Your Support Builds Hope and Homes
Every donation helps WeShine create safe, welcoming micro-villages where Portland’s unhoused adults can heal, rebuild confidence, and transition to permanent housing. Together, we’re turning compassion into lasting community change.
Willamette Week’s Give!Guide Update
With deep gratitude, we’re excited to share that our Willamette Week Give!Guide campaign was a huge success—and we exceeded our fundraising goal! This milestone belongs to our whole community: the donors who gave so generously, the volunteers who showed up, our dedicated staff, supportive Board members, and the community partners who stood alongside us. Because of you, we can continue building safety, stability, and supportive pathways forward for our neighbors. Thank you for believing in this work and making it possible!
Together, We Shine
Mission
WeShine designs, builds, and operates neighborhood-based micro villages that provide safe, transitional shelter with wrap-around services for Portland’s underserved, unsheltered adults as they prepare to become successful tenants in permanent, affordable housing.
WeShine stands for Welcoming, Empowering, Safe Habitation Initiative with Neighborhood Engagement.
Our vision is to create a network of micro villages based on this model, and provide vulnerable adults with a path to permanent housing.
Bottom Line for Portland
Our model is rooted in the value of community, which restores self-esteem and heals the trauma that results from life on the streets. Guests experience peer support and are connected with services. This supportive service model leads to success that is nearly impossible when living outside.
Quote
“I don’t even really feel like we are in a shelter anymore. I feel like more of a community. I did not know how important that was until I saw the other side of it”. N (WeShine Villager)
“I don’t even really feel like we are in a shelter anymore. I feel like more of a community. I did not know how important that was until I saw the other side of it”. N (WeShine Villager)
Support WeShine!
Just because the giving season is over doesn’t mean the giving has to end. Your support year-round helps keep our work moving—welcoming new neighbors, meeting urgent needs, and building pathways to long-term stability. If you’re able, please consider making a gift today or becoming a monthly donor so we can continue this work together.
How to Give:
01
Make a One-Time Gift That Changes Lives
Today, we invite you to make a donation and become a part of this transformative story. Together, we can overcome the systemic barriers to housing that limit our community’s potential.
02
Become a Sustaining Donor
Recurring gifts provide reliable funding that helps WeShine grow, maintain, and improve the micro-village communities we serve.
03
Mail a Check to Support Our Micro-Villages
If mailing your gift feels most comfortable, your contribution will still make a powerful difference in supporting WeShine’s mission.
WeShine Anthem 2025
How much would you like to donate today?
Donations
You can make a difference
At WeShine, we believe that everyone in our community deserves access to a place to call home and the opportunity to write their own unique and powerful story.
Today, we invite you to make a donation and become a part of this transformative story. Together, we can overcome the systemic barriers to housing that limit our community’s potential.
There are many ways to support WeShine:
- Make a one-time donation
- Mail a check
- Become a Monthly Sustainer
- Through a Donor Advised Fund (DAF)
- Contribute from an IRA (Required Minimum Distribution)
Please make your check payable to WeShine Initiative Inc. and mail it to:
3539 NE Sandy Blvd #525,
Portland, OR 97232
Frequently Asked Questions
Is my donation tax-deductible?
Yes. WeShine is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and all donations made through our website or through Give!Guide are fully tax-deductible as allowed by law. After donating, you’ll receive an emailed receipt you can use for your tax records.
How do I know my donation is being used responsibly?
WeShine is committed to transparency and responsible stewardship of every dollar. Donations directly support micro-village operations, resident services, basic needs, and essential supplies. We regularly share updates, financial reporting, and impact summaries so you can clearly see the difference your gift is making.
Is it safe to donate online?
Yes. Our donation platforms, including Give!Guide, use secure, encrypted payment processing to protect your personal and financial information.
Can I donate by check instead of online?
Absolutely. Many supporters prefer to give by mail, and WeShine welcomes check donations. Mailing a check is a secure option, and it ensures your full contribution goes directly to supporting our micro-villages. Instructions for mailing a check are provided in the “Donations” section.
This week’s Black Oregonian History Makers feature: Margaret Louise Carter.
In 1984, she became the first Black woman elected to Oregon’s Legislature. In 2005, she became the first African American to serve as President Pro Tempore of the Oregon State Senate.
