Newsletter Archive
WE SHINE NEWS
Our donors put us over the finish line!
Our GoFundMe and other fundraising efforts netted $38,516. Those funds enabled us to purchase everything needed to build the sleeping pods, to buy insurance for volunteers, and to contract with a fabulous accounting firm. Importantly, having completed the off-site building, and having a solid foundation as a non-profit, made it quite clear to JOHS that we are ready!! Our heartfelt thank you to our generous donors!

We are pleased to announce that WeShine is now an approved provider for Tri-County Supportive Housing Services
We are pleased to announce that WeShine is now an approved provider for Tri-County Supportive Housing Services, and we are beginning negotiations on a contract for development and operation of our villages! While there is still much to do, we are quickly making progress toward reaching our goals. So we appreciate your continued generosity and for spreading the word about WeShine. We could not do this without you! #WeShine #nonprofit #unhoused
It takes a village; that’s why we’re building one!
It takes a village; that’s why we’re building one! We’re raising money to benefit the non-profit WeShine (Welcoming, Empowering, Safe Habitation Initiative with Neighborhood Engagement). Our first village will be built and operated in partnership with the Parkrose Community United Church of Christ (PCUCC). The donation you make today will not only help WeShine reach its goal to provide transitional shelter and services in our first neighborhood-embedded micro-village, but will also help us to do it again and again, building a coordinated network of micro-villages throughout the Portland area. Thank you so much for your support, and remember: Nothing shows love like providing

Oregonian Opinion: Portlanders should welcome small-scale shelters – starting in their own neighborhoods
DJ Heffernan, Chris Tanner and Jan McManus are with the WeShine Initiative. They all live in Portland. This editorial was published in The Oregonian August 15, 2021 There is an old adage that many hands make light work. It seems an especially fitting way to approach how we provide transitional shelter for our unhoused neighbors, especially as the city considers where to place six new outdoor sites. The stated policy of the city of Portland and Multnomah County is that transitional shelter should not unduly burden any one part of the city. This begs the question: what does “unduly” mean? The
IN THE NEWS
WeShine nonprofit opens its first micro-village in Portland
Broadcast: Friday, Aug. 26 https://www.opb.org/article/2022/08/26/weshine-nonprofit-opens-its-first-micro-village-in-portland/ If you want to know about the nonprofit behind the city’s newest micro-village, you just need to look at the
A New Tiny-Home Village for the Houseless Is Opening Soon in Portland
But it’s not run by the city. https://www.pdxmonthly.com/news-and-city-life/2022/08/tiny-home-village-houseless-homeless-portland By Julia Silverman August 15, 2022 Jan McManus and a staff member talk at the new WeShine Village, a
UCC churches in North Carolina and Oregon use land to settle houseless neighbors
UCC churches in North Carolina and Oregon use land to settle houseless neighbors
Portland community group debuts its answer to the homeless crisis
https://katu.com/news/local/portland-community-group-debuts-its-answer-to-the-homeless-crisis-oregon by France Lin and KATU Staff Sunday, August 7th 2022 PORTLAND, Ore — A community village for homeless people is in its final stages and today