|
Hey all, Longtime reader. First time commenter.
I appreciate the folks here who are pushing for solutions and working together to help the city's plan work better. We can't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Thanks for all that you do.
-Ryan Shanahan SE PDX
On Sun, Dec 4, 2022 at 1:40 PM Aisha Musa < draymusa@...> wrote: I stand corrected. The 1% tax is on wealthy Metro taxpayers. Not all elitists are wealthy and not all wealthy are elitists. The key questions that remain unanswered are who was and was not at the Mayor's planning table, and why?
Dr. Aisha Y. Musa AYM Education and Consulting
All Metro taxpayers are not footing the bill. The only Metro taxpayers who pay the Metro Homeless Services Tax are individuals making over $125K, couples making over $200K and businesses over $5 million. And the Portland Business Alliance was a supporter of the tax. The vast majority of Portlanders don’t pay a cent. An earlier post said the elites don’t want to help the housing crisis; but the reality is that they are paying the bill for solving it. On Dec 3, 2022, at 8:59 PM, Aisha Musa < draymusa@...> wrote:
I believe a broad cross section of Metro voters supported the bond measure and all metro taxpayers are footing the bill, not just Portland's most privileged elites. Dignity Village has been around for more than two decades. The question is why are they not already at the Mayor's planning table? None of what we are experiencing is new or unexpected. According to Metro's progress report, more the 1600 people have moved from the streets into house and more than 9,000 were kept from falling into homelessness from evictions ( https://www.oregonmetro.gov/public-projects/supportive-housing-services/progress), so progress is being made.
Dr. Aisha Y. Musa AYM Education and Consulting
In response to a recent post, the “elites" supported the Metro Bond measure and are footing the tax bill, with the expectation that funds would be used to address the humanitarian crisis on our streets, which impacts all Portlanders, especially the unhoused. All taxpayers are rightfully upset with the county (which controls houseless policy and $s) for virtually ignoring the crisis of unsheltered Portlanders. The city is simply reacting, albeit with a plan that is far from perfect, to the over 80% of Portlanders (not just the elite) who want to see action which is both humanitarian and also improves the quality of life for all Portlanders. I have personally been delivering survival items weekly to my unhoused neighbors for the past two years. People are suffering and dying on our streets. What kind of people are we that we are not providing decent shelter and needed addiction/mental health services to people eeking out an existence on our streets? We cannot just wait for adequate housing before we reach out and serve unsheltered Portlanders. If Portland were hit with a 9.0 earthquake and 50,000 people lost their housing, would we be promoting "housing first" before shelter and expect people to live on the streets and wait years before having adequate shelter? Pdxshelterforum is a forum (I think THE forum) for sharing ideas and solutions regarding positive shelter options. I’m consistently disappointed to see the vast majority of the entries focusing on complaints rather than solutions. Let’s stop criticizing the Mayor’s imperfect plan and put our collective intelligence to use in helping the city design a shelter strategy that works!! My hats off to Tim McCormick and Andy Olshin and groups like Shelter Now and We Shine Pdx that are working on positive solutions. Let’s have Lisa Larson from Dignity Village sit down with the Mayor and Dan Ryan’s Safe Rest Village Team and talk about how self governance can result in a village which not only is far more cost effective but also sets higher standards for its residents. Let’s ask our friends at Mercy Corps how they would design a shelter system if Portland were hit with an earthquake. And let’s tap the idealism of our frustrated young people and put them to work creating solutions rather than vandalizing property. (Did you know that the construction of the original Dignity Village involved a significant contribution by Americord volunteers?) Just like JFK tapped the idealism of America’s youth when he announced the Peace Corps, Ted Wheeler should do the same around Portland’s crisis today. The Mayor is right with his overarching goal of ending unsheltered homelessness. Let’s use the incredible knowledge base that exists in Portland to help Ted Wheeler be successful by designing a plan for shelter that will end our humanitarian crisis on the streets, meet the needs of our unhoused neighbors, and get us back on the road to being a livable city for all.
In case anyone in your networks is asking about the SHS funding logistics and specifically agreeing with what Mayor Wheeler is proposing, take a look at this really good interview that KGW did with Metro this week:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVUMlZIl_V0
The City is trying to take money from the County to implement not only a dangerous plan, but an impossible, go-it-alone plan. In my opinion, it's all a distraction because the Portland elite don't want to help the housing crisis or our unhoused neighbors. They want to continue to sweep it away as always.
Thank you for all that is done in this network to do something different. Keep going. Keep fighting.
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Mayor Ted Wheeler <mayorwheeler@...>Date: Thu, Dec 1, 2022 at 2:16 PM Subject: City Approves $27M Down Payment for Sanctioned Campsite Plan To: Portlander
| |  |  | | | Dear Portlander, Yesterday, my colleagues on the Portland City Council voted in-favor of a significant down payment toward building six sanctioned campsites—a proposal that’s part of the “Five Resolution Plan” I brought to Council, co-sponsored by Commissioner Ryan. The City Council’s approval of these affordable housing and homelessness investments demonstrates our seriousness in addressing these issues and allows us to continue moving forward on this plan—and we’re gaining momentum! In recent weeks, my team and I held virtual community meetings to provide an opportunity for stakeholders to share their concerns and gain feedback on designated campsites. We met with service providers—both local and national—who could potentially partner with us on this effort, and we’ve worked to narrow down site location selections. I’ve continued outreach and fundraising efforts with partners at the State, Metro, and County. I recently met with Governor-Elect Tina Kotek and Multnomah County Chair-Elect Jessica Vega Pederson who both showed support for our plan. |  | | | The $27M down payment is a substantial investment from the City of Portland and I am proud that we are leading this effort so widely supported by the community. However, the success of this work hinges on federal, regional, state, and local partners coming to the table with their ideas, services, and resources. We have made clear asks to our government partners to support specific funding requests and services needed to help ensure this plan is successful: Multnomah County to provide $21 million to fund the capital and operations costs for 3 of the 6 sanctioned sites, behavioral and mental health resources, data, and housing navigation. The County has over $33 million in both over collected and underspent resources through both the Joint Office of Homeless Services and the region’s Supportive Housing Services funding provided to the County.
Metro to lead a process in 2023 to revisit the regional Supportive Housing Services measure allocation formula for both existing funding allocations and managing unanticipated revenue collections.
State of Oregon to declare a State of Emergency on Homelessness and assist in establishing these sanctioned sites. In addition, we ask for the State’s support of the Oregon Mayor’s Association Taskforce on Homelessness’ request for a budget package totaling $123 million ongoing annually, during the 2023 Legislative Session to provide direct allocations to cities for homelessness response and prevention services.
|  | | | Over the past few weeks, hundreds of Portlanders have sent letters and emails to my office voicing support for this plan. My team and I are working around the clock to keep the momentum going. You can share your thoughts and feedback with me directly by emailing: mayorwheeler@... | | |  | | | | |
|
|
|
-- Tim McCormick
Housing Alternatives Network +1 503.334.1894.
-- Ashley Schofield (she/them) Beacon Village
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|
I stand corrected. The 1% tax is on wealthy Metro taxpayers. Not all elitists are wealthy and not all wealthy are elitists. The key questions that remain unanswered are who was and was not at the Mayor's planning table, and why?
Dr. Aisha Y. Musa AYM Education and Consulting
All Metro taxpayers are not footing the bill. The only Metro taxpayers who pay the Metro Homeless Services Tax are individuals making over $125K, couples making over $200K and businesses over $5 million. And the Portland Business Alliance was a supporter of the tax. The vast majority of Portlanders don’t pay a cent. An earlier post said the elites don’t want to help the housing crisis; but the reality is that they are paying the bill for solving it. On Dec 3, 2022, at 8:59 PM, Aisha Musa < draymusa@...> wrote:
I believe a broad cross section of Metro voters supported the bond measure and all metro taxpayers are footing the bill, not just Portland's most privileged elites. Dignity Village has been around for more than two decades. The question is why are they not already at the Mayor's planning table? None of what we are experiencing is new or unexpected. According to Metro's progress report, more the 1600 people have moved from the streets into house and more than 9,000 were kept from falling into homelessness from evictions ( https://www.oregonmetro.gov/public-projects/supportive-housing-services/progress), so progress is being made.
Dr. Aisha Y. Musa AYM Education and Consulting
In response to a recent post, the “elites" supported the Metro Bond measure and are footing the tax bill, with the expectation that funds would be used to address the humanitarian crisis on our streets, which impacts all Portlanders, especially the unhoused. All taxpayers are rightfully upset with the county (which controls houseless policy and $s) for virtually ignoring the crisis of unsheltered Portlanders. The city is simply reacting, albeit with a plan that is far from perfect, to the over 80% of Portlanders (not just the elite) who want to see action which is both humanitarian and also improves the quality of life for all Portlanders. I have personally been delivering survival items weekly to my unhoused neighbors for the past two years. People are suffering and dying on our streets. What kind of people are we that we are not providing decent shelter and needed addiction/mental health services to people eeking out an existence on our streets? We cannot just wait for adequate housing before we reach out and serve unsheltered Portlanders. If Portland were hit with a 9.0 earthquake and 50,000 people lost their housing, would we be promoting "housing first" before shelter and expect people to live on the streets and wait years before having adequate shelter? Pdxshelterforum is a forum (I think THE forum) for sharing ideas and solutions regarding positive shelter options. I’m consistently disappointed to see the vast majority of the entries focusing on complaints rather than solutions. Let’s stop criticizing the Mayor’s imperfect plan and put our collective intelligence to use in helping the city design a shelter strategy that works!! My hats off to Tim McCormick and Andy Olshin and groups like Shelter Now and We Shine Pdx that are working on positive solutions. Let’s have Lisa Larson from Dignity Village sit down with the Mayor and Dan Ryan’s Safe Rest Village Team and talk about how self governance can result in a village which not only is far more cost effective but also sets higher standards for its residents. Let’s ask our friends at Mercy Corps how they would design a shelter system if Portland were hit with an earthquake. And let’s tap the idealism of our frustrated young people and put them to work creating solutions rather than vandalizing property. (Did you know that the construction of the original Dignity Village involved a significant contribution by Americord volunteers?) Just like JFK tapped the idealism of America’s youth when he announced the Peace Corps, Ted Wheeler should do the same around Portland’s crisis today. The Mayor is right with his overarching goal of ending unsheltered homelessness. Let’s use the incredible knowledge base that exists in Portland to help Ted Wheeler be successful by designing a plan for shelter that will end our humanitarian crisis on the streets, meet the needs of our unhoused neighbors, and get us back on the road to being a livable city for all.
