Sat, March 8th 2025 at 5:21 PM
NORTH PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — North Portland is set to welcome a new community as WeShine, in partnership with St. Andrews Episcopal Church, launches its third village to support individuals experiencing homelessness.
The village will feature 10 sleeping pods, accommodating up to 10 adults.
Jan McManus, the executive director of WeShine, said they serve the underserved segments of the population, “who tend to fall through the cracks and not feel welcome or safe at larger villages or congregate shelters.”
The initiative prioritizes adults aged 45 and older with physical disabilities, particularly those of marginalized communities, or have been camping nearby. The village is expected to receive its certificate of occupancy by the end of this month, after which it will begin filling spaces.
Village Manager Favoure Miller explained the role. “So basically it’s like from start to finish, making sure that you get interview the potential villagers coming in with the other people, making sure that all of the pods are furnished correctly, and that they’re alright, they have the things that they need.” Miller said. “And then what I do is I help manage and take care of the staff that do the case management here for our villagers. So we’ve got 10 pods, and then we’ll have two case managers, and when they need help with case managing, I’ll go ahead and step in and then help manage that kind of stuff.”
Favoure said the type of things that need management on the daily will be mainly keeping it safe, maintenance, and training staff.
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The shelters are transitional, allowing occupants to stay for up to two years.
“This is transitional shelter so people can stay up to two years while they work on stabilizing their lives, getting their IDs reestablished, getting mental health or treatment services, getting their health stabilized and taken care of, getting ready either to be employed or applying for Social Security or SSI benefits,” McManus said.
Travis Nelson, Representative of Oregon’s 44th Congressional District, joined the grand opening.
“This is a village that has 10 units, and we’re transitioning people out of tents and into permanent shelter, which I think most folks around here really do support. This model is one in which the units are fenced in, it’s associated with the church, it’s going to be staffed, so I’m confident that this will be something that the neighbors welcome,” Rep. Nelson said.
According to Oregon’s Department of Veteran’s Affairs, it’s estimated that on any night, over 1,400 of veterans in Oregon are homeless, and more are at risk of homelessness due to poverty and a lack of support networks.
In 2023, homelessness among older adults in Multnomah County increased by 15% within the two years prior, and around 20 percent of people experiencing homelessness across the United States in 2024 were 55 years of age, or older.
