HILLSBORO, Oregon — A new cold weather shelter for people experiencing homelessness opens in Hillsboro on Nov. 15.
The Cloverleaf cold weather shelter has 50 beds for people in need of a place to stay. The shelter is located near the Washington County Fairgrounds on Northeast 28th Avenue. It's near a MAX stop, which makes it more accessible.
Open Door, an organization that helps people experiencing homelessness, partnered with Washington County's supportive housing services to open the shelter. It will be open until March. Beds are available for men and women.
"It's absolutely life-saving at a time when there's cold weather coming," said Jeremy Toevs, the executive director for Open Door. "Resources like this preserve life."
Steve Wheeler was homeless for 10 years. He's now a volunteer at the shelter. He said he knows what a lot of homeless people go through, and it can be especially difficult in the fall and winter.
"When it's raining outside, most people don't want to leave their homes let alone their tents," Wheeler said. "It's really hard for a lot of these people to get food."
Metro District 4 Councilor Juan Carlos Gonzalez said this is all an effort to get people off the streets and in a safe place.
"On any given night we have hundreds, if not thousands, of people sleeping outside," Gonzalez said. "Things like this are part of an immediate solution that we're working to implement with short-term solutions and also long-term housing."
Washington County has built other cold weather shelters in Beaverton and downtown Hillsboro.