People who’ve stayed at Portland’s village-style shelters aren’t pleased with how shelter operators handle serious concerns and complaints. That’s according to a survey conducted by the City Ombudsman’s office released Wednesday.

“Feedback we received from shelter guests points to areas that need more attention,” said City Ombudsman Jennifer Croft. “Shelter guests are vulnerable, and it is important that issues such as grievances, decisions about exits [when someone is kicked out of a shelter], and concerns about staff are handled fairly and with due accountability and oversight.”

The report reflects feedback from 228 people who’ve stayed at one of nine city village-style shelters, also called “alternative shelters,” since they began opening in 2023. The city has no official tally of how many people have stayed at these shelters in the years they’ve been open, but the number is likely in the thousands.

Those surveyed were polled during a two-week period in April.

More than half of those surveyed by the city said shelter staff did not handle grievances or other issues raised well. That includes complaints about sexual harassment and theft. Most polled also said that the process for kicking someone out of a shelter was unfair. Some cited an inability to retrieve their property after being told to leave; others claimed they were kicked out on bogus grounds without any evidence.

Other leading complaints were related to food safety and poorly maintained bathrooms and other shared facilities.

Portland alternative shelters are funded by the city but operated by various nonprofit contractors, like The Salvation Army and Urban Alchemy. These contractors have come under scrutiny in recent years for issues similar to those outlined in the survey.

In City Hall, much of the focus has been on Urban Alchemy, a California-based organization tapped to run most of the city’s alternative shelters. Earlier this year, reporting from KATU revealed more than 80 complaints by people staying at Urban Alchemy facilities — ranging from staffers committing sexual assault to drug dealing.

Those complaints were filed with the city ombudsman’s office, an independent department that investigates complaints from the public about misconduct by city agencies or staff.

That influx of alarming complaints prompted the ombudsman’s office to conduct a survey in April to determine whether the issues raised were concerns “that were shared broadly,” according to Croft’s report. Croft’s team did find that some of those concerns were prevalent among a larger pool of shelter visitors.

But it’s not all bad news.

Most of those polled said they felt safe and respected by staff at the shelters. And most people said they preferred sleeping in an alternative shelter versus on the streets.

The report concludes that the city and the shelter operators it employs need to go further to ensure vulnerable Portlanders are treated fairly and are protected during their shelter stay. (Under the city’s alternative shelter rules, people can only stay for 120 days at a time). It pointed specifically to improving the grievance process. Yet Croft offered no recommendations to the city program that oversees these shelters, called Portland Solutions.

In an email to OPB, Portland Solutions spokesperson Laura Rude said her department is already working to improve the process.

“Whenever a grievance or concern is shared by a shelter guest, we respond by investigating and taking action,” Rude wrote. “Grievances are resolved as promptly and as thoroughly as possible, and every grievance is taken seriously. We appreciate any and all insight into the experiences and perceptions of City shelter participants, and we are constantly making improvements based on guest feedback.”

The complaints against Urban Alchemy prompted some city councilors to call for more oversight, but they didn’t have the votes to act.

The city and Multnomah County jointly oversee the region’s shelter system. The village-style shelters run by Multnomah County were not included in this survey.

The report drops hours before county and city staff are expected to meet for a regular check-in on their shared response to homelessness.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/10/28/portland-village-style-shelters-dont-respond-well-to-complaints-cit-survey-finds/