was known in the family, not through Helen’s stories – she was far too humble for that – but through the old notepads around the house that said NAHRO at the top and “Elect Sause” at the bottom.  

As a person, longtime NAHRO member Betsy Morris captures her beautifully. Helen was “humble, calm, and persistent. She was optimistic and energetic – involved in so many initiatives.” Morris remembers her passion for improving lives through work and everyday life. She describes Helen’s firm spiritual foundation that guided her commitment without having to talk about it.  Says Morris, “I admired her graciousness, especially when taking issue with someone; she did speak her mind.”  

We all stand on the shoulders of someone, and as members of NAHRO, and especially as women leaders in NAHRO, we stand on the shoulders of the wonderful Helen Sause. Her daughter said, “She was all for empowering women. Whatever it took.”   

We will miss Helen dearly but her life lives on in the spirit of our NAHRO family. 

​About the author: Betsey Martens is a past president of NAHRO, a longtime NAHRO leader and a frequent contributor to the Journal of Housing and Community Development.​