Mayor Ted Wheeler | Mayor Ted Wheeler Official website
Mayor Ted Wheeler | Mayor Ted Wheeler Official website
The Street Services Coordination Center is dedicated to assisting people experiencing homelessness and reducing the impacts of homelessness in Portland. We collect trash, evaluate health and safety risks, remove unsafe camps, provide shelter referrals and transportation to shelters.
Community members,
We are pleased to provide a summary of last week’s Street Services Coordination Center’s activity. This is a collaborative team that streamlines services offered to those living outside and to expedite homelessness related cleanup efforts throughout Portland in a compassionate manner. Our team is comprised of the Homelessness and Urban Camping Impact Reduction Program, Fire & Rescue, police, transportation, parks and recreation, and Multnomah County. Together we’ve taken a collective approach to remove campsites that pose the highest risk to health and safety.
Shelter referrals
The Street Services Coordination Center has designated shelter beds available to those impacted by campsite removals. We have offered shelter beds to thousands of people experiencing homelessness since April 2022. The data below only represents the number of people who said they were interested in a shelter referral last week and a call was made to determine availability.
- 40 people expressed an interest in a shelter referral
- 35 people accepted shelter referrals
- 20 people used a shelter bed for at least one night
- Total shelter referrals since April 11, 2022: 2146
- Total people who have used a shelter bed: 814
Campsite assessment, cleanup and removal highlights
The Homelessness and Urban Camping Impact Reduction Program assesses reported campsites, picks up garbage, provides resource referrals, and removes sites that pose health and safety risks. Using empathy and innovation, we minimize the impacts of homelessness while partner programs expand long-term access to safe, affordable housing.
From May 1 - 7, 2023, the Impact Reduction Program:
- Received 2352 new campsite reports; including 162 of people living in vehicles
- Observed about 513 active campsites, accounting for duplicate reports about the same locations and including vehicle campsites
- Assessed approximately 536 campsites, engaging with people living there, collecting garbage and biohazardous materials, and coordinating with service providers
- Removed 86 campsites that posed a risk to health and safety, safely storing campers' personal property
- Shelter referrals offered: 40
- Shelter referrals accepted: 35
- Shelter beds used: 20
- Campsite reports received: 2352
- Total active campsites observed: 513
- Campsite assessments: 536
- Campsites removed: 86
Original source can be found here
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