Portland Mayor Keith Wilson didn’t waste any time in advancing his plan to end unsheltered homelessness.

On his first day on the job this week, Wilson joined Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson to announce plans to open two temporary overnight shelters.

“My goal was to hit the ground running and I’m happy to report that we’re going to do that,” Wilson said at a Thursday Portland City Council meeting. “We are here to come together to treat the crisis on our street like a crisis.”

Two Salvation Army buildings, one located on Southwest 2nd Avenue and the other on North Williams Avenue, will accommodate up to 200 people each night in total. They will be open 12 hours each night, 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., and offer pads for guests to sleep on in a shared room. The shelters are first come, first served, though people who stay once are guaranteed a bed the following night.

Using nighttime shelters to address Portland’s homelessness crisis was Wilson’s main policy pitch on the campaign trail. But, he said, his overarching goal to end unsheltered homelessness by 2026 can’t be solved by these shelters alone.

“Two hundred beds is a great first step, but it is not the only step,” he said. “We will need to continue expanding capacity rapidly and aggressively to meet the need on the street.”

To Wilson, that means continuing to invest in shelters open around the clock, affordable housing and other programs that help people leave homelessness behind for good. Wilson characterized the nighttime shelters as a way to immediately keep more people from having to sleep outside.

Vega Pederson echoed that intent in a written statement.

“More warm, dry places for our neighbors to sleep in these cold months is a welcome addition to many other ongoing plans to increase shelter, housing and eviction prevention efforts,” she wrote.

The city and county each contributed $375,000 to cover the new shelter expenses for 90 days. Both shelters are considered “low-barrier,” meaning guests can bring their pets and aren’t required to be sober. The downtown Portland shelter on Southwest 2nd will offer 52 beds for female-identifying adults, while the North Portland space will have 148 beds for adults of all genders.

Salvation Army employees will staff both shelters, with at least one staff person per 20 visitors. According to Wilson and Vega Pederson, these shelters will offer food and other amenities to visitors, and county outreach workers on site will help connect people to other social services.

During Wilson’s council presentation on the new shelters, several council members raised concerns about the city focusing its resources on shelters where people are all sleeping in the same large room, noting that people experiencing homelessness have said they lack privacy and can feel unsafe.

“It’s going to be a lot of people who have endured a lot of trauma being put together in one space overnight, which can often be a very difficult time for them,” said Councilor Angelita Morillo, who represents District 3, which includes most Southeast Portland neighborhoods.

Councilor Loretta Smith, who represents East Portland’s District 1, asked why there were shelters planned in only two districts.

Wilson pointed out that the city and county already operate a number of non-congregate shelters across the city, and that these nighttime shelters are the first of many city and county leaders hope to open.

He said that property and business owners have already reached out to him to offer up space in at least 40 different facilities across Portland. But to open more shelters, he said, the city needs money.

“Right now it’s a funding strategy,” Wilson said, nodding to the city’s current budget shortfalls. “We have a limited amount to spend.”

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/01/03/homeless-shelter-portland-overnight/