The WeShine Model
WeShine shelters and supports guests as they stabilize and prepare to enter the next phase of their life–finding safe, durable, affordable housing. Villagers are welcomed with compassion and patience, and are supported on their path to healing, stability, and confidence.
Our model combines a neighborhood-based location, small size, privacy, safety, staff with aligned experience, and community engagement. Moving into a place of one’s own is the culmination of a stay at a WeShine village – usually within 9 to 18 months. The WeShine model offers a proven approach to making this happen.
Who We Serve
WeShine prioritizes vulnerable, underserved, unhoused populations, who traditionally face more barriers to finding help.
- BIPOC
- LGBTQIA+
- People fleeing interpersonal violence
- People with chronic health conditions or disabilities
- Older adults
- Students
- Couples and more
Our Approach
WeShine is committed to the evidence-based approaches of low barrier, shelter first, and harm reduction. Every villager signs a Good Guest Agreement that outlines behavioral expectations. Good Neighbor meetings and Agreements in each neighborhood help build a foundation of welcome and positive engagement with each village.
The WeShine Model includes micro village location, design and construction, staffing and services, and an approach to village life that culminates in successful transition from the streets to stable, affordable housing.
Location, Design and Construction
Our villages are neighborhood-based and neighborhood-supported.
Each village is carefully located on a small parcel of leased land in the heart of Portland-area residential and business neighborhoods, near amenities and public transit.
Villages are designed to be warm, welcoming, and safe, and encourage engagement among villagers, volunteers, service partners, and the larger community.
Ten to 20 individual “sleeping pods” provide privacy and safety, while community buildings offer shared space including toilets, shower, laundry and kitchen facilities. Only authorized visitors are allowed in a WeShine micro village. Villagers collaborate and decide on optional features, such as dog runs, catios, gardens, and artwork.
Volunteers help the village with art, building, classes or workshops, gardening, and more.
WeShine micro villages are designed by licensed architects and engineers and built by licensed contractors, with all required permits. They are inspected annually by the Fire Marshall for permit renewal.Additional notes on the WeShine Villages section are below.
Staff
WeShine prioritizes hiring onsite staff who are representative of our villager populations through their own personal experiences of recovery, poverty, oppression, and /or homelessness. The goal is to select staff that will help each village build a sense of shared community and a micro-culture that supports each villager on their journey.
The Village Manager leads the village program and guides the development of village culture, supervises staff and volunteers, builds service partnerships, manages the village budget, and ensures that guest and service tracking are thorough, timely, and complete. They also ensure that villagers have opportunities to participate in self-governance through the weekly Village Council meetings, monthly Safety Committee meetings, regular Village Advisory Committee meetings, and more.
Program Specialists meet with villagers weekly, provide information and assistance, help arrange field trips and group activities, inspect pods frequently, help with move-in and move-out, monitor completion of volunteer chores, and more.
One or both specialists are Peer-Certified, which means they have lived experience and have been trained to support those who struggle with mental health or substance use issues. Their personal experience with these challenges provide a type of empathy and expertise that professional training cannot replicate.
Staff are on-site 7 days a week and provide after-hours coverage on an on-call basis. In addition to WeShine staff, volunteers and service partners augment and enrich community life.
Read Volunteer with WeShine to learn more and get involved.
Services
WeShine’s person-driven service coordination approach fosters self-efficacy and builds self-sufficiency. Staff work with villagers to mitigate the challenges of obtaining services including social, health, behavioral health, legal, criminal justice, employment, benefits enrollment, education, identity documentation, and more.
Villagers meet personally with staff in weekly 1:1s for check-ins, goal-setting and working on job and housing readiness. Because caseloads are so small, continuity and follow-through are exceptional and productive.
Our villagers have had life-changing trauma, which means behavioral health support is a critical service. Staff assist villagers to navigate behavioral health systems and resources, including outpatient, inpatient, and medication-assisted treatment. Opportunities to explore/experience non-traditional resources such as acupuncture, massage, meditation, and yoga are offered whenever possible. Onsite harm-reduction supplies reduce anxiety (and mortality) for people wrestling with drug addiction.
Villagers can obtain or increase income through help navigating public benefits and/or employment. Some villagers work for WeShine as part-time, temporary employees to build their job readiness. Technology is provided to villagers to help them navigate services online. Community partners offer additional services.
Housing placement and retention is the overarching goal of WeShine guests. But finding housing during the current extreme shortage is especially challenging for people who are overcoming big disruptions in their lives. Many successes are achieved along the way, which builds villagers’ confidence to pursue the transition to housing.
Staff accompany villagers on visits to housing options, advocate for them when they apply, and assist with moving when that time comes.
WeShine donors, volunteers, and partners help our graduates furnish their new homes.
The WeShine model doesn’t stop on move-out day. Staff reaches out to our “graduates” several times over the ensuing 12 months. On request, staff offer additional follow-up support and connections to community resources.
Village Life
Supported self-governance promotes equity and inclusion, as well as mutual respect and support. Guests at WeShine villages have influence over how the village is operated, its culture, the staff that are hired, and the admission process for new guests. Villagers must attend the weekly Village Council meeting and are expected to provide 3 hours of volunteer time per week to benefit the village.
Each village also has a Village Advisory Committee and a Safety Committee that meet with staff at least monthly to review and recommend policies, operational procedures, and make program recommendations. Participation in the Village Advisory Committee and the Village Safety Committee is voluntary and partially fulfills the participants’ volunteer hours requirement.
As the network of micro villages expands, additional opportunities will arise for interaction and knowledge exchange among staff and villagers.
Building community and feeling like a valued community member are important parts of healing from trauma, and are emphasized in the WeShine model.
WeShine helps villagers regain their sense of self-worth by fostering engagement between community members, volunteers and guests, through villager-volunteer activities, and villager-directed participation in community events and activities.
Guests develop a positive sense of belonging, support, and acceptance through
- Participation in art and other forms of self-expression.
- Participating in gardening and village improvement projects.
- Sharing meals together.
The WeShine model does include some rules, policies, and procedures, which are reviewed with each guest prior to moving in. WeShine Guests must sign a good Guest Agreement and are held accountable for their behavior. They may be asked to leave if they do not meet agreed-upon expectations.
Pets are often considered family members by people experiencing houselessness, and can be an important component of behavioral health. Every effort is made to keep pets with their owners. Pets are screened for behavior, and owners are expected to feed, care for, control and clean up after their pet.
See the Villages page for more information and details.
Learn More
The WeShine Model stands out from other approaches by combining its micro size, with a balance of privacy, safety, and community-building, ongoing services with staff who have “been there”, and engagement with the larger community.
If you would like to learn more, contact WeShine at info@weshinepdx.org.
