Alternatives

Responsible Locations. Responsible Planning.

Portland's homeless need more than tiny hard walled camps. They need personal support and access to services. If the City intends for residents to transition out of camp life in 2 years, it’s critical locations are chosen for growth, access to daily activities, counseling services, job placement and mentoring.

Responsible Options

St. Johns Christian Church

The church can open their exceptionally large current building which is not being utilized at capacity.

Instead of the city developing open land, it can pay the church to upgrade the facility and maintain it. It will cost far less than leasing + new construction costs (roughly $26,000/tenant to start). Hazelnut Grove would be housed within a proper, full-functioning structure enabling the church to provide meaningful support. This location would be less attractive to the unruly, unauthorized homeless people that will assemble outside the camp's fence.

Proper Structures

We want to partner with Boosters and other grant writers to build a physical structure that provides better living conditions while making street spillover less likely. The ideal structure would include a community kitchen, laundry and washroom, meeting hall, and space for support services such as counseling and job placement.

While this option is less experimental, requiring a greater commitment by the city, the community of St. John's supports this model. Here are a few good models to follow:

Rivergate Community Church sells land to build affordable housing.
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Portsmouth Union Church building 26 units of affordable housing.
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If building a new structure is not feasible, the Mann “Old Folks” Home is for sale. The space includes all daily activities under one structure and access to services.
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The City owns many vacant buildings. The City could utilize an existing building. We’ve identified a location in our town.

Parks and Recreation Maintenance Building

Located at 9360 N Columbia Blvd, next to Chimney Park. The land and structure are city owned with access to water, sewage, electricity and access to the bus line. This property can accommodate growth by increasing onsite services and housing structures.

What does a successful, well-planned homeless community look like?

Mobile Loaves and Fishes in Austin Texas provides affordable, permanent housing and a supportive community for men and women coming out of chronic homelessness. The facility contains a community center where administrators, staff, and counselors put together daily activities, mental health services, job placement and mentoring to help residents find their way.

Want to see the city of Portland invest in something like this instead of building tent size structures without onsite support services? We do too!

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