In case anyone in your networks is asking about the SHS funding logistics and specifically agreeing with what Mayor Wheeler is proposing, take a look at this really good interview that KGW did with Metro this week:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVUMlZIl_V0
The City is trying to take money from the County to implement not only a dangerous plan, but an impossible, go-it-alone plan. In my opinion, it's all a distraction because the Portland elite don't want to help the housing crisis or our unhoused neighbors. They want to continue to sweep it away as always.
Thank you for all that is done in this network to do something different. Keep going. Keep fighting.
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Mayor Ted Wheeler <mayorwheeler@...>Date: Thu, Dec 1, 2022 at 2:16 PM Subject: City Approves $27M Down Payment for Sanctioned Campsite Plan To: Portlander
| | | | | | Dear Portlander, Yesterday, my colleagues on the Portland City Council voted in-favor of a significant down payment toward building six sanctioned campsites—a proposal that’s part of the “Five Resolution Plan” I brought to Council, co-sponsored by Commissioner Ryan. The City Council’s approval of these affordable housing and homelessness investments demonstrates our seriousness in addressing these issues and allows us to continue moving forward on this plan—and we’re gaining momentum! In recent weeks, my team and I held virtual community meetings to provide an opportunity for stakeholders to share their concerns and gain feedback on designated campsites. We met with service providers—both local and national—who could potentially partner with us on this effort, and we’ve worked to narrow down site location selections. I’ve continued outreach and fundraising efforts with partners at the State, Metro, and County. I recently met with Governor-Elect Tina Kotek and Multnomah County Chair-Elect Jessica Vega Pederson who both showed support for our plan. | | | | The $27M down payment is a substantial investment from the City of Portland and I am proud that we are leading this effort so widely supported by the community. However, the success of this work hinges on federal, regional, state, and local partners coming to the table with their ideas, services, and resources. We have made clear asks to our government partners to support specific funding requests and services needed to help ensure this plan is successful: Multnomah County to provide $21 million to fund the capital and operations costs for 3 of the 6 sanctioned sites, behavioral and mental health resources, data, and housing navigation. The County has over $33 million in both over collected and underspent resources through both the Joint Office of Homeless Services and the region’s Supportive Housing Services funding provided to the County.
Metro to lead a process in 2023 to revisit the regional Supportive Housing Services measure allocation formula for both existing funding allocations and managing unanticipated revenue collections.
State of Oregon to declare a State of Emergency on Homelessness and assist in establishing these sanctioned sites. In addition, we ask for the State’s support of the Oregon Mayor’s Association Taskforce on Homelessness’ request for a budget package totaling $123 million ongoing annually, during the 2023 Legislative Session to provide direct allocations to cities for homelessness response and prevention services.
| | | | Over the past few weeks, hundreds of Portlanders have sent letters and emails to my office voicing support for this plan. My team and I are working around the clock to keep the momentum going. You can share your thoughts and feedback with me directly by emailing: mayorwheeler@... | | | | | | | |
|
|
|
-- Tim McCormick
Housing Alternatives Network +1 503.334.1894.
-- Ashley Schofield (she/them) Beacon Village
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|
|
Well said Andy!
No single success or failure is final, all that counts is the courage to continue on. Sent from my cell phone 503.705.7609
On Dec 3, 2022, at 10:40 PM, Andrew Olshin <Andrew.Olshin@...> wrote:
Hi folks. Thanks David, Donna and Tim. Just thought I’d share some thoughts as shabbat comes to a close:
- After spending a significant amount of time talking with Sam Adams on election night - at a party for one of my favorite people, Dr. and Commissioner Sharon Meieran, I realized that the Mayor’s Office is doing what it is supposed to do. Thank you Mr. Mayor. They are looking out for the whole City. They tried to figure out why the County and their JOHS have not been able to develop more alternative shelter options. Then they decided to make some bold moves. Now, it's up to us to give them CONSTRUCTIVE feedback. They obviously want this to be successful. MAYBE WE SHOULD HELP THEM work through how many units could safely and sanely be configured on a 2 acre parcel. BTW, that’s almost 90,000 sq. feet. Perhaps the homes could be clustered in smaller micro villages of 16 units each with their own porta potties, trash enclosure and power source ? Cascadia Clusters has taken it upon ourselves to build a prototype that could be built by 2 sober individuals (while building) with some hands on advice by Bob Brimmer et al. in 2 -3 days. Stay tuned for more pictures (below) next week.
- The City knows how to develop small villages: Beacon Village was developed in 6 months - with the direct help of a team of City folks led by Senior Planners, Matt Wickstrom (Zoning, Land Use) and Terry Whitehill (Permits) and an amazingly overqualified architect, Sermin Yesilada. Agape Village is a gem. Pastor Huff hand carried permit waiver applications from Bureau to Bureau in 2019 - again Wickstrom and Whitehill helped. In 2018, Matt and Terry helped Catholic Charities move the sadly inadequate 1st Kenton Women’s Village into a small, City-owned site now busting at the seams with units built by an array of private contracting companies led by Scott Kotlarz of LMC Construction.
- Thank you Dan Ryan for continuing in the wake of Nick Fish (the only elected official to join and sit in on meetings of the Village Coalition) by pushing the SRV’s forward - luckily we learned a lot from the C3PO villages. Please stay the course. Also, thank you Dan Ryan for visiting the Simone Weil House. They are an amazing group.
- I was heartened by the valiant efforts of Dr. Meieran to say out loud what many did not want to hear. THIS IS A PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY. I hope and pray that our incoming County Chair puts away the rhetoric of the campaign and reaches out, humbly (as we all should) and asks Dr. Meieran to represent the Chair's Office and the whole county as the Homelessness Czarina - maybe draft her to head up the JOHS? 100,000+ folks voted for Dr. Meieran, believing her to be the only elected official qualified to lead our community out of this public health crisis.
Again, just thought I’d share. I have been in touch with Skyler and Sam with the Mayor’s Office about our efforts. Both have encouraged our efforts.
Cheers, Andy Olshin
<FE1914E9-77AD-48DC-A550-66D4E85770A2.jpeg> <BA79B67A-6463-45DA-83DE-339D2E8450F4.jpeg> On Dec 3, 2022, at 8:52 PM, Donna Cohen < dcohen@...> wrote:
David, thanks for your thoughts. And, to Andy Olshin, who I recently talked to [and who posted some plans here], I was heartened to hear about solid ideas for modifying what to many of us seems to be a heartless approach to helping houseless folks by presenting a plan for hundreds to be housed together. , too, am supportive of models, such as you cite [WeShine, Dignity Village, etc. etc.] What I haven’t seen is the city moving to incorporate these ideas into city plans, nor have I seen the city even in dialog with folks associated with these options – that is, until I spoke with Andy recently. Still, as much as the city may be doing behind the scenes it sure would help – and tamp down criticism; perhaps even turning it into support – if any efforts to work with those orgs who have developed good models would be made public. I know that I – and others I know – would be less inclined to complain if we knew that the city was in serious dialog with people like you, and Tim and Janet and Andy. Thanks.
Donna Donna L Cohen, MLIS, MEd Portland, Oregon 503-737-1425 Civics for Adults – and Others – Workshops: To Enhance Civic Knowledge and Inspire Political Engagement In response to a recent post, the “elites" supported the Metro Bond measure and are footing the tax bill, with the expectation that funds would be used to address the humanitarian crisis on our streets, which impacts all Portlanders, especially the unhoused. All taxpayers are rightfully upset with the county (which controls houseless policy and $s) for virtually ignoring the crisis of unsheltered Portlanders. The city is simply reacting, albeit with a plan that is far from perfect, to the over 80% of Portlanders (not just the elite) who want to see action which is both humanitarian and also improves the quality of life for all Portlanders. I have personally been delivering survival items weekly to my unhoused neighbors for the past two years. People are suffering and dying on our streets. What kind of people are we that we are not providing decent shelter and needed addiction/mental health services to people eeking out an existence on our streets? We cannot just wait for adequate housing before we reach out and serve unsheltered Portlanders. If Portland were hit with a 9.0 earthquake and 50,000 people lost their housing, would we be promoting "housing first" before shelter and expect people to live on the streets and wait years before having adequate shelter? Pdxshelterforum is a forum (I think THE forum) for sharing ideas and solutions regarding positive shelter options. I’m consistently disappointed to see the vast majority of the entries focusing on complaints rather than solutions. Let’s stop criticizing the Mayor’s imperfect plan and put our collective intelligence to use in helping the city design a shelter strategy that works!! My hats off to Tim McCormick and Andy Olshin and groups like Shelter Now and We Shine Pdx that are working on positive solutions. Let’s have Lisa Larson from Dignity Village sit down with the Mayor and Dan Ryan’s Safe Rest Village Team and talk about how self governance can result in a village which not only is far more cost effective but also sets higher standards for its residents. Let’s ask our friends at Mercy Corps how they would design a shelter system if Portland were hit with an earthquake. And let’s tap the idealism of our frustrated young people and put them to work creating solutions rather than vandalizing property. (Did you know that the construction of the original Dignity Village involved a significant contribution by Americord volunteers?) Just like JFK tapped the idealism of America’s youth when he announced the Peace Corps, Ted Wheeler should do the same around Portland’s crisis today. The Mayor is right with his overarching goal of ending unsheltered homelessness. Let’s use the incredible knowledge base that exists in Portland to help Ted Wheeler be successful by designing a plan for shelter that will end our humanitarian crisis on the streets, meet the needs of our unhoused neighbors, and get us back on the road to being a livable city for all.
