By, Annabelle Packer
One of the top rated neighborhoods to live in Portland Oregon is the NorthWest area. Based around the shop filled NW 23rd Ave, this neighborhood has countless restaurants, thrift stores, quaint vintage apartments, and even a Trader Joes. It was the obvious choice for a student like me who needed to be close to the Portland State campus, yet yearned to get away from the hazards of living downtown. As I began exploring my new environment, which of course suffered the same economical decline that many neighborhoods experience after the pandemic and a rise in homelessness, I found myself captivated with long walks, grabbing drinks with friends, and trying new things. I had taken note several times of a building with a large sign adorn with a rose a couple blocks away from my place. On the sign it also read Rose Haven which all together, in my eyes, signified a possible brunch location of sorts. It didn’t take me long to realize that this supposed coffee shop was actually a community women's shelter.
Rose Haven is a nonprofit that was founded in 1997 by Cathie Boerboom and Joan Van Almen. By interacting with the house community in Portland. These women found that many other women were needing access to a safe space to go during the day where they could also take their children. They have been located in Northwest Portland since 2007, where they have worked tirelessly to provide a day shelter, emotional support, and quality of life for women, children, and marginalized genders experiencing poverty. Their services they run out of their 10,000 square-foot facility includes one on one counseling, financial assistance, nutritious meals, on-site, clinics, showers and restrooms, clothing, and outdoor gear, secure, mailboxes, bus tickets, laundry, computer, lab, and device charging, create classes, kids and baby supplies, and community celebrations. As revealed in their 2022 service summaries, Rose Haven was able to serve 3,027 guests, serve 39,670 meals, provide 2,027 nurse visits, and provide 18,265 bus tickets throughout the year. The cumulative efforts made at Rose Haven work tirelessly to support women in between their access to other resources, and fill in the gaps the other resources might not be able to fulfill. processes, such as helping people get their IDs and allowing their address to be used for resumes and mail, fulfills a unique need that other shelters can’t.
All of this was happening in my backyard and I had no idea. The support that many throughout the city travel daily to access, with something I unintentionally interacted with daily. Rose Haven interacts and responds to communities' needs in such a way that allows both the impoverished communities in Portland, as well as other communities, to come together and celebrate our community as a whole. They are proof that social justice resources can be productively integrated into society in order to reach its desired population in an effective manner.
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