Her legacy is also being honored in a very Portland way: M Carter Commons, a new affordable housing community in Overlook with 62 affordable, accessible homes for residents 55+.
Her name is also on the stunning Technology Building at Portland Community College! Have you seen her name around? Or maybe you have seen her out and about in the neighborhood in Northeast Portland?
✨ Who should we feature next? Drop a Black Portland history-maker in the comments.
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
#BlackHistoryMonth #oregonblackhistorymonth #margaretcarter #housingpolicy #weshinepdx
Why “Microvillages” you ask? The concept of “microvillages” is essential to WeShine’s specific model and mission! We want to change the narrative on what a homeless shelter can and should be: small, low staff/participant ratio, close in neighborhoods with great neighbors, businesses, jobs, resources and public transportation! WeShine stands for: Welcoming, Empowering, Safe, Habitation, Initiative with Neighborhood Engagement! ❤️🏡🚏🚐🌲🌲🌳
#unhousedneighbors #weshinepdx #microvillages #alternativeshelters #solvinghomelessness
Staff, board and our amazing PR consultant @bridget_jackson at @nexuspr_official celebrated the 2025 @giveguide last week with other great nonprofits! We love being able to participate in the Willamette Week Give!Guide! Looking forward to November!
#pdx #fundraising #weshinepdx #microvillages #solvinghomelessness
We are overjoyed to help spread the word about this amazing exhibition at @steloarts by our friends at @humansforhousingorg Please come join us at the grand opening of @dearportlandexhibit on February 7th from 11-3! There will be donuts, music, coffee and more! There is a link to RSVP in our bio!
#homelessnessinpdx #unhousedneighbors #humansforhousing #portlandoregon #weshinepdx
His words still ring true. We are grateful to have the access to Martin Luther King Jr’s words preserved for us and we are grounded in the messages he gave. At WeShine we know that there are policies that harm our unhoused neighbors and increase homelessness in our city! We strive for change and healing.
#drking #mlk #unhousedneighbors #portlandoregon #solvinghomelessness
Our 3rd issue of The Village View is out now! Click our link in bio to read it and sign up to receive it quarterly in your inbox! In this issue we report on our amazing year in fundraising, the Belonging Study we conducted with past and currant villagers and how to join our new Bright Circle of donors! And we highlight Jan’s article on “Making Sense of Our Continuing Homelessness Crisis”.
When you join our mailing list we invite you into our WeShine community. We all care about our unhoused neighbors, getting updates from WeShine helps us to feel like we are part of a solution!
#solutionstohomelessness #unhousedneighbors #portlandoregon #weshinepdx #portlandnonprofit
We are so giddy to start 2026 with such full hearts! We smashed our fundraising goal for the 2025 @giveguide
and we could not have done it without our business sponsors! They donated matching grants and gift cards for incentives to help us encourage folks to donate! We love you all and you are now officially a part of our WeShine family!
@laserbabespdx @psandqsmarket @myvicepdx @gadogadopdx @livingroomwinespdx @blackbirdwineshop @trebonepdx @portlandcenterstage and special thanks to @portlandcoffeeroasters for 48 Bags of Coffee!
Also thanks to @integrusarchitecture Scheller Financial Services, @shielsobletzjohnsen and private donors who gave matching grants!
We ran an awesome campaign together!
#fundraisingforacause #communitysupport #unhousedneighbors
Happy New Year to our amazing non profit partners in this year’s @giveguide !! @pdxstonesoup @artswatch @1000oregon @animalaidpdx @ourjustfuture Congratulations you all smashed your Give Guide goals! The Willamette Week Give Guide is an awesome way for non profits to come together and support each other to spread awareness and raise needed funds for our community! Can’t wait til next year!
@willametteweek
#giveguide #nonprofits #portlandoregon
Newsletter
Subscribe to our quarterly newsletter, The Village View. Read the latest edition below, and sign up here to get the next one in your inbox. The Village View highlights recent happenings in our current villages, exciting announcements, articles by staff on homelessness issues in our region, engaging stories about the folks we serve and more. Sign up today!
Let’s Connect
Mailing address
WeShine
3539 NE Sandy Blvd #525,
Portland, OR 97232