Portland area to lose more than 1,000 shelter beds

Portland area to lose more than 1,000 shelter beds

Major budget shortfalls at the city and county are set to result in the loss of more than 1,000 shelter beds for Portland's homeless.

The big picture: The cuts are expected to hit more than a dozen facilities across the region and will likely leave many who rely on them with fewer options.

By the numbers: Multnomah County's $4 billion budget cuts 605 beds at shelters across the region, like the Bybee Lakes Hope Center, Laurelwood Center and the Chestnut Tree Inn Motel Shelter.

  • The cuts were part of the county's strategy to climb out of a $67 million budget hole for homeless services alone.
  • Meanwhile, under a city budget that has yet to be finalized, another 511 beds would be lost as Portland shores up a budget shortfall of more than $160 million.
  • Those cuts would impact Northrup Shelter, Weidler Village and Reedway Village, among others.

    • Flashback: One of Mayor Keith Wilson's major campaign promises was to end unsheltered homelessness by adding shelter beds.

  • He declared a victory of sorts in December after he hit his self-imposed goal of setting up 1,500 new shelter beds, but now a third of those beds are expected to be cut.

    • Yes, but: Commissioners sought to blunt the impact of the cuts by setting aside $6 million from the general fund to help transition people from shelters to permanent housing,

  • $1 million of that is dedicated to helping find housing for people in shelters slated for closure.
  • Commissioners said they hoped that would free more shelter beds.

    • What they're saying: "At a time when our community is experiencing historically high levels of homelessness, this proposal would significantly increase unsheltered homelessness overnight," Clifton Roberts, spokesperson for the nonprofit Transition Projects, told KGW.

  • "We are calling on our elected officials for a plan that prevents hundreds of people from being pushed out on the streets."

    • The bottom line: For people who use the shelters, the loss of beds could leave them with few alternatives.

  • "There is really no place else I can go to," Michael, a guest at the Clark Center Shelter in the Central Eastside, told KGW.