In case anyone in your networks is asking about the SHS funding logistics and specifically agreeing with what Mayor Wheeler is proposing, take a look at this really good interview that KGW did with Metro this week: The City is trying to take money from the County to implement not only a dangerous plan, but an impossible, go-it-alone plan. In my opinion, it's all a distraction because the Portland elite don't want to help the housing crisis or our unhoused neighbors. They want to continue to sweep it away as always. Thank you for all that is done in this network to do something different. Keep going. Keep fighting. ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Mayor Ted Wheeler < mayorwheeler@...> Date: Thu, Dec 1, 2022 at 2:16 PM Subject: City Approves $27M Down Payment for Sanctioned Campsite Plan To: Portlander | | | | | | Dear Portlander, Yesterday, my colleagues on the Portland City Council voted in-favor of a significant down payment toward building six sanctioned campsites—a proposal that’s part of the “Five Resolution Plan” I brought to Council, co-sponsored by Commissioner Ryan. The City Council’s approval of these affordable housing and homelessness investments demonstrates our seriousness in addressing these issues and allows us to continue moving forward on this plan—and we’re gaining momentum! In recent weeks, my team and I held virtual community meetings to provide an opportunity for stakeholders to share their concerns and gain feedback on designated campsites. We met with service providers—both local and national—who could potentially partner with us on this effort, and we’ve worked to narrow down site location selections. I’ve continued outreach and fundraising efforts with partners at the State, Metro, and County. I recently met with Governor-Elect Tina Kotek and Multnomah County Chair-Elect Jessica Vega Pederson who both showed support for our plan. | | | | The $27M down payment is a substantial investment from the City of Portland and I am proud that we are leading this effort so widely supported by the community. However, the success of this work hinges on federal, regional, state, and local partners coming to the table with their ideas, services, and resources. We have made clear asks to our government partners to support specific funding requests and services needed to help ensure this plan is successful: - Multnomah County to provide $21 million to fund the capital and operations costs for 3 of the 6 sanctioned sites, behavioral and mental health resources, data, and housing navigation. The County has over $33 million in both over collected and underspent resources through both the Joint Office of Homeless Services and the region’s Supportive Housing Services funding provided to the County.
- Metro to lead a process in 2023 to revisit the regional Supportive Housing Services measure allocation formula for both existing funding allocations and managing unanticipated revenue collections.
- State of Oregon to declare a State of Emergency on Homelessness and assist in establishing these sanctioned sites. In addition, we ask for the State’s support of the Oregon Mayor’s Association Taskforce on Homelessness’ request for a budget package totaling $123 million ongoing annually, during the 2023 Legislative Session to provide direct allocations to cities for homelessness response and prevention services.
| | | | Over the past few weeks, hundreds of Portlanders have sent letters and emails to my office voicing support for this plan. My team and I are working around the clock to keep the momentum going. You can share your thoughts and feedback with me directly by emailing: mayorwheeler@... | | Sincerely, | | Ted | | | |
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-- Tim McCormick
Housing Alternatives Network
-- Ashley Schofield (she/them)
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Hello all,
Hi Trena, in this instance from the little i know
about what is on the table here i share your concerns regarding
peoples safety.
Forgive me for asking a question that if i was closer
to your neighborhood and followed this quest closer i might know
the answer.
However is an element of establishing this camp used
as a legitimization of making camping anywhere else in the
Portland area no longer something people will be able to get away
with?
Thank you for your consideration,
Sincerely,
Jayme Delson
On 12/3/2022 11:30 PM, Trena Sutton
wrote:
toggle quoted message
Show quoted text
This action is poorly planned. The city sanctioned
a piece of land near Emmanuel hospital called Forgotten Realms.
They supplied two ports potties and limited garbage pick up.
It had approximately 30 people and despite
people attempting to help it ended up as a sewer
Violence was the norm. Needles everywhere as
well as theft. I personally witnessed domestic abuse and had
to intervene. It really was a cesspool.
Keep in mind that camp held 30 people do how
would a camp having over triple be maintained. They can have
compliance people but it will end up the same way. I'm also
concerned about the women in these 'sanctioned camps', With so
many people how would their safety be handled.
All
Metro taxpayers are not footing the bill. The only Metro
taxpayers who pay the Metro Homeless Services Tax are
individuals making over $125K, couples making over $200K and
businesses over $5 million. And the Portland Business
Alliance was a supporter of the tax. The vast majority of
Portlanders don’t pay a cent. An earlier post said the
elites don’t want to help the housing crisis; but the
reality is that they are paying the bill for solving it.
On Dec 3, 2022, at 8:59 PM, Aisha Musa < draymusa@...>
wrote:
I believe a broad cross section
of Metro voters supported the bond measure and all
metro taxpayers are footing the bill, not just
Portland's most privileged elites. Dignity Village
has been around for more than two decades. The
question is why are they not already at the
Mayor's planning table? None of what we are
experiencing is new or unexpected.
According to Metro's progress report, more the
1600 people have moved from the streets into house
and more than 9,000 were kept from falling into
homelessness from evictions ( https://www.oregonmetro.gov/public-projects/supportive-housing-services/progress),
so progress is being made.
Dr. Aisha Y.
Musa
AYM
Education and Consulting
In response to a recent post,
the “elites" supported the Metro Bond measure
and are footing the tax bill, with the
expectation that funds would be used to
address the humanitarian crisis on our
streets, which impacts all Portlanders,
especially the unhoused. All taxpayers are
rightfully upset with the county (which
controls houseless policy and $s) for
virtually ignoring the crisis of unsheltered
Portlanders. The city is simply reacting,
albeit with a plan that is far from perfect,
to the over 80% of Portlanders (not just the
elite) who want to see action which is both
humanitarian and also improves the quality of
life for all Portlanders. I have personally
been delivering survival items weekly to my
unhoused neighbors for the past two years.
People are suffering and dying on our
streets. What kind of people are we that we
are not providing decent shelter and needed
addiction/mental health services to people
eeking out an existence on our streets? We
cannot just wait for adequate housing before
we reach out and serve unsheltered
Portlanders. If Portland were hit with a 9.0
earthquake and 50,000 people lost their
housing, would we be promoting "housing first"
before shelter and expect people to live on
the streets and wait years before having
adequate shelter? Pdxshelterforum is a forum
(I think THE forum) for sharing ideas and
solutions regarding positive shelter options.
I’m consistently disappointed to see the vast
majority of the entries focusing on complaints
rather than solutions. Let’s stop criticizing
the Mayor’s imperfect plan and put our
collective intelligence to use in helping the
city design a shelter strategy that works!!
My hats off to Tim McCormick and Andy Olshin
and groups like Shelter Now and We Shine Pdx
that are working on positive solutions. Let’s
have Lisa Larson from Dignity Village sit down
with the Mayor and Dan Ryan’s Safe Rest
Village Team and talk about how self
governance can result in a village which not
only is far more cost effective but also sets
higher standards for its residents. Let’s ask
our friends at Mercy Corps how they would
design a shelter system if Portland were hit
with an earthquake. And let’s tap the
idealism of our frustrated young people and
put them to work creating solutions rather
than vandalizing property. (Did you know that
the construction of the original Dignity
Village involved a significant contribution
by Americord volunteers?) Just like JFK
tapped the idealism of America’s youth when he
announced the Peace Corps, Ted Wheeler should
do the same around Portland’s crisis today.
The Mayor is right with his overarching goal
of ending unsheltered homelessness. Let’s use
the incredible knowledge base that exists in
Portland to help Ted Wheeler be successful by
designing a plan for shelter that will end our
humanitarian crisis on the streets, meet the
needs of our unhoused neighbors, and get us
back on the road to being a livable city for
all.
In case anyone in your
networks is asking about the SHS
funding logistics and specifically
agreeing with what Mayor Wheeler is
proposing, take a look at this
really good interview that KGW did
with Metro this week:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVUMlZIl_V0
The City is trying to take
money from the County to
implement not only a dangerous
plan, but an impossible,
go-it-alone plan. In my opinion,
it's all a distraction because
the Portland elite don't want to
help the housing crisis or our
unhoused neighbors. They want to
continue to sweep it away as
always.
Thank you for all that is
done in this network to do
something different. Keep going.
Keep fighting.
---------- Forwarded message
---------
From: Mayor Ted
Wheeler <mayorwheeler@...>
Date: Thu, Dec 1, 2022 at
2:16 PM
Subject: City Approves $27M
Down Payment for Sanctioned
Campsite Plan
To: Portlander
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dear
Portlander,
Yesterday,
my colleagues
on the
Portland City
Council voted
in-favor of a
significant
down payment
toward
building six
sanctioned
campsites—a
proposal
that’s part of
the “Five
Resolution
Plan” I brought to Council,
co-sponsored
by
Commissioner
Ryan.
The City
Council’s
approval of
these
affordable
housing and
homelessness
investments
demonstrates
our
seriousness in
addressing
these issues
and allows us
to continue
moving forward
on this plan—and
we’re gaining
momentum!
In recent
weeks, my team
and I held virtual
community
meetings
to provide an
opportunity
for
stakeholders
to share their
concerns and
gain feedback
on designated
campsites. We
met
with service
providers—both
local and
national—who
could
potentially
partner with
us on this
effort, and
we’ve worked
to narrow down
site location
selections.
I’ve continued
outreach and
fundraising
efforts with
partners at
the State,
Metro, and
County. I
recently met
with
Governor-Elect
Tina Kotek
and Multnomah
County
Chair-Elect
Jessica Vega
Pederson who
both showed
support for
our plan.
|
|
|
|
|
|
The
$27M down
payment is a
substantial
investment
from the City
of Portland
and I am proud
that we are
leading this
effort so
widely
supported by
the community.
However, the success of this work hinges on federal,
regional,
state, and
local partners
coming to the
table with
their ideas,
services, and
resources.
We
have made
clear asks to
our government
partners to
support
specific
funding
requests and
services
needed to help
ensure this
plan is
successful:
-
Multnomah County to provide $21 million to
fund the
capital and
operations
costs for 3 of
the 6
sanctioned
sites,
behavioral and
mental health
resources,
data, and
housing
navigation.
The County has
over $33
million in
both over
collected and
underspent
resources
through both
the Joint
Office of
Homeless
Services and
the region’s
Supportive
Housing
Services
funding
provided to
the County.
-
Metro
to lead a
process in
2023 to revisit
the regional
Supportive
Housing
Services
measure
allocation
formula for
both existing
funding
allocations
and managing
unanticipated
revenue
collections.
-
State of Oregon
to declare a State of Emergency on Homelessness and assist in establishing these
sanctioned
sites. In
addition, we
ask for the
State’s
support of the
Oregon Mayor’s
Association
Taskforce on
Homelessness’
request
for a budget
package
totaling $123
million
ongoing
annually,
during the
2023
Legislative
Session to
provide direct
allocations to
cities for
homelessness
response and
prevention
services.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Over
the past few
weeks,
hundreds of
Portlanders
have sent
letters and
emails to my
office voicing
support for
this plan. My
team and I are
working around
the clock to
keep the
momentum
going.
You can share your thoughts and feedback
with me
directly by
emailing: mayorwheeler@...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
--
--
Tim
McCormick
Housing
Alternatives
Network
+1
503.334.1894.
--
Ashley
Schofield (she/them)
Beacon Village
|
|
|
This action is poorly planned. The city sanctioned a piece of land near Emmanuel hospital called Forgotten Realms. They supplied two ports potties and limited garbage pick up.
