Parkrose Community Village
Location: 12501 NE Halsey St., Portland
Site partner: Parkrose Community United Church of Christ
Opened: August 2022
Capacity: 10 sleeping pods
Guests: Adults who identify as LGBTQIA+, priority for those who are also Black, Indigenous, or People of Color or who have disabilities or who have been camping nearby.
Parkrose Community Village (PCV) is WeShine’s first micro village. Micro villages are “transitional shelters”, designed to provide safety, privacy, hygiene, and community to people while they work on personal goals and seek permanent housing.
PCV provides on-site staff 7 days a week, lockable sleeping pods, and shared community facilities for cooking, hygiene, and activities.
Volunteers provide weekly community meals, teach workshops, coordinate field trips, and help with other community enrichment projects. Volunteers have also built portable garden beds and planters, helped to paint the fence, helped with special events and media projects, helped with administrative projects, and more.
PCV staff work with villagers to reduce the harm of drug and alcohol use.
October 2024 update: During its first 24 months of operation, PCV served 26 people. Eight graduated, implementing their plans to move out to affordable housing of their choice. Seven of the eight are still in stable affordable housing. One graduate’s housing plan in another state was not stable; however, he has recently sought help and is in a better place at this time.
How Parkrose Community Village started
In October 2021, WeShine was invited by Parkrose Community United Church of Christ leadership to propose a village. In February 2022, WeShine leased the property for 2 years. The lease has since been renewed for 4 more years.
WeShine received pro-bono architectural, civil, and structural engineering assistance in order to submit applications for commercial building permits, which were needed for the community spaces. We are forever grateful to Hacker Architects and KPFF Engineering for their assistance in helping us stand up our first village.
A Good Neighbor Agreement was developed with input from local business owners, watch groups, representatives of the Russell Neighborhood Association, the Joint Office of Homeless Services, the Parkrose Community United Church of Christ, and others.
Neighborhood contributions
Parkrose Community UCC (our host) contracts with WeShine to patrol the church grounds daily, to pick up trash, clean up biohazard materials, and to interact humanely with campers to persuade them to leave the property. No RVs or other campers are allowed to stay on church property. Only authorized visitors are allowed in the village.
How to apply
Parkrose Community Village guests are found by referral, including self-referral, and must complete an application and interview before moving into the village. (See WeShine’s guest application process.)
PCV maintains a short waiting list. If you apply and we determine you are a high-priority eligible candidate, we will place you on our waiting list. When an opening occurs, we will contact the highest priority candidates on our waiting list first.
