Portland Rescue Mission Adds Emergency Shelter Space as City Girds for Homeless Camp Sweeps

The 94 extra beds will take in people from the Springwater Corridor.

Portland Rescue Mission is stepping up its aid to the homeless.

Starting today, the downtown nonprofit will be adding 94 spaces to its shelter space, nearly doubling its capacity.

"It's our guest care center, which we use on a daily basis," Andrew Hall, Portland Rescue Mission's Guest Care Manager, tells WW. "We're just converting that space each night, taking all the chairs out and putting beds in."

These spaces, called the "winter hours" shelter, are normally scheduled to open on the beginning of November. But, in the wake of recent shelter closing and camp sweeps, Hall says, the shelter staff felt the need to expand their service earlier.

A week ago, Mayor Charlie Hales announced that the Springwater Corridor—possibly the nation's largest homeless camp—would be off-limits to camping starting August 1.

"Public safety and environmental issues have reached a tipping point," Hales was quoted in a July 15 press release.

"We are committed to helping our social service partners connect as many people as possible with short-term shelter options," Hales said. "But we also have to be realistic: many of these displaced people are going to have to sleep outside."

The opening of Portland Rescue Mission's winter spaces will take some pressure off of Portland's already strained homeless services—but it may not be enough.

A July 5 WW survey found 188 structures along the Springwater Corridor, and some estimates place the camp's population as high as 500. Portland Rescue Mission's will only be able to take in a fraction of those people.

Plus, now that the 94 beds are already in use, Portland Rescue Mission won't be able to add more beds in the winter.

But despite their strained resources, Hall says, the shelter will do all it can.

"In the very, very cruelest of evenings, we will close down our lobby and put another 15 mats there," Hall tells WW. "We're going to do the best that we can."

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