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| Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB |
By Abby Watson
For unhoused Portlanders in recovery, 280 new, dedicated shelter beds are on the way. A recent OPB report detailing the new shelter notes that this is the latest, concrete step in Mayor Wilson's ambitious 1,500-bed plan. It also marks a significant new strategy for the city, which is stepping in to provide services historically managed (and, in the Mayor's view, mismanaged) by Multnomah County.
But here lies a paradox: for a city with thousands of people living unhoused, these new shelters have nightly vacancy rates of up to 80%. This outcome isn't surprising. It's what happens when the City and Mayor Wilson design services without consulting the people who are supposed to use them. A recent poll cited in the same OPB article of unhoused people in Portland made it clear they overwhelmingly prefer options like "tiny home villages, motels, and RVs" to the Mayor's traditional cot shelters.
Mayor Wilson asserts that this is not a failure but his strategy; he wants "hundreds of empty beds every night". Why? Because this system of 1,500 shelter beds relies on having empty beds to "enforce community standards", Mayor Wilson's way of openly stating his intent to enforce Portland's anti-camping policies. This paints a clearer picture of the motivations behind providing 1,500 shelter beds that many don't want; they are a legal tool to justify sweeping unhoused populations off the streets. Under the law, unhoused people approached by law enforcement must either enter a shelter if a bed is available or be cited and fined. If they don't pay the fine and miss court, they could face incarceration.
The overnight shelters Mayor Wilson is opening in Portland are expensive revolving doors that force the unhoused out of sight rather than provide housing opportunities. The city and county are focused on temporary mat shelters. But their own partners, such as Do Good Multnomah, know that the real solution is in their bridge housing and pod village programs.
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