The first 120 of at least 400 emergency homeless shelter beds are expected to open Thursday in a North Portland community center.

The Charles Jordan Community Center will take residents from other shelters that are struggling to distance beds appropriately. People are staying longer in homeless shelters right now, which means that Multnomah County’s original plan of leaving beds empty as residents leave to gradually build in social distance has become impossible.

Multnomah County Chair Deborah Kafoury announced Tuesday that she planned to add hundreds of additional beds by the end of the week through the city-county Joint Office of Homeless Services.

The Charles Jordan center, a Portland Parks and Recreation property that was left empty after the state’s ban on large gatherings and the subsequent city state of emergency, has showers, bathrooms and other facilities needed for short-term human residency.

The county expects to announce another shelter opening Thursday with the aim of 400 beds by Friday, with more to come.

The Charles Jordan center and additional shelters that come on line will be staffed by shelter providers already contracted with the Joint Office, such as Transition Projects and Do Good Multnomah. The county also plans to send out a call for employees from across county departments to volunteer, as is done during severe weather emergencies.

Homeless people are among the most vulnerable to COVID-19 because many have respiratory infections and weakened immune systems from harsh living conditions. They also have few resources to stay hygienic enough to prevent illness and no place to go to recover.

The Joint Office plans to eventually add shelters that will hold people who show symptoms of coronavirus but aren’t diagnosed and one with medical staff on hand for people who are diagnosed but not sick enough to stay hospitalized.

-- Molly Harbarger

mharbarger@oregonian.com | 503-294-5923 | @MollyHarbarger

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