It had approximately 30 people and despite people attempting to help it ended up as a sewer Violence was the norm. Needles everywhere as well as theft. I personally witnessed domestic abuse and had to intervene. It really was a cesspool.
Keep in mind that camp held 30 people do how would a camp having over triple be maintained. They can have compliance people but it will end up the same way. I'm also concerned about the women in these 'sanctioned camps', With so many people how would their safety be handled.
All Metro taxpayers are not footing the bill. The only Metro taxpayers who pay the Metro Homeless Services Tax are individuals making over $125K, couples making over $200K and businesses over $5 million. And the Portland Business Alliance was a supporter of the tax. The vast majority of Portlanders don’t pay a cent. An earlier post said the elites don’t want to help the housing crisis; but the reality is that they are paying the bill for solving it. On Dec 3, 2022, at 8:59 PM, Aisha Musa < draymusa@...> wrote:
I believe a broad cross section of Metro voters supported the bond measure and all metro taxpayers are footing the bill, not just Portland's most privileged elites. Dignity Village has been around for more than two decades. The question is why are they not already at the Mayor's planning table? None of what we are experiencing is new or unexpected. According to Metro's progress report, more the 1600 people have moved from the streets into house and more than 9,000 were kept from falling into homelessness from evictions ( https://www.oregonmetro.gov/public-projects/supportive-housing-services/progress), so progress is being made.
Dr. Aisha Y. Musa AYM Education and Consulting
In response to a recent post, the “elites" supported the Metro Bond measure and are footing the tax bill, with the expectation that funds would be used to address the humanitarian crisis on our streets, which impacts all Portlanders, especially the unhoused. All taxpayers are rightfully upset with the county (which controls houseless policy and $s) for virtually ignoring the crisis of unsheltered Portlanders. The city is simply reacting, albeit with a plan that is far from perfect, to the over 80% of Portlanders (not just the elite) who want to see action which is both humanitarian and also improves the quality of life for all Portlanders. I have personally been delivering survival items weekly to my unhoused neighbors for the past two years. People are suffering and dying on our streets. What kind of people are we that we are not providing decent shelter and needed addiction/mental health services to people eeking out an existence on our streets? We cannot just wait for adequate housing before we reach out and serve unsheltered Portlanders. If Portland were hit with a 9.0 earthquake and 50,000 people lost their housing, would we be promoting "housing first" before shelter and expect people to live on the streets and wait years before having adequate shelter? Pdxshelterforum is a forum (I think THE forum) for sharing ideas and solutions regarding positive shelter options. I’m consistently disappointed to see the vast majority of the entries focusing on complaints rather than solutions. Let’s stop criticizing the Mayor’s imperfect plan and put our collective intelligence to use in helping the city design a shelter strategy that works!! My hats off to Tim McCormick and Andy Olshin and groups like Shelter Now and We Shine Pdx that are working on positive solutions. Let’s have Lisa Larson from Dignity Village sit down with the Mayor and Dan Ryan’s Safe Rest Village Team and talk about how self governance can result in a village which not only is far more cost effective but also sets higher standards for its residents. Let’s ask our friends at Mercy Corps how they would design a shelter system if Portland were hit with an earthquake. And let’s tap the idealism of our frustrated young people and put them to work creating solutions rather than vandalizing property. (Did you know that the construction of the original Dignity Village involved a significant contribution by Americord volunteers?) Just like JFK tapped the idealism of America’s youth when he announced the Peace Corps, Ted Wheeler should do the same around Portland’s crisis today. The Mayor is right with his overarching goal of ending unsheltered homelessness. Let’s use the incredible knowledge base that exists in Portland to help Ted Wheeler be successful by designing a plan for shelter that will end our humanitarian crisis on the streets, meet the needs of our unhoused neighbors, and get us back on the road to being a livable city for all.
In case anyone in your networks is asking about the SHS funding logistics and specifically agreeing with what Mayor Wheeler is proposing, take a look at this really good interview that KGW did with Metro this week:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVUMlZIl_V0
The City is trying to take money from the County to implement not only a dangerous plan, but an impossible, go-it-alone plan. In my opinion, it's all a distraction because the Portland elite don't want to help the housing crisis or our unhoused neighbors. They want to continue to sweep it away as always.
Thank you for all that is done in this network to do something different. Keep going. Keep fighting.
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Mayor Ted Wheeler <mayorwheeler@...>Date: Thu, Dec 1, 2022 at 2:16 PM Subject: City Approves $27M Down Payment for Sanctioned Campsite Plan To: Portlander
| | | | | | Dear Portlander, Yesterday, my colleagues on the Portland City Council voted in-favor of a significant down payment toward building six sanctioned campsites—a proposal that’s part of the “Five Resolution Plan” I brought to Council, co-sponsored by Commissioner Ryan. The City Council’s approval of these affordable housing and homelessness investments demonstrates our seriousness in addressing these issues and allows us to continue moving forward on this plan—and we’re gaining momentum! In recent weeks, my team and I held virtual community meetings to provide an opportunity for stakeholders to share their concerns and gain feedback on designated campsites. We met with service providers—both local and national—who could potentially partner with us on this effort, and we’ve worked to narrow down site location selections. I’ve continued outreach and fundraising efforts with partners at the State, Metro, and County. I recently met with Governor-Elect Tina Kotek and Multnomah County Chair-Elect Jessica Vega Pederson who both showed support for our plan. | | | | The $27M down payment is a substantial investment from the City of Portland and I am proud that we are leading this effort so widely supported by the community. However, the success of this work hinges on federal, regional, state, and local partners coming to the table with their ideas, services, and resources. We have made clear asks to our government partners to support specific funding requests and services needed to help ensure this plan is successful: Multnomah County to provide $21 million to fund the capital and operations costs for 3 of the 6 sanctioned sites, behavioral and mental health resources, data, and housing navigation. The County has over $33 million in both over collected and underspent resources through both the Joint Office of Homeless Services and the region’s Supportive Housing Services funding provided to the County.
Metro to lead a process in 2023 to revisit the regional Supportive Housing Services measure allocation formula for both existing funding allocations and managing unanticipated revenue collections.
State of Oregon to declare a State of Emergency on Homelessness and assist in establishing these sanctioned sites. In addition, we ask for the State’s support of the Oregon Mayor’s Association Taskforce on Homelessness’ request for a budget package totaling $123 million ongoing annually, during the 2023 Legislative Session to provide direct allocations to cities for homelessness response and prevention services.
| | | | Over the past few weeks, hundreds of Portlanders have sent letters and emails to my office voicing support for this plan. My team and I are working around the clock to keep the momentum going. You can share your thoughts and feedback with me directly by emailing: mayorwheeler@... | | | | | | | |
|
|
|
-- Tim McCormick
Housing Alternatives Network +1 503.334.1894.
-- Ashley Schofield (she/them) Beacon Village
|
|
|
All Metro taxpayers are not footing the bill. The only Metro taxpayers who pay the Metro Homeless Services Tax are individuals making over $125K, couples making over $200K and businesses over $5 million. And the Portland Business Alliance was a supporter of the tax. The vast majority of Portlanders don’t pay a cent. An earlier post said the elites don’t want to help the housing crisis; but the reality is that they are paying the bill for solving it.
On Dec 3, 2022, at 8:59 PM, Aisha Musa < draymusa@...> wrote:
I believe a broad cross section of Metro voters supported the bond measure and all metro taxpayers are footing the bill, not just Portland's most privileged elites. Dignity Village has been around for more than two decades. The question is why are they not already at the Mayor's planning table? None of what we are experiencing is new or unexpected. According to Metro's progress report, more the 1600 people have moved from the streets into house and more than 9,000 were kept from falling into homelessness from evictions ( https://www.oregonmetro.gov/public-projects/supportive-housing-services/progress), so progress is being made.
Dr. Aisha Y. Musa AYM Education and Consulting
In response to a recent post, the “elites" supported the Metro Bond measure and are footing the tax bill, with the expectation that funds would be used to address the humanitarian crisis on our streets, which impacts all Portlanders, especially the unhoused. All taxpayers are rightfully upset with the county (which controls houseless policy and $s) for virtually ignoring the crisis of unsheltered Portlanders. The city is simply reacting, albeit with a plan that is far from perfect, to the over 80% of Portlanders (not just the elite) who want to see action which is both humanitarian and also improves the quality of life for all Portlanders. I have personally been delivering survival items weekly to my unhoused neighbors for the past two years. People are suffering and dying on our streets. What kind of people are we that we are not providing decent shelter and needed addiction/mental health services to people eeking out an existence on our streets? We cannot just wait for adequate housing before we reach out and serve unsheltered Portlanders. If Portland were hit with a 9.0 earthquake and 50,000 people lost their housing, would we be promoting "housing first" before shelter and expect people to live on the streets and wait years before having adequate shelter? Pdxshelterforum is a forum (I think THE forum) for sharing ideas and solutions regarding positive shelter options. I’m consistently disappointed to see the vast majority of the entries focusing on complaints rather than solutions. Let’s stop criticizing the Mayor’s imperfect plan and put our collective intelligence to use in helping the city design a shelter strategy that works!! My hats off to Tim McCormick and Andy Olshin and groups like Shelter Now and We Shine Pdx that are working on positive solutions. Let’s have Lisa Larson from Dignity Village sit down with the Mayor and Dan Ryan’s Safe Rest Village Team and talk about how self governance can result in a village which not only is far more cost effective but also sets higher standards for its residents. Let’s ask our friends at Mercy Corps how they would design a shelter system if Portland were hit with an earthquake. And let’s tap the idealism of our frustrated young people and put them to work creating solutions rather than vandalizing property. (Did you know that the construction of the original Dignity Village involved a significant contribution by Americord volunteers?) Just like JFK tapped the idealism of America’s youth when he announced the Peace Corps, Ted Wheeler should do the same around Portland’s crisis today. The Mayor is right with his overarching goal of ending unsheltered homelessness. Let’s use the incredible knowledge base that exists in Portland to help Ted Wheeler be successful by designing a plan for shelter that will end our humanitarian crisis on the streets, meet the needs of our unhoused neighbors, and get us back on the road to being a livable city for all.
In case anyone in your networks is asking about the SHS funding logistics and specifically agreeing with what Mayor Wheeler is proposing, take a look at this really good interview that KGW did with Metro this week:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVUMlZIl_V0
The City is trying to take money from the County to implement not only a dangerous plan, but an impossible, go-it-alone plan. In my opinion, it's all a distraction because the Portland elite don't want to help the housing crisis or our unhoused neighbors. They want to continue to sweep it away as always.
