COMMUNITY OUTREACH TIMELINE
Dec. 8, 2017
Letter sent to neighbors with invitation to community meeting.
DEC. 14
FAQ sent to community members on basics of shelter operations and plans for managing impacts on surrounding businesses and neighbors.
Dec. 18
Large community meeting.
Jan. 4, 2018
Transition Projects meets with Foster-Powell neighbors.
Jan. 9
Officials from Mayor Ted Wheeler's Office, Chair Deborah Kafoury's Office, Commissioner Jessica Vega Pederson's office and the Joint Office of Homeless Services, among others, meet with the Foster Area Business Association board.
Jan. 22
Officials from Mayor Ted Wheeler's Office, Chair Deborah Kafoury's Office, Commissioner Jessica Vega Pederson's office and the Joint Office of Homeless Services, among others, to meet with Creston-Kenilworth neighbors.
Jan. 25
The Multnomah County Board of Commissioners will meet to discuss formally signing the lease for 6144 SE Foster Road.
February/March
Meetings with impacted neighbors, including Mt. Scott Learning Center.
Feb. 22
First steering committee meeting of stakeholders, including direct neighbors, to help tailor shelter programming and lead a conversation on public safety and infrastructure impacts. (Read meeting materials here.)
March 15
Second steering committee meeting is held. (Read meeting materials here.)
april 18
Third steering committee meeting is held. (Read meeting materials here.)
MAY 29
Fourth steering committee meeting is held. Members, along with members of the general public who attended the meeting, split into small groups to brainstorm concepts for a Good Neighbor Agreement. (Read meeting materials here.)
june 14
The Multnomah County Board of Commissioners votes 5-0 to proceed with bids on a shelter design plan and a $3 million construction work plan.
june 21
Fifth steering committee meeting. (Read meeting materials here.)
SEPTEMBER
Steering committee unanimously approves Good Neighbor Agreement.
Fall 2018/Winter 2019
Construction starts.
aug. 12, 2019
Shelter open house for community members. Shelter opens Aug. 15.
OUR plan for Public engagement
neighborhood meetings and a steering committee
On Dec. 8, 2017, officials from Multnomah County, the City of Portland, the Joint Office of Homeless Services and Transition Projects invited community members from four neighborhood associations -- Mt. Scott-Arleta, Creston-Kenilworth, Brentwood-Darlington and Foster-Powell -- along with immediate neighbors and the Foster Area Business Association to a public meeting on our plans for a shelter for homeless adults at 6144 SE Foster Road.
Officials convened that meeting to proactively hear concerns -- and begin working with neighbors to address them -- months before the shelter will open, in fall 2018.
Hundreds of people turned out for that meeting, held Dec. 18, 2017, at the Service Employees International Union hall very close to the shelter site. As most neighbors know, more people turned out than the hall, with a capacity of 150 people, could accommodate safely. And many neighbors had to submit comment cards or follow online social media streams of the meeting.
That's why we met in smaller settings with neighborhood and business leaders. We also scheduled one-on-one meetings with directly impacted neighbors and met, under leadership of Commissioner Jessica Vega Pederson, with a steering committee of stakeholders to help us shape shelter programming while also emphasizing overall public safety and infrastructure developments in the area.
STEERING COMMITTEE'S ROLE
We invited neighborhood and business leaders, and direct neighbors, to meet regularly with Transition Projects staffers and Portland and County officials to help tailor the shelter to the neighborhood surrounding it.
To learn more about the committee, including its members, and to see a calendar with links to agendas and meeting minutes and other documents, visit our "Steering Committee Resources" page.
That work included the following:
How to shape shelter programming
How people are served by the shelter
The structure for ongoing and responsive communication between the shelter provider and neighborhood stakeholders
How shelter residents are integrated into the community
How to activate volunteer networks