PORTLAND, Ore. — Bybee Lakes Hope Center in North Portland, Oregon's largest homeless shelter, will remain open through at least the end of the year after Multnomah County commissioners voted to extend an emergency grant for $1.5 million. The county kept the door open for funding beyond Dec. 31, 2023, but those negotiations are ongoing.
The emergency grant will preserve almost 200 shelter beds, the county said in a news release. The board voted unanimously to approve the grant, which will come from county contingency funding.
Helping Hands Reentry Outreach Centers, which operates Bybee Lakes, agreed to several conditions to receive the funding, including keeping a minimum of 175 shelter beds available, maintaining a high level of occupancy and making "no other population, programmatic or operational changes" through the end of the year. They must also report data on outcomes, a requisite for any shelter provider that receives funding from the county.
Helping Hands operates 11 facilities in five counties, providing a total of 430 shelter beds statewide. Bybee Lakes is their largest shelter.
Last month, leaders for Helping Hands announced that Bybee Lakes had stopped accepting new shelter admissions due to lack of funding and warned it would have to shut down Bybee Lakes at the end of this week if they didn't get financial help from the county or state. They asked the county for $5 million but said $1.5 million would be enough to keep them open through the end of the year.
"I'm grateful we were able to move this forward urgently and keep nearly 200 shelter beds from closing at a time when this community can’t afford to lose any," said Chair Jessica Vega Pederson, who worked closely with Bybee Lake leaders in negotiating the grant. "That’s why my door has been open — because I have always believed there is a place for a diversity of shelter resources. From here, I look forward to working with the Bybee Lakes Hope Center leadership to assess the organization’s financial and operational situation with the hope that together we can continue supporting those living unsheltered in our community."
Mike Davis, CEO of Helping Hands, expressed gratitude for the financial assistance.
"We are thankful that the Chair and commissioners were able to come together and take action with a plan for immediate funding to keep the doors of Bybee Lakes Hope Center open," Davis said. "We look forward to this being the beginning of a long-term partnership."
The county echoed Davis' sentiment, saying it hopes this grant "lays the groundwork for a potential longer-term partnership" with Helping Hands Reentry. As the county negotiates funding beyond the end of this year, they said Helping Hands must do the following:
- Develop and present a financial recovery plan
- Hold regular meetings with county finance officials
- Allow access for the same fiscal monitoring process that applies to other providers contracting with the county