Thank you for all that is done in this network to do something different. Keep going. Keep fighting.
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Mayor Ted Wheeler <mayorwheeler@...>Date: Thu, Dec 1, 2022 at 2:16 PM Subject: City Approves $27M Down Payment for Sanctioned Campsite Plan To: Portlander
| | | | | | Dear Portlander, Yesterday, my colleagues on the Portland City Council voted in-favor of a significant down payment toward building six sanctioned campsites—a proposal that’s part of the “Five Resolution Plan” I brought to Council, co-sponsored by Commissioner Ryan. The City Council’s approval of these affordable housing and homelessness investments demonstrates our seriousness in addressing these issues and allows us to continue moving forward on this plan—and we’re gaining momentum! In recent weeks, my team and I held virtual community meetings to provide an opportunity for stakeholders to share their concerns and gain feedback on designated campsites. We met with service providers—both local and national—who could potentially partner with us on this effort, and we’ve worked to narrow down site location selections. I’ve continued outreach and fundraising efforts with partners at the State, Metro, and County. I recently met with Governor-Elect Tina Kotek and Multnomah County Chair-Elect Jessica Vega Pederson who both showed support for our plan. | | | | The $27M down payment is a substantial investment from the City of Portland and I am proud that we are leading this effort so widely supported by the community. However, the success of this work hinges on federal, regional, state, and local partners coming to the table with their ideas, services, and resources. We have made clear asks to our government partners to support specific funding requests and services needed to help ensure this plan is successful: Multnomah County to provide $21 million to fund the capital and operations costs for 3 of the 6 sanctioned sites, behavioral and mental health resources, data, and housing navigation. The County has over $33 million in both over collected and underspent resources through both the Joint Office of Homeless Services and the region’s Supportive Housing Services funding provided to the County.
Metro to lead a process in 2023 to revisit the regional Supportive Housing Services measure allocation formula for both existing funding allocations and managing unanticipated revenue collections.
State of Oregon to declare a State of Emergency on Homelessness and assist in establishing these sanctioned sites. In addition, we ask for the State’s support of the Oregon Mayor’s Association Taskforce on Homelessness’ request for a budget package totaling $123 million ongoing annually, during the 2023 Legislative Session to provide direct allocations to cities for homelessness response and prevention services.
| | | | Over the past few weeks, hundreds of Portlanders have sent letters and emails to my office voicing support for this plan. My team and I are working around the clock to keep the momentum going. You can share your thoughts and feedback with me directly by emailing: mayorwheeler@... | | | | | | | |
|
|
|
-- Tim McCormick
Housing Alternatives Network +1 503.334.1894.
-- Ashley Schofield (she/them) Beacon Village
|
|
|
Hi folks. Thanks David, Donna and Tim. Just thought I’d share some thoughts as shabbat comes to a close:
- After spending a significant amount of time talking with Sam Adams on election night - at a party for one of my favorite people, Dr. and Commissioner Sharon Meieran, I realized that the Mayor’s Office is doing what it is supposed to do. Thank you Mr. Mayor. They are looking out for the whole City. They tried to figure out why the County and their JOHS have not been able to develop more alternative shelter options. Then they decided to make some bold moves. Now, it's up to us to give them CONSTRUCTIVE feedback. They obviously want this to be successful. MAYBE WE SHOULD HELP THEM work through how many units could safely and sanely be configured on a 2 acre parcel. BTW, that’s almost 90,000 sq. feet. Perhaps the homes could be clustered in smaller micro villages of 16 units each with their own porta potties, trash enclosure and power source ? Cascadia Clusters has taken it upon ourselves to build a prototype that could be built by 2 sober individuals (while building) with some hands on advice by Bob Brimmer et al. in 2 -3 days. Stay tuned for more pictures (below) next week.
- The City knows how to develop small villages: Beacon Village was developed in 6 months - with the direct help of a team of City folks led by Senior Planners, Matt Wickstrom (Zoning, Land Use) and Terry Whitehill (Permits) and an amazingly overqualified architect, Sermin Yesilada. Agape Village is a gem. Pastor Huff hand carried permit waiver applications from Bureau to Bureau in 2019 - again Wickstrom and Whitehill helped. In 2018, Matt and Terry helped Catholic Charities move the sadly inadequate 1st Kenton Women’s Village into a small, City-owned site now busting at the seams with units built by an array of private contracting companies led by Scott Kotlarz of LMC Construction.
- Thank you Dan Ryan for continuing in the wake of Nick Fish (the only elected official to join and sit in on meetings of the Village Coalition) by pushing the SRV’s forward - luckily we learned a lot from the C3PO villages. Please stay the course. Also, thank you Dan Ryan for visiting the Simone Weil House. They are an amazing group.
- I was heartened by the valiant efforts of Dr. Meieran to say out loud what many did not want to hear. THIS IS A PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCY. I hope and pray that our incoming County Chair puts away the rhetoric of the campaign and reaches out, humbly (as we all should) and asks Dr. Meieran to represent the Chair's Office and the whole county as the Homelessness Czarina - maybe draft her to head up the JOHS? 100,000+ folks voted for Dr. Meieran, believing her to be the only elected official qualified to lead our community out of this public health crisis.
Again, just thought I’d share. I have been in touch with Skyler and Sam with the Mayor’s Office about our efforts. Both have encouraged our efforts.
Cheers, Andy Olshin
 
On Dec 3, 2022, at 8:52 PM, Donna Cohen < dcohen@...> wrote:
David, thanks for your thoughts. And, to Andy Olshin, who I recently talked to [and who posted some plans here], I was heartened to hear about solid ideas for modifying what to many of us seems to be a heartless approach to helping houseless folks by presenting a plan for hundreds to be housed together. , too, am supportive of models, such as you cite [WeShine, Dignity Village, etc. etc.] What I haven’t seen is the city moving to incorporate these ideas into city plans, nor have I seen the city even in dialog with folks associated with these options – that is, until I spoke with Andy recently. Still, as much as the city may be doing behind the scenes it sure would help – and tamp down criticism; perhaps even turning it into support – if any efforts to work with those orgs who have developed good models would be made public. I know that I – and others I know – would be less inclined to complain if we knew that the city was in serious dialog with people like you, and Tim and Janet and Andy. Thanks.
Donna Donna L Cohen, MLIS, MEd Portland, Oregon 503-737-1425 Civics for Adults – and Others – Workshops: To Enhance Civic Knowledge and Inspire Political Engagement In response to a recent post, the “elites" supported the Metro Bond measure and are footing the tax bill, with the expectation that funds would be used to address the humanitarian crisis on our streets, which impacts all Portlanders, especially the unhoused. All taxpayers are rightfully upset with the county (which controls houseless policy and $s) for virtually ignoring the crisis of unsheltered Portlanders. The city is simply reacting, albeit with a plan that is far from perfect, to the over 80% of Portlanders (not just the elite) who want to see action which is both humanitarian and also improves the quality of life for all Portlanders. I have personally been delivering survival items weekly to my unhoused neighbors for the past two years. People are suffering and dying on our streets. What kind of people are we that we are not providing decent shelter and needed addiction/mental health services to people eeking out an existence on our streets? We cannot just wait for adequate housing before we reach out and serve unsheltered Portlanders. If Portland were hit with a 9.0 earthquake and 50,000 people lost their housing, would we be promoting "housing first" before shelter and expect people to live on the streets and wait years before having adequate shelter? Pdxshelterforum is a forum (I think THE forum) for sharing ideas and solutions regarding positive shelter options. I’m consistently disappointed to see the vast majority of the entries focusing on complaints rather than solutions. Let’s stop criticizing the Mayor’s imperfect plan and put our collective intelligence to use in helping the city design a shelter strategy that works!! My hats off to Tim McCormick and Andy Olshin and groups like Shelter Now and We Shine Pdx that are working on positive solutions. Let’s have Lisa Larson from Dignity Village sit down with the Mayor and Dan Ryan’s Safe Rest Village Team and talk about how self governance can result in a village which not only is far more cost effective but also sets higher standards for its residents. Let’s ask our friends at Mercy Corps how they would design a shelter system if Portland were hit with an earthquake. And let’s tap the idealism of our frustrated young people and put them to work creating solutions rather than vandalizing property. (Did you know that the construction of the original Dignity Village involved a significant contribution by Americord volunteers?) Just like JFK tapped the idealism of America’s youth when he announced the Peace Corps, Ted Wheeler should do the same around Portland’s crisis today. The Mayor is right with his overarching goal of ending unsheltered homelessness. Let’s use the incredible knowledge base that exists in Portland to help Ted Wheeler be successful by designing a plan for shelter that will end our humanitarian crisis on the streets, meet the needs of our unhoused neighbors, and get us back on the road to being a livable city for all.
In case anyone in your networks is asking about the SHS funding logistics and specifically agreeing with what Mayor Wheeler is proposing, take a look at this really good interview that KGW did with Metro this week: The City is trying to take money from the County to implement not only a dangerous plan, but an impossible, go-it-alone plan. In my opinion, it's all a distraction because the Portland elite don't want to help the housing crisis or our unhoused neighbors. They want to continue to sweep it away as always. Thank you for all that is done in this network to do something different. Keep going. Keep fighting. ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Mayor Ted Wheeler < mayorwheeler@...> Date: Thu, Dec 1, 2022 at 2:16 PM Subject: City Approves $27M Down Payment for Sanctioned Campsite Plan To: Portlander | | | | | | Dear Portlander, Yesterday, my colleagues on the Portland City Council voted in-favor of a significant down payment toward building six sanctioned campsites—a proposal that’s part of the “Five Resolution Plan” I brought to Council, co-sponsored by Commissioner Ryan. The City Council’s approval of these affordable housing and homelessness investments demonstrates our seriousness in addressing these issues and allows us to continue moving forward on this plan—and we’re gaining momentum! In recent weeks, my team and I held virtual community meetings to provide an opportunity for stakeholders to share their concerns and gain feedback on designated campsites. We met with service providers—both local and national—who could potentially partner with us on this effort, and we’ve worked to narrow down site location selections. I’ve continued outreach and fundraising efforts with partners at the State, Metro, and County. I recently met with Governor-Elect Tina Kotek and Multnomah County Chair-Elect Jessica Vega Pederson who both showed support for our plan. | | | | The $27M down payment is a substantial investment from the City of Portland and I am proud that we are leading this effort so widely supported by the community. However, the success of this work hinges on federal, regional, state, and local partners coming to the table with their ideas, services, and resources. We have made clear asks to our government partners to support specific funding requests and services needed to help ensure this plan is successful: - Multnomah County to provide $21 million to fund the capital and operations costs for 3 of the 6 sanctioned sites, behavioral and mental health resources, data, and housing navigation. The County has over $33 million in both over collected and underspent resources through both the Joint Office of Homeless Services and the region’s Supportive Housing Services funding provided to the County.
