Dear friends,
I need your help. We’re delivering real change to Portland, and if you can contribute a bag of snacks, an hour of your time as an artist, teacher, or builder, or even a small show of financial support to our emergency shelter system, I want to connect.
This is a pivotal week. We opened two shelters, the new NW Northrup Emergency Overnight Shelter and NW Glisan Oasis Day Center. Both are critical facilities in my overall strategy to provide a safe bed for every Portlander, every night, and repair, restore, and revitalize public safety, livability, and economic promise in Portland.
I’m living up to my promises. Intake and exit for these new shelters are calm and orderly, trash gets picked up, streets are swept, graffiti is cleared, and outreach workers are available to help the vulnerable. Every night in an emergency shelter is a chance to reconnect with loved ones, get services, and take a meaningful step in a journey home, and to save a life.
It’s not all good news... as Portlanders, we face a stark choice. Recent events in Washington, D.C. show us what will happen to Portland if we don’t move with speed, purpose, and compassion to address the humanitarian crisis on our streets. The federal administration deploys bulldozers and mass arrests by masked agents; the opposite of ouroutreach worker and emergency shelter strategy. Let’s work together by volunteering and donating, and prove the administration’s heavy-handed tactics are not needed in our city.
Thank you for all your incredible support; it has been crucial at every step. I look forward to working alongside you as we restore the promise of The City That Works.
