4 • The Southwest Portland Post
FEATURES
January 2016
Sears Shelter is nice, dry, safe place for a homeless person to come home to
pneumonia. It’s a blustery, rainy night
in December at the Sears Shelter on
Multnomah Boulevard in Southwest
Portland.
Celeste Duvall has only kind
In addition to being the manager
words for a woman recovering from
of the newly opened shelter, Duvall
led the media on a
tour of the facility and
introduced us to several
folks including Roma
Peyser and Stacy Borke
of Transition Projects.
The facility which
Mayor Charlie Hales
and wife Nancy
Hales launched on
Thanksgiving Day will
provide a nice dry safe
place to come home to
for Portland’s homeless
population — for six
months. After that, the
building transitions into
an emergency response
center for the west side.
“Is this your first
time here?” asked a
volunteer. The drill is
pretty simple. People
arrive at 6:45 p.m., they
sign some paperwork,
they can get a cup hot
chocolate, coffee, tea,
and a cup of soup, then
they settle in for the
night. There are board
games, art supplies,
clean sleeping quarters,
good food, and room
Debbie Wright appreciates the safety of the Sears Shelter on for companion pets.
The Sears Shelter
an early December evening. (Post photo by Jack Rubinger)
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By Jack Rubinger
The Southwest Portland Post
opened following Mayor Hales’ and
City Council’s declaration of a State
of Emergency in Affordable Housing
and Homelessness on Oct. 7.
In less than two months, partners
made arrangements with the federal
government, service providers,
t r a n s p o r t a t i o n p ro v i d e r s , a n d
neighborhood residents to provide
shelter just as nights began to dip
below freezing.
Transition Projects, the city’s
largest emergency shelter provider, is
operating the Sears Shelter which is
open 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. daily.
The city has contracted with a shuttle
service to provide transportation for the
first two weeks of shelter operations,
and then Ride Connection for the
remaining five-and-a-half months.
With the nearest bus line a half-mile
away, the city is providing guests with
transportation to and from the Sears
Shelter.
“It’s a gift to show them there’s
hope,” said Duvall. “Too many don’t
see them as humans.” As manager of
this new shelter, Duvall and her team
have been working 16 hours a day to
help many of the men and women who
are victims of sexual assault and other
forms of violence. “Living on the street
is traumatic,” she said.
There are several rooms in different
sizes. Red cushioned sleeping mats
and blue tape mark out areas for each
individual to sleep and room to store
belongings. It is pretty basic, but it’s
clean and well-organized.
“We need more resources like
mental health services, employment
services, and medical services. The
mayor and the city stepped up and did
the right thing by turning an armory
into a shelter,” said Duvall.
With her Christmas sweater and
a mini-wreath around her head,
60-year-old Debbie Wright looked
appropriately festive for the season,
but Wright has some serious set-
backs. She lost her apartment because
of noise issues and she suffers from
fibromyalgia.
Wright is trying to get a new place to
live, but until then the shelter is home.
She tears up quickly but recovers when
she recalls the mayor blowing her a
kiss when the Sears Shelter opened.
Scott Rice provided the first sack
lunches during the second week, as
well as the first hot meal to the shelter
on Sunday and considers himself the
food guy. He’s been a community
volunteer for more than eight years
feeding the homeless.
“There’s food everywhere,” he said.
“Nobody lets something go to waste.
Everybody shares in this town. We feed
people gourmet food, but we won’t
house them. That’s our problem.”
Another good thing? Four women
from the shelter recently found jobs.
They rely on TriMet for transportation,
but at least they can leave their property
at the shelter. It’s awkward to bring
two suitcases to work every day.
Currently, the shelter averages 35
women a night and the facility is still
getting known. “When people are
out in the streets they’re in survival
mode,” explained Duvall. “Then they
can focus on jobs and the next steps
into their lives.”
Unfortunately, homelessness is
not just a downtown Portland issue.
People are living under underpasses
and people are migrating. They’re
wondering what’s tonight going to
bring?
This shelter features different size
rooms because some don’t like big
crowds. Duvall described a family
unit…mother, daughter, niece, and
“street” family.
As more people continued to flow in
past 7 p.m., I noticed one particularly
well-groomed woman who looked
like she’d just gotten off work from a
downtown office. While I didn’t get a
chance to talk to her, I wondered about
her story.
“We misjudge people on the streets,”
explained Rice. “We need to recognize
humanity.”
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