- Metro to lead a process in 2023 to revisit the regional Supportive Housing Services measure allocation formula for both existing funding allocations and managing unanticipated revenue collections.
- State of Oregon to declare a State of Emergency on Homelessness and assist in establishing these sanctioned sites. In addition, we ask for the State’s support of the Oregon Mayor’s Association Taskforce on Homelessness’ request for a budget package totaling $123 million ongoing annually, during the 2023 Legislative Session to provide direct allocations to cities for homelessness response and prevention services.
| | | | Over the past few weeks, hundreds of Portlanders have sent letters and emails to my office voicing support for this plan. My team and I are working around the clock to keep the momentum going. You can share your thoughts and feedback with me directly by emailing: mayorwheeler@... | | Sincerely, | | Ted | | | |
|
|
|
-- Tim McCormick
Housing Alternatives Network
-- Ashley Schofield (she/them)
|
|
|
thank you David, Donna, Aisha et al for these observations and encouragements. I expressed similar points in spoken testimony at the Nov 17 city Fall budget revision (BMP) meeting which focused on the "Five Resolutions Plan", and specifically called out Dignity Village as a key model to build on (and the Next City article about it from that day:
Also, called out Cascadia Clusters as offering work-training, self-building, & potentially housing development for the "camping sites". We are prototyping this now at our building/staging site, and doing our best to offer positive, resident-empowering, restorative, & concrete models, proposals, even prototypes & demos, to City staff.
thanks, Tim.
Bcc: Skyler Brocker-Knapp Sam Adams Cody Bowman Communications Lead
On Sat, Dec 3, 2022 at 9:02 PM Aisha Musa < draymusa@...> wrote: I believe a broad cross section of Metro voters supported the bond measure and all metro taxpayers are footing the bill, not just Portland's most privileged elites. Dignity Village has been around for more than two decades. The question is why are they not already at the Mayor's planning table? None of what we are experiencing is new or unexpected. According to Metro's progress report, more the 1600 people have moved from the streets into house and more than 9,000 were kept from falling into homelessness from evictions ( https://www.oregonmetro.gov/public-projects/supportive-housing-services/progress), so progress is being made.
Dr. Aisha Y. Musa AYM Education and Consulting
In response to a recent post, the “elites" supported the Metro Bond measure and are footing the tax bill, with the expectation that funds would be used to address the humanitarian crisis on our streets, which impacts all Portlanders, especially the unhoused. All taxpayers are rightfully upset with the county (which controls houseless policy and $s) for virtually ignoring the crisis of unsheltered Portlanders. The city is simply reacting, albeit with a plan that is far from perfect, to the over 80% of Portlanders (not just the elite) who want to see action which is both humanitarian and also improves the quality of life for all Portlanders. I have personally been delivering survival items weekly to my unhoused neighbors for the past two years. People are suffering and dying on our streets. What kind of people are we that we are not providing decent shelter and needed addiction/mental health services to people eeking out an existence on our streets? We cannot just wait for adequate housing before we reach out and serve unsheltered Portlanders. If Portland were hit with a 9.0 earthquake and 50,000 people lost their housing, would we be promoting "housing first" before shelter and expect people to live on the streets and wait years before having adequate shelter? Pdxshelterforum is a forum (I think THE forum) for sharing ideas and solutions regarding positive shelter options. I’m consistently disappointed to see the vast majority of the entries focusing on complaints rather than solutions. Let’s stop criticizing the Mayor’s imperfect plan and put our collective intelligence to use in helping the city design a shelter strategy that works!! My hats off to Tim McCormick and Andy Olshin and groups like Shelter Now and We Shine Pdx that are working on positive solutions. Let’s have Lisa Larson from Dignity Village sit down with the Mayor and Dan Ryan’s Safe Rest Village Team and talk about how self governance can result in a village which not only is far more cost effective but also sets higher standards for its residents. Let’s ask our friends at Mercy Corps how they would design a shelter system if Portland were hit with an earthquake. And let’s tap the idealism of our frustrated young people and put them to work creating solutions rather than vandalizing property. (Did you know that the construction of the original Dignity Village involved a significant contribution by Americord volunteers?) Just like JFK tapped the idealism of America’s youth when he announced the Peace Corps, Ted Wheeler should do the same around Portland’s crisis today. The Mayor is right with his overarching goal of ending unsheltered homelessness. Let’s use the incredible knowledge base that exists in Portland to help Ted Wheeler be successful by designing a plan for shelter that will end our humanitarian crisis on the streets, meet the needs of our unhoused neighbors, and get us back on the road to being a livable city for all.
In case anyone in your networks is asking about the SHS funding logistics and specifically agreeing with what Mayor Wheeler is proposing, take a look at this really good interview that KGW did with Metro this week:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVUMlZIl_V0
The City is trying to take money from the County to implement not only a dangerous plan, but an impossible, go-it-alone plan. In my opinion, it's all a distraction because the Portland elite don't want to help the housing crisis or our unhoused neighbors. They want to continue to sweep it away as always.
Thank you for all that is done in this network to do something different. Keep going. Keep fighting.
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Mayor Ted Wheeler <mayorwheeler@...>Date: Thu, Dec 1, 2022 at 2:16 PM Subject: City Approves $27M Down Payment for Sanctioned Campsite Plan To: Portlander
| | ![Logo]() | ![]() | | | Dear Portlander, Yesterday, my colleagues on the Portland City Council voted in-favor of a significant down payment toward building six sanctioned campsites—a proposal that’s part of the “Five Resolution Plan” I brought to Council, co-sponsored by Commissioner Ryan. The City Council’s approval of these affordable housing and homelessness investments demonstrates our seriousness in addressing these issues and allows us to continue moving forward on this plan—and we’re gaining momentum! In recent weeks, my team and I held virtual community meetings to provide an opportunity for stakeholders to share their concerns and gain feedback on designated campsites. We met with service providers—both local and national—who could potentially partner with us on this effort, and we’ve worked to narrow down site location selections. I’ve continued outreach and fundraising efforts with partners at the State, Metro, and County. I recently met with Governor-Elect Tina Kotek and Multnomah County Chair-Elect Jessica Vega Pederson who both showed support for our plan. | ![]() | | | The $27M down payment is a substantial investment from the City of Portland and I am proud that we are leading this effort so widely supported by the community. However, the success of this work hinges on federal, regional, state, and local partners coming to the table with their ideas, services, and resources. We have made clear asks to our government partners to support specific funding requests and services needed to help ensure this plan is successful: Multnomah County to provide $21 million to fund the capital and operations costs for 3 of the 6 sanctioned sites, behavioral and mental health resources, data, and housing navigation. The County has over $33 million in both over collected and underspent resources through both the Joint Office of Homeless Services and the region’s Supportive Housing Services funding provided to the County.
Metro to lead a process in 2023 to revisit the regional Supportive Housing Services measure allocation formula for both existing funding allocations and managing unanticipated revenue collections.
State of Oregon to declare a State of Emergency on Homelessness and assist in establishing these sanctioned sites. In addition, we ask for the State’s support of the Oregon Mayor’s Association Taskforce on Homelessness’ request for a budget package totaling $123 million ongoing annually, during the 2023 Legislative Session to provide direct allocations to cities for homelessness response and prevention services.
| ![]() | | | Over the past few weeks, hundreds of Portlanders have sent letters and emails to my office voicing support for this plan. My team and I are working around the clock to keep the momentum going. You can share your thoughts and feedback with me directly by emailing: mayorwheeler@... | | | ![]() | | | | |
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-- Tim McCormick
Housing Alternatives Network +1 503.334.1894.
-- Ashley Schofield (she/them) Beacon Village
-- -- Tim McCormick
Housing Alternatives Network +1 503.334.1894.
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|
|
I believe a broad cross section of Metro voters supported the bond measure and all metro taxpayers are footing the bill, not just Portland's most privileged elites. Dignity Village has been around for more than two decades. The question is why are they not already at the Mayor's planning table? None of what we are experiencing is new or unexpected. According to Metro's progress report, more the 1600 people have moved from the streets into house and more than 9,000 were kept from falling into homelessness from evictions ( https://www.oregonmetro.gov/public-projects/supportive-housing-services/progress), so progress is being made.
Dr. Aisha Y. Musa AYM Education and Consulting
In response to a recent post, the “elites" supported the Metro Bond measure and are footing the tax bill, with the expectation that funds would be used to address the humanitarian crisis on our streets, which impacts all Portlanders, especially the unhoused. All taxpayers are rightfully upset with the county (which controls houseless policy and $s) for virtually ignoring the crisis of unsheltered Portlanders. The city is simply reacting, albeit with a plan that is far from perfect, to the over 80% of Portlanders (not just the elite) who want to see action which is both humanitarian and also improves the quality of life for all Portlanders. I have personally been delivering survival items weekly to my unhoused neighbors for the past two years. People are suffering and dying on our streets. What kind of people are we that we are not providing decent shelter and needed addiction/mental health services to people eeking out an existence on our streets? We cannot just wait for adequate housing before we reach out and serve unsheltered Portlanders. If Portland were hit with a 9.0 earthquake and 50,000 people lost their housing, would we be promoting "housing first" before shelter and expect people to live on the streets and wait years before having adequate shelter? Pdxshelterforum is a forum (I think THE forum) for sharing ideas and solutions regarding positive shelter options. I’m consistently disappointed to see the vast majority of the entries focusing on complaints rather than solutions. Let’s stop criticizing the Mayor’s imperfect plan and put our collective intelligence to use in helping the city design a shelter strategy that works!! My hats off to Tim McCormick and Andy Olshin and groups like Shelter Now and We Shine Pdx that are working on positive solutions. Let’s have Lisa Larson from Dignity Village sit down with the Mayor and Dan Ryan’s Safe Rest Village Team and talk about how self governance can result in a village which not only is far more cost effective but also sets higher standards for its residents. Let’s ask our friends at Mercy Corps how they would design a shelter system if Portland were hit with an earthquake. And let’s tap the idealism of our frustrated young people and put them to work creating solutions rather than vandalizing property. (Did you know that the construction of the original Dignity Village involved a significant contribution by Americord volunteers?) Just like JFK tapped the idealism of America’s youth when he announced the Peace Corps, Ted Wheeler should do the same around Portland’s crisis today. The Mayor is right with his overarching goal of ending unsheltered homelessness. Let’s use the incredible knowledge base that exists in Portland to help Ted Wheeler be successful by designing a plan for shelter that will end our humanitarian crisis on the streets, meet the needs of our unhoused neighbors, and get us back on the road to being a livable city for all.
