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News
Street Roots • August 5-11,2016
Break it up!
Depave, an organization working to tear out
pavement and restore green space, partnered
with Human Solutions to transform a parking
lot into a garden area for people in shelter
ore than 100 volunteers arrived on
Saturday morning, July 30, ready
and willing to help nonprofit
organizations Depave and Human Solutions
tear out 4,000 square feet of pavement from
the parking lot of the Human Solutions family
shelter in Southeast Portland. The morning’s
work was the first step in the creation of a
green space, playground and garden for the
residents that stay at the year-round, 24/7
family shelter.
“Today we’re starting to build what every
homes needs: a backyard,” Human Solutions
Executive Director Andy Miller told the
crowd before the work began. Miller hopes
the project will provide an example of how
the collaborations and partnerships can
address the city’s homelessness crisis.
“In terms of meaningfully solving
homelessness, we have to take to the kinds of
partnerships that came together today and
bring that to scale. While projects like the
one we are doing today feel great and are
really important in terms of changing the face
of this shelter, I remind people constantly
that a shelter is the beginning of the road,
not the end of the road. We need to build the
whole road.”
The project, slated to be finished in
September, was made possible by a grant
from the East Multnomah Soil and Water
Conservation District, and supplies and
volunteer hours donated by Dennis’ 7 Dees
Garden Centers and several businesses and community groups
throughout the city.
“Always when these projects get big, we pull in really generous
partners. That’s kind of what I like about the job,” said Depave
Executive Director Eric Rosewall. “There’s some great funding
sources. Then you have to figure out how to harness generosity
throughout the community, and you always do. There’s always so
many awesome folks to help you get it done.”
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