Neighbors shocked to learn shelter opening next door

East Portland residents say they were in dark about new homeless facility set to open by mid-June.

Neighbors living next to Multnomah County's next homeless shelter say they were shocked to recently learn that it will open by mid-June.

The Joint Office on Homeless Services (JOHS) announced on May 14 that it will open a 125-bed, low-barrier men's shelter in one of three buildings on the county's Department of Community Justice East Campus at 1415 S.E. 122nd Ave. The backyards of 11 homes abut the parking lot that serves the campus. Only a small curb and short chain-link fence stand between most of them and the lot.

Natalie Stedman, whose home is among the closest to the building where the East County Shelter will open, said she and the other nearby residents did not know anything about the plan until they read about it in the Portland Tribune.

"No one from the county or joint office contacted any of us. The first we learned about it, it was a done deal," said Stedman, a stay-at-home mom with three young children who frequently play in the backyard of the home she owns with her husband.

According to Stedman, children live in all seven of the homes on her street that back up to the parking lot.

"Our community is made up of young families who own our homes. We have community volunteers, a pediatric nurse, critical care nurse, in-home day care providers, foster care, business owners, electricians, project managers and stay-at-home moms," Stedman said.

In fact, JOHS had contacted the chair and board members of the Mill Creek Neighborhood Association, which represents the neighborhood where the shelter will be located, to tell them about it. Staff members also met with representatives of the Gateway Area Business Association, the principal of the nearby Mill Park Elementary Schools, and other stakeholders in the area.

Denis Theriault, the JOHS communications coordinator, said the agency distributed a two-page sheet of "frequently asked questions" and answers about the shelter to assure people that it will be properly managed by the nonprofit Transition Projects to minimize problems. Among other things, it says the shelter will operate on a reservation basis and there will be no lining up outside the shelter.

But JOHS did not contact any of the neighbors directly before the announcement. Nor did any of those contacted by the agency notify the neighbors before the announcement. Stedman said she only received the FAQs from JOHS after contacting the agency with "hard questions" on May 18. She said the answers are not reassuring enough.

On top of that, the first public meeting about the shelter will not be held until tonight, Tuesday, May 29 — two weeks after the announcement. That is when the neighborhood association will host a presentation by JOHS and a discussion about the shelter starting at 6:30 p.m. at the Pizza Baron at Southeast 122nd Avenue and Division Street. Also attending will be representatives of the county's community justice department and city crime prevention specialists.

Stedman and other neighbors are planning to attend the meeting and demand to know how the decision could have been made without consulting them. At the very least, they now want the county and JOHS to assure them that a privacy wall will built between the shelter and the adjoining homes, that needles and trash will be collected on a daily basis, that loitering will be prohibited outside the shelter, that police will increase their presence in the neighborhood, and that JOHS will check in with the neighbors on a weekly basis.

Stedman already has experienced problems she believes are related to the county parole and probation office on the campus. They include people arguing loudly in the parking lot and trash, including hypodermic needles, found in her backyard.

Controversy similar to Foster shelter

The outcry is similar to what happened late last year after JOHS notified several neighborhood associations in Outer Southeast Portland that it intends to open a homeless shelter in a vacant grocery store near Southeast 61st Avenue and Foster Road. Most nearby residents first learned about the plan when the associations announced an upcoming meeting to hear a presentation by JOHS and city and county officials. The community meeting was held weeks later during the holidays, when many area residents were busy.

The lack of advance consultations helped spark heated opposition to the shelter among many neighbors and business owners. It spilled over into a packed Jan. 25 hearing where the Multnomah County Commission approved a lease for the building on a 4-1 vote. Although only Commissioner Loretta Smith voted against the lease, commissioners Sharon Meieran, Jessica Vega Pederson, and Lori Stegmann all agreed the process had been flawed and communications with nearby residents need to be improved in the future.

"I believe the county does need to improve its communication process. That is something I will work on," Stegmann said.

"I do not feel that the process here was what it should have been. We have learned a lot of lessons about process and communications that we need to put into play," Meieran said.

Theriault said the communication process has improved since the Foster shelter announcement. He said more stakeholders were contacted before the new shelter was announced, and that the community meeting will be held more quickly afterward.

More importantly, Theriault said no decision has yet been made on how long the new shelter will be open. The Foster shelter will be permanent.

Significantly, during the Jan. 25 commission meeting, none of the commission members said neighbors should be notified about a new shelter before it is sited, except for Smith. She is the only one who said neighbors should be involved in the decision before it is made.

"It's hard to find a perfect process to site a shelter like this," said Commissioner Vega Pederson, who stressed the region is experiencing an affordable housing and homeless crisis. She represents the district where both the Foster shelter and new shelter will be located.

Stedman agreed the homeless need help. Her family does volunteer work with the Portland Rescue Missions' Shepherds Door, an organization that helps women get off the street and do the work that it takes to heal and improve their lives.

"We've had the pleasure of watching so many women be able to see their children again and learn how to become nurturing parents. We see the need every day. This solution just hits a little too close to home," Stedman said.

Unlike the shelter proposed for Foster, the one to be discussed at the May 29 meeting does not require a commission hearing and vote to open. The county already owns the building and the funds to operate it are already in the budget that takes effect July 1.