In case anyone in your networks is asking about the SHS funding logistics and specifically agreeing with what Mayor Wheeler is proposing, take a look at this really good interview that KGW did with Metro this week:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVUMlZIl_V0
The City is trying to take money from the County to implement not only a dangerous plan, but an impossible, go-it-alone plan. In my opinion, it's all a distraction because the Portland elite don't want to help the housing crisis or our unhoused neighbors. They want to continue to sweep it away as always.
Thank you for all that is done in this network to do something different. Keep going. Keep fighting.
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Mayor Ted Wheeler <mayorwheeler@...>Date: Thu, Dec 1, 2022 at 2:16 PM Subject: City Approves $27M Down Payment for Sanctioned Campsite Plan To: Portlander
| | | | | | Dear Portlander, Yesterday, my colleagues on the Portland City Council voted in-favor of a significant down payment toward building six sanctioned campsites—a proposal that’s part of the “Five Resolution Plan” I brought to Council, co-sponsored by Commissioner Ryan. The City Council’s approval of these affordable housing and homelessness investments demonstrates our seriousness in addressing these issues and allows us to continue moving forward on this plan—and we’re gaining momentum! In recent weeks, my team and I held virtual community meetings to provide an opportunity for stakeholders to share their concerns and gain feedback on designated campsites. We met with service providers—both local and national—who could potentially partner with us on this effort, and we’ve worked to narrow down site location selections. I’ve continued outreach and fundraising efforts with partners at the State, Metro, and County. I recently met with Governor-Elect Tina Kotek and Multnomah County Chair-Elect Jessica Vega Pederson who both showed support for our plan. | | | | The $27M down payment is a substantial investment from the City of Portland and I am proud that we are leading this effort so widely supported by the community. However, the success of this work hinges on federal, regional, state, and local partners coming to the table with their ideas, services, and resources. We have made clear asks to our government partners to support specific funding requests and services needed to help ensure this plan is successful: Multnomah County to provide $21 million to fund the capital and operations costs for 3 of the 6 sanctioned sites, behavioral and mental health resources, data, and housing navigation. The County has over $33 million in both over collected and underspent resources through both the Joint Office of Homeless Services and the region’s Supportive Housing Services funding provided to the County.
Metro to lead a process in 2023 to revisit the regional Supportive Housing Services measure allocation formula for both existing funding allocations and managing unanticipated revenue collections.
State of Oregon to declare a State of Emergency on Homelessness and assist in establishing these sanctioned sites. In addition, we ask for the State’s support of the Oregon Mayor’s Association Taskforce on Homelessness’ request for a budget package totaling $123 million ongoing annually, during the 2023 Legislative Session to provide direct allocations to cities for homelessness response and prevention services.
| | | | Over the past few weeks, hundreds of Portlanders have sent letters and emails to my office voicing support for this plan. My team and I are working around the clock to keep the momentum going. You can share your thoughts and feedback with me directly by emailing: mayorwheeler@... | | | | | | | |
|
|
|
-- Tim McCormick
Housing Alternatives Network +1 503.334.1894.
-- Ashley Schofield (she/them) Beacon Village
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|
David, thanks for your thoughts. And, to Andy Olshin, who I recently talked to [and who posted some plans here], I was heartened to hear about solid ideas for modifying what to many of us seems to be a heartless approach to helping houseless folks by presenting a plan for hundreds to be housed together. , too, am supportive of models, such as you cite [WeShine, Dignity Village, etc. etc.] What I haven’t seen is the city moving to incorporate these ideas into city plans, nor have I seen the city even in dialog with folks associated with these options – that is, until I spoke with Andy recently. Still, as much as the city may be doing behind the scenes it sure would help – and tamp down criticism; perhaps even turning it into support – if any efforts to work with those orgs who have developed good models would be made public. I know that I – and others I know – would be less inclined to complain if we knew that the city was in serious dialog with people like you, and Tim and Janet and Andy. Thanks.
Donna
From: pdxshelterforum@groups.io <pdxshelterforum@groups.io> On Behalf Of David Dickson Sent: Saturday, December 3, 2022 8:32 PM To: pdxshelterforum@groups.io Subject: Re: [pdxshelterforum] City Approves $27M Down Payment for Sanctioned Campsite Plan In response to a recent post, the “elites" supported the Metro Bond measure and are footing the tax bill, with the expectation that funds would be used to address the humanitarian crisis on our streets, which impacts all Portlanders, especially the unhoused. All taxpayers are rightfully upset with the county (which controls houseless policy and $s) for virtually ignoring the crisis of unsheltered Portlanders. The city is simply reacting, albeit with a plan that is far from perfect, to the over 80% of Portlanders (not just the elite) who want to see action which is both humanitarian and also improves the quality of life for all Portlanders. I have personally been delivering survival items weekly to my unhoused neighbors for the past two years. People are suffering and dying on our streets. What kind of people are we that we are not providing decent shelter and needed addiction/mental health services to people eeking out an existence on our streets? We cannot just wait for adequate housing before we reach out and serve unsheltered Portlanders. If Portland were hit with a 9.0 earthquake and 50,000 people lost their housing, would we be promoting "housing first" before shelter and expect people to live on the streets and wait years before having adequate shelter? Pdxshelterforum is a forum (I think THE forum) for sharing ideas and solutions regarding positive shelter options. I’m consistently disappointed to see the vast majority of the entries focusing on complaints rather than solutions. Let’s stop criticizing the Mayor’s imperfect plan and put our collective intelligence to use in helping the city design a shelter strategy that works!! My hats off to Tim McCormick and Andy Olshin and groups like Shelter Now and We Shine Pdx that are working on positive solutions. Let’s have Lisa Larson from Dignity Village sit down with the Mayor and Dan Ryan’s Safe Rest Village Team and talk about how self governance can result in a village which not only is far more cost effective but also sets higher standards for its residents. Let’s ask our friends at Mercy Corps how they would design a shelter system if Portland were hit with an earthquake. And let’s tap the idealism of our frustrated young people and put them to work creating solutions rather than vandalizing property. (Did you know that the construction of the original Dignity Village involved a significant contribution by Americord volunteers?) Just like JFK tapped the idealism of America’s youth when he announced the Peace Corps, Ted Wheeler should do the same around Portland’s crisis today. The Mayor is right with his overarching goal of ending unsheltered homelessness. Let’s use the incredible knowledge base that exists in Portland to help Ted Wheeler be successful by designing a plan for shelter that will end our humanitarian crisis on the streets, meet the needs of our unhoused neighbors, and get us back on the road to being a livable city for all.
In case anyone in your networks is asking about the SHS funding logistics and specifically agreeing with what Mayor Wheeler is proposing, take a look at this really good interview that KGW did with Metro this week: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVUMlZIl_V0 The City is trying to take money from the County to implement not only a dangerous plan, but an impossible, go-it-alone plan. In my opinion, it's all a distraction because the Portland elite don't want to help the housing crisis or our unhoused neighbors. They want to continue to sweep it away as always. Thank you for all that is done in this network to do something different. Keep going. Keep fighting. ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Mayor Ted Wheeler <mayorwheeler@...>
Date: Thu, Dec 1, 2022 at 2:16 PM
Subject: City Approves $27M Down Payment for Sanctioned Campsite Plan
To: Portlander View this email in your browser | |
|
| KATU: Click here for full story. | | Dear Portlander, Yesterday, my colleagues on the Portland City Council voted in-favor of a significant down payment toward building six sanctioned campsites—a proposal that’s part of the “Five Resolution Plan” I brought to Council, co-sponsored by Commissioner Ryan. The City Council’s approval of these affordable housing and homelessness investments demonstrates our seriousness in addressing these issues and allows us to continue moving forward on this plan—and we’re gaining momentum! In recent weeks, my team and I held virtual community meetings to provide an opportunity for stakeholders to share their concerns and gain feedback on designated campsites. We met with service providers—both local and national—who could potentially partner with us on this effort, and we’ve worked to narrow down site location selections. I’ve continued outreach and fundraising efforts with partners at the State, Metro, and County. I recently met with Governor-Elect Tina Kotek and Multnomah County Chair-Elect Jessica Vega Pederson who both showed support for our plan. |
| Click here to learn more about the Fall Budget Monitoring Process. | | The $27M down payment is a substantial investment from the City of Portland and I am proud that we are leading this effort so widely supported by the community. However, the success of this work hinges on federal, regional, state, and local partners coming to the table with their ideas, services, and resources. We have made clear asks to our government partners to support specific funding requests and services needed to help ensure this plan is successful: - Multnomah County to provide $21 million to fund the capital and operations costs for 3 of the 6 sanctioned sites, behavioral and mental health resources, data, and housing navigation. The County has over $33 million in both over collected and underspent resources through both the Joint Office of Homeless Services and the region’s Supportive Housing Services funding provided to the County.
- Metro to lead a process in 2023 to revisit the regional Supportive Housing Services measure allocation formula for both existing funding allocations and managing unanticipated revenue collections.
