Portland-area elected officials and homeless service advocates issued a public plea Friday for donations of large private spaces to serve as shelter space for people experiencing homelessness in the winter months as well as volunteers to help operate such shelters.
Three to five spaces of at least 5,000 square feet are needed from around Thanksgiving through the end of March in the downtown Portland area, outer East Portland and in Gresham that are easily assessable via public transportation, biking or walking. They should also have access to bathrooms and storage space for blankets, mats and other items and allow for social distancing.
Gymnasiums, cafeterias, meeting halls, ballrooms and office floors were mentioned as suggestions.
The city and county plan by November to have more than 1,800 shelter beds in community centers, motels, a vacated bus terminal and outdoor camps yet it may not be enough, according to Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler. He said it was the most amount of shelter space the city and county’s Joint Office of Homeless Services has ever offered in winter months.
Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury said the pandemic has prevented smaller spaces that have been relied on in past years as severe weather shelters from being usable this year, lowering the overall capacity in the county. She said city and county employees are reaching out to other public agencies and universities for aid as well.
She said they hope to provide at least another 300 shelter beds.
“As it stands right now, because of COVID-19, we cannot guarantee that everyone who needs it will have a shelter on the worst nights of the year,” said Kafoury, who was joined by Wheeler, Portland Commissioner Dan Ryan, County Commissioner Sharon Meieran and officials from the Joint Office of Homeless Services and nonprofits Transition Projects, Do Good Multnomah and Cascadia Behavioral Health Care.
They are also seeking volunteers to staff the spaces. Transition Projects officials will train those who step up to help. Officials also asked for donations of clothes, hygiene products, sleeping bags, hand warmers and other essentials.
Multnomah County announced last year that more than 4,000 people were found to be without a fixed home address and more than 2,000 of them were identified as sleeping outside. Authorities believe the coronavirus pandemic has greatly exacerbated those numbers.
During the winter of 2016-17, when Portland was hit by multiple days-long snow events, at least three people staying outside died of exposure.
Here’s how to help:
To suggest shelter space contact johs@multco.us
To seek training to become a shelter volunteer: tprojects.org
To donate essentials: 211info.org/donations
-- Everton Bailey Jr; ebailey@oregonian.com | 503-221-8343 | @EvertonBailey
Subscribe to Oregonian/OregonLive newsletters and podcasts for the latest news and top stories.