by: Brandon Marx
Dignity Village, located in NE Portland, is community-based organization that has been offering shelter to 60+ people since 2000. It was the first "Village Model" shelter in North America, operating as self-governing, self-administrating, and self-operating.
Dignity Village offers a look at an innovating, grassroots approach to approaching homelessness.
"We came out of the doorways of Portland’s streets, out from under the bridges, from under the bushes of public parks, we came openly with nothing and no longer a need to hide as Portland’s inhumane and Draconian camping ban had just been overturned on two constitutional grounds. We came armed with a vision of a better future for ourselves and for all of Portland, a vision of a green, sustainable urban village where we can live in peace and improve not only the condition of our own lives but the quality of life in Portland in general. We came in from the cold of a December day and we refuse to go back to the way things were."
Dignity Village aims to provide a clean, unified, self-governed, and safe community on a temporary basis until more sustainable and long-term forms of affordable housing are available. The community offers peer-based support in reaching goals and aspirations, as well as a "community based on love and respect for each other and ourselves.
Donate to Dignity Village: Here! Via Paypal.
You can read more about Dignity Village, their bylaws, origins, and history Here!
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