The City's Opening a Cold-Weather Shelter in the Portland Building—And Asking Staffers To Help Out

The Portland Building, the city's new emergency homeless shelter. City of Portland

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Mayor Ted Wheeler announced this afternoon he's opening up the Portland Building as a severe weather homeless shelter—a first-of-its-kind move as the city seeks sanctuary for people caught out in the cold.

The 90-bed shelter will be set up in the mezzanine level of the building, the city government's administrative heart, says Wheeler spokesperson Michael Cox, and will be staffed by staffers for shelter provider Transitions Projects Inc. (TPI)—along with any city employees interested in helping the effort.

"We have sent out an email to city employees asking for their assistance with TPI," Cox says. "If anyone signs up, they'll get paid."

The announcement, days in the making, was a product of discussions between Wheeler's office and the county's Joint Office of Homeless Services, which is working to rapidly expand shelter space in Multnomah County. It's also in line with Wheeler's campaign pledge to rapidly expand shelter beds, though it's only slated to be around as long as the recent cold snap.

“The city and county are committed to not turning anybody away from shelter during the severe weather warning,” Wheeler said in a statement. “The system’s capacity needs to expand as the cold weather continues. The Portland Building is a good option to increase that capacity.”

As the weather plummets below freezing each night (and hovers around 32 degrees with biting winds during the days) officials have opened up all available warming shelters, and stressed that no one needing shelter will be turned away. Around 450 beds of emergency space have opened this week, according to numbers from Wheeler's office. But the cold has taken a toll. On Tuesday, police announced a homeless man had frozen to death while sleeping on a an East Portland sidewalk.

This isn't the first time officials have mulled using a city administrative building to shelter the homeless population. This summer Willamette Week reported Mayor Charlie Hales and his staff considered letting people sleep in City Hall.

Cox couldn't offer specifics on what the Portland Building's pop-up shelter will cost. He says Wheeler's office was approached yesterday with the possibility of using the enormous public building to house the homeless, and jumped.

The shelter beds will be set up in a room down the hall from the Portland Building's auditorium, with plastic laid over the carpet. It will be open from 7 pm to 7 am beginning tonight. It will be kept around on Thursday, Friday, and potentially Saturday if needed, Cox says.

For information on other warming facilities, check out this post from earlier today.