- State of Oregon to declare a State of Emergency on Homelessness and assist in establishing these sanctioned sites. In addition, we ask for the State’s support of the Oregon Mayor’s Association Taskforce on Homelessness’ request for a budget package totaling $123 million ongoing annually, during the 2023 Legislative Session to provide direct allocations to cities for homelessness response and prevention services.
|
| Oregonian: Click here for full editorial. | | Over the past few weeks, hundreds of Portlanders have sent letters and emails to my office voicing support for this plan. My team and I are working around the clock to keep the momentum going. You can share your thoughts and feedback with me directly by emailing: mayorwheeler@... | | Sincerely, |
| Ted | | | |
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-- Tim McCormick
Housing Alternatives Network
-- Ashley Schofield (she/them)
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|
|
In response to a recent post, the “elites" supported the Metro Bond measure and are footing the tax bill, with the expectation that funds would be used to address the humanitarian crisis on our streets, which impacts all Portlanders, especially the unhoused. All taxpayers are rightfully upset with the county (which controls houseless policy and $s) for virtually ignoring the crisis of unsheltered Portlanders. The city is simply reacting, albeit with a plan that is far from perfect, to the over 80% of Portlanders (not just the elite) who want to see action which is both humanitarian and also improves the quality of life for all Portlanders. I have personally been delivering survival items weekly to my unhoused neighbors for the past two years. People are suffering and dying on our streets. What kind of people are we that we are not providing decent shelter and needed addiction/mental health services to people eeking out an existence on our streets? We cannot just wait for adequate housing before we reach out and serve unsheltered Portlanders. If Portland were hit with a 9.0 earthquake and 50,000 people lost their housing, would we be promoting "housing first" before shelter and expect people to live on the streets and wait years before having adequate shelter? Pdxshelterforum is a forum (I think THE forum) for sharing ideas and solutions regarding positive shelter options. I’m consistently disappointed to see the vast majority of the entries focusing on complaints rather than solutions. Let’s stop criticizing the Mayor’s imperfect plan and put our collective intelligence to use in helping the city design a shelter strategy that works!! My hats off to Tim McCormick and Andy Olshin and groups like Shelter Now and We Shine Pdx that are working on positive solutions. Let’s have Lisa Larson from Dignity Village sit down with the Mayor and Dan Ryan’s Safe Rest Village Team and talk about how self governance can result in a village which not only is far more cost effective but also sets higher standards for its residents. Let’s ask our friends at Mercy Corps how they would design a shelter system if Portland were hit with an earthquake. And let’s tap the idealism of our frustrated young people and put them to work creating solutions rather than vandalizing property. (Did you know that the construction of the original Dignity Village involved a significant contribution by Americord volunteers?) Just like JFK tapped the idealism of America’s youth when he announced the Peace Corps, Ted Wheeler should do the same around Portland’s crisis today. The Mayor is right with his overarching goal of ending unsheltered homelessness. Let’s use the incredible knowledge base that exists in Portland to help Ted Wheeler be successful by designing a plan for shelter that will end our humanitarian crisis on the streets, meet the needs of our unhoused neighbors, and get us back on the road to being a livable city for all.
In case anyone in your networks is asking about the SHS funding logistics and specifically agreeing with what Mayor Wheeler is proposing, take a look at this really good interview that KGW did with Metro this week:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVUMlZIl_V0
The City is trying to take money from the County to implement not only a dangerous plan, but an impossible, go-it-alone plan. In my opinion, it's all a distraction because the Portland elite don't want to help the housing crisis or our unhoused neighbors. They want to continue to sweep it away as always.
Thank you for all that is done in this network to do something different. Keep going. Keep fighting.
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Mayor Ted Wheeler <mayorwheeler@...>Date: Thu, Dec 1, 2022 at 2:16 PM Subject: City Approves $27M Down Payment for Sanctioned Campsite Plan To: Portlander
| | | | | | Dear Portlander, Yesterday, my colleagues on the Portland City Council voted in-favor of a significant down payment toward building six sanctioned campsites—a proposal that’s part of the “Five Resolution Plan” I brought to Council, co-sponsored by Commissioner Ryan. The City Council’s approval of these affordable housing and homelessness investments demonstrates our seriousness in addressing these issues and allows us to continue moving forward on this plan—and we’re gaining momentum! In recent weeks, my team and I held virtual community meetings to provide an opportunity for stakeholders to share their concerns and gain feedback on designated campsites. We met with service providers—both local and national—who could potentially partner with us on this effort, and we’ve worked to narrow down site location selections. I’ve continued outreach and fundraising efforts with partners at the State, Metro, and County. I recently met with Governor-Elect Tina Kotek and Multnomah County Chair-Elect Jessica Vega Pederson who both showed support for our plan. | | | | The $27M down payment is a substantial investment from the City of Portland and I am proud that we are leading this effort so widely supported by the community. However, the success of this work hinges on federal, regional, state, and local partners coming to the table with their ideas, services, and resources. We have made clear asks to our government partners to support specific funding requests and services needed to help ensure this plan is successful: Multnomah County to provide $21 million to fund the capital and operations costs for 3 of the 6 sanctioned sites, behavioral and mental health resources, data, and housing navigation. The County has over $33 million in both over collected and underspent resources through both the Joint Office of Homeless Services and the region’s Supportive Housing Services funding provided to the County.
Metro to lead a process in 2023 to revisit the regional Supportive Housing Services measure allocation formula for both existing funding allocations and managing unanticipated revenue collections.
State of Oregon to declare a State of Emergency on Homelessness and assist in establishing these sanctioned sites. In addition, we ask for the State’s support of the Oregon Mayor’s Association Taskforce on Homelessness’ request for a budget package totaling $123 million ongoing annually, during the 2023 Legislative Session to provide direct allocations to cities for homelessness response and prevention services.
| | | | Over the past few weeks, hundreds of Portlanders have sent letters and emails to my office voicing support for this plan. My team and I are working around the clock to keep the momentum going. You can share your thoughts and feedback with me directly by emailing: mayorwheeler@... | | | | | | | |
|
|
|
-- Tim McCormick
Housing Alternatives Network +1 503.334.1894.
-- Ashley Schofield (she/them) Beacon Village
|
|
|
In case anyone in your networks is asking about the SHS funding logistics and specifically agreeing with what Mayor Wheeler is proposing, take a look at this really good interview that KGW did with Metro this week:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVUMlZIl_V0
The City is trying to take money from the County to implement not only a dangerous plan, but an impossible, go-it-alone plan. In my opinion, it's all a distraction because the Portland elite don't want to help the housing crisis or our unhoused neighbors. They want to continue to sweep it away as always.
Thank you for all that is done in this network to do something different. Keep going. Keep fighting.
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Mayor Ted Wheeler <mayorwheeler@...>Date: Thu, Dec 1, 2022 at 2:16 PM Subject: City Approves $27M Down Payment for Sanctioned Campsite Plan To: Portlander
| | | | | | Dear Portlander, Yesterday, my colleagues on the Portland City Council voted in-favor of a significant down payment toward building six sanctioned campsites—a proposal that’s part of the “Five Resolution Plan” I brought to Council, co-sponsored by Commissioner Ryan. The City Council’s approval of these affordable housing and homelessness investments demonstrates our seriousness in addressing these issues and allows us to continue moving forward on this plan—and we’re gaining momentum! In recent weeks, my team and I held virtual community meetings to provide an opportunity for stakeholders to share their concerns and gain feedback on designated campsites. We met with service providers—both local and national—who could potentially partner with us on this effort, and we’ve worked to narrow down site location selections. I’ve continued outreach and fundraising efforts with partners at the State, Metro, and County. I recently met with Governor-Elect Tina Kotek and Multnomah County Chair-Elect Jessica Vega Pederson who both showed support for our plan. | | | | The $27M down payment is a substantial investment from the City of Portland and I am proud that we are leading this effort so widely supported by the community. However, the success of this work hinges on federal, regional, state, and local partners coming to the table with their ideas, services, and resources. We have made clear asks to our government partners to support specific funding requests and services needed to help ensure this plan is successful: Multnomah County to provide $21 million to fund the capital and operations costs for 3 of the 6 sanctioned sites, behavioral and mental health resources, data, and housing navigation. The County has over $33 million in both over collected and underspent resources through both the Joint Office of Homeless Services and the region’s Supportive Housing Services funding provided to the County. Metro to lead a process in 2023 to revisit the regional Supportive Housing Services measure allocation formula for both existing funding allocations and managing unanticipated revenue collections. State of Oregon to declare a State of Emergency on Homelessness and assist in establishing these sanctioned sites. In addition, we ask for the State’s support of the Oregon Mayor’s Association Taskforce on Homelessness’ request for a budget package totaling $123 million ongoing annually, during the 2023 Legislative Session to provide direct allocations to cities for homelessness response and prevention services.
| | | | Over the past few weeks, hundreds of Portlanders have sent letters and emails to my office voicing support for this plan. My team and I are working around the clock to keep the momentum going. You can share your thoughts and feedback with me directly by emailing: mayorwheeler@... | | | | | | | |
|
|
|
-- Tim McCormick
Housing Alternatives Network +1 503.334.1894.
-- Ashley Schofield (she/them) Beacon Village
|
|
|
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Mayor Ted Wheeler <mayorwheeler@...>Date: Thu, Dec 1, 2022 at 2:16 PM Subject: City Approves $27M Down Payment for Sanctioned Campsite Plan To: Portlander
| | | | | | Dear Portlander, Yesterday, my colleagues on the Portland City Council voted in-favor of a significant down payment toward building six sanctioned campsites—a proposal that’s part of the “Five Resolution Plan” I brought to Council, co-sponsored by Commissioner Ryan. The City Council’s approval of these affordable housing and homelessness investments demonstrates our seriousness in addressing these issues and allows us to continue moving forward on this plan—and we’re gaining momentum! In recent weeks, my team and I held virtual community meetings to provide an opportunity for stakeholders to share their concerns and gain feedback on designated campsites. We met with service providers—both local and national—who could potentially partner with us on this effort, and we’ve worked to narrow down site location selections. I’ve continued outreach and fundraising efforts with partners at the State, Metro, and County. I recently met with Governor-Elect Tina Kotek and Multnomah County Chair-Elect Jessica Vega Pederson who both showed support for our plan. | | | | The $27M down payment is a substantial investment from the City of Portland and I am proud that we are leading this effort so widely supported by the community. However, the success of this work hinges on federal, regional, state, and local partners coming to the table with their ideas, services, and resources. We have made clear asks to our government partners to support specific funding requests and services needed to help ensure this plan is successful: Multnomah County to provide $21 million to fund the capital and operations costs for 3 of the 6 sanctioned sites, behavioral and mental health resources, data, and housing navigation. The County has over $33 million in both over collected and underspent resources through both the Joint Office of Homeless Services and the region’s Supportive Housing Services funding provided to the County. Metro to lead a process in 2023 to revisit the regional Supportive Housing Services measure allocation formula for both existing funding allocations and managing unanticipated revenue collections. State of Oregon to declare a State of Emergency on Homelessness and assist in establishing these sanctioned sites. In addition, we ask for the State’s support of the Oregon Mayor’s Association Taskforce on Homelessness’ request for a budget package totaling $123 million ongoing annually, during the 2023 Legislative Session to provide direct allocations to cities for homelessness response and prevention services.
| | | | Over the past few weeks, hundreds of Portlanders have sent letters and emails to my office voicing support for this plan. My team and I are working around the clock to keep the momentum going. You can share your thoughts and feedback with me directly by emailing: mayorwheeler@... | | | | | | | |
|
|
|
-- -- Tim McCormick
Housing Alternatives Network +1 503.334.1894.
|
|
|
