PORTLAND, Ore. — Two Portland nonprofit organizations joined forces to help prepare the first city-sanctioned homeless camp, dubbed Temporary Alternative Shelter Sites, in Southeast Portland Thursday.
The campsite along Southeast 13th Place and Gideon Street will be able to provide alternative temporary shelter for up to 200 people living on the streets. The site will mostly be made up of prefabricated shelter pods, but wooden platforms will be available for those who prefer to be in tents.
Trainees with Constructing Hope, a nonprofit that teaches the basics of the construction trade, with the help from another nonprofit, the Home Building Foundation, are helping build the wooden platforms.
The trainees are low income, mostly BIPOC, and a majority have a history of incarceration. And building a simple platform is a step up.
“Oh, I’m having a good time learning and getting things done and soaking up these trades here,” said Rafael Cook. Cook is glad to be working with his team and learning from instructor Alex Hughes.
“If someone's cutting, somebody needs to be measuring, and it all comes together in the end. So they have to work together and that part is really....really life important,” said Hughes, who brings his experience as a teacher, coach, and construction worker together in his role with Constructing Hope.
On Thursday, electricians were working on putting power in place.
Back at the platform worksite, 24-year-old Zahira Ahmed is learning a trade she's been interested in since she was little. Ahmed is getting a chance to help herself by helping others have a better place to put their tents.
“So you're making your community very strong, like [do] you get what I’m saying? Building mindsets that might not have been strong. And you're like giving them a boost of confidence,” said Ahmed.
A spokesperson for Mayor Ted Wheeler’s office said an announcement of an official opening day is coming soon, and that the large shelter site will open this month. The mayor also said city and county outreach workers and other connected to Portland’s homeless community are making referrals for people to stay at the site.