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Dear friends,
Over the last decade, Portland has faced a dramatic and deadly rise in unsheltered homelessness. This crisis is what drove me to dig deeper: to meet with community partners, to listen to those living on our streets, to study how other cities responded, and ultimately, it’s what galvanized me to run for Mayor.
[WATCH VIDEO STATEMENT]
When we set the goal of 1,500 overnight shelter beds, we knew it was a big ask. But I knew it was a goal that would, if reached, SAVE LIVES.
Our homelessness crisis demanded a solution that could meet the moment. Today, I am proud to announce that we have met a major goal. We've increased our emergency overnight shelter capacity by 1500 beds and created the ability to add additional beds as needed.
My strategic plan was ambitious. Together, we proved it could be done on time and on budget. In fact, we believe Portland has delivered shelter capacity faster than any major city in the country. Our data shows that 3174 unique individuals experiencing homelessness in the City of Portland have stayed at least one night at a City emergency overnight shelter. As of October 31, over 49,000 safe nights of sleep were had by those participants in our beds.
Every unique person we reach and every night of safe sleep is a chance to change a life, and maybe even save it. But let me be clear: 1,500 beds was never the finish line. It’s a milestone. Our mission is to maintain capacity so that every person, every night, has access to a safe bed. We’ll adjust as needed, and over time, and we expect demand to decrease are we shift to our housing goals.
Most importantly, we are not done. We cannot grow complacent before our crisis is fully ended. We will work with the same tenacity and grit that we have shown to develop our shelter capacity to increase housing production. We will keep pushing forward to save lives, restore livability and prosperity, and ensure that the lowest rung on the housing ladder is never the street.
I owe our Portland City Council a debt of gratitude for what we accomplished together. I’m grateful for their support and their votes in the budget process. They’ve been integral to the successes we’ve seen thus far, and I am deeply optimistic about what we’ll achieve together in the coming year.
Together, we have proved that progress is possible. Together, we are building a city that cares for every neighbor. And together, we will keep moving forward.
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