Portland expects to lose more than 100 shelter beds this summer due to a homeless service provider going out of business.

Skyler Brocker-Knapp, head of the city’s shelter programs, explained in an email to Portland City Councilors on Thursday that shelters in Portland’s Lloyd and Centennial neighborhoods will shutter by June due to nonprofit Sunstone Way’s closure.

“We will continue to center the experience of participants and staff as we implement these necessary transitions,” wrote Brocker-Knapp.

Sunstone Way announced in March that it would cease operations in July due to declining federal funds and rising costs. The news came a month after a whistleblower filed a complaint in Multnomah County Circuit Court, alleging financial mismanagement by the nonprofit’s leadership. Willamette Week first reported on the whistleblower complaint.

Sunstone Way currently runs six shelters in the Portland metro area, which account for roughly 300 shelter beds. Three of those shelters are owned by the city of Portland: Centennial Neighborhood Overnight Shelter, NE Weidler Village and Naito Village.

According to Brocker-Knapp, only Naito Village will remain open after Sunstone closes. That village-style shelter, made up of 55 shelter pods, opened in 2021 with the specific goal to support LGBTQ+ people experiencing homelessness. Homeless service nonprofit Transition Projects will take over managing that shelter in June.

But 96 Centennial shelter beds and 38 NE Weidler shelter pods will close by June. However, roughly 15 of the Weidler pods will be relocated to other city-run village shelters.

Brocker-Knapp said the closures are due to funding constraints and low usage. Since opening in January, the Centennial overnight shelter has had fewer than 20 of its 96 beds used most nights. The Centennial shelter beds played an integral role in getting Mayor Keith Wilson to his goal of opening 1,500 new shelter beds in his first year in office. City spokesperson Rob Layne said the city plans to reopen that shelter by winter this year.

Meanwhile, Portland is facing a nearly $55 million budget shortfall in its shelter programs this year.

It costs the city about $3.5 million to keep the Centennial and Weidler shelters running annually, officials said. But because the city plans to reopen Centennial later in the year, and it will cost to close the Weidler site, it’s not clear how much money the city will save in total.

The NE Weidler Village opened in 2021 with a focus on sheltering Black, Indigenous, and people of color. Brocker-Knapp said the city plans to move those staying at the Weidler shelter into other shelters or housing by June.

Multnomah and Clackamas counties own the three other shelters run by Sunstone Way. But neither government says it plans to close shelters due to the management change.

Multnomah County’s Delta Park and Rockwood Bridge motel shelters are run by Sunstone. On Friday, county spokesperson Julia Comnes said the county is in the process of looking for new providers to run these shelters, and doesn’t anticipate their closure.

“Our priority is ensuring no one is forced back onto the street,” Comnes said.

Sunstone Way also has a contract with Multnomah County to help move people in shelters into permanent housing. Comnes said they are also looking to find a new provider to continue that work.

Meanwhile, the county anticipates closing nearly 700 shelter beds in other county-funded shelters starting in July, due to budget cuts.

Clackamas County’s Clackamas Village shelter is run by Sunstone Way. The county has signaled plans to keep that shelter running under a new operator. A spokesperson for the county did not immediately respond to OPB’s request for comment.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/03/27/portland-oregon-housing-shelter-beds-homeless-sunstone-way/