<div>Hi everyone! This is an updated version of the GoFundMe from over 4 years ago. In that time, the values and mission of our organization have changed. It felt like time for an update that accurately represents this project.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>We’re taking a step back to see what two extremely different issues; plastic pollution and houselessness, have in common. We’re asking if the consequence of an environmental issue could be utilized for issues more local.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Recycled Living aims to care for our city by turning wasted industrial plastic into recycled building materials to construct Safe Rest Villages for neighbors experiencing houselessness. We hope to offer support for people by creating a housing model that is more affordable, more livable, and environmentally sustainable. This volunteer project has been years in the making, and right now we are constructing our first home.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Oregon has the highest rate of chronic homelessness in the country. For Portlanders, the reason was clear. From 2020 to 2022 we saw rent increase by 42%, our city was rated the 4th fastest gentrifying city in the nation, and low-income housing began to disappear. The rising population of our neighbors living unsheltered had a clear root; housing. Simultaneously, plastic manufacturing has created a crisis. As a country, we add a football stadium worth of plastic to the landfill every 15 hours. The role plastic has in the climate crisis is largely determined by how we manage it. The OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) calculates that this year, waste plastic will release 200 million tons of carbon (more than three times Oregon’s annual carbon emissions) from its end of life. This shows us that how plastic is managed after its production matters. If we ship, landfill, mismanage, and incinerate plastics across the world, not only does this pose environmental challenges but these processes also generate and release carbon into the atmosphere on an astronomical scale. We desperately need a new way to manage and utilize plastic. One unfortunate process happening right now is plastic incineration. Incinerating plastics is growing in our country and there’s even a large plastic incinerator in our state. The U.S. produced 5.9 million metric tons of CO2 emissions in 2015 from incinerating plastic alone which also releases some of the heaviest GHG known to exist. This type of waste management became popular in our country because of its false portrayal as a *solution* to our plastic waste. Even though burning a metric ton of plastic in an incinerator results in almost one ton of CO2 emissions. Incineration is merely the result of our efforts to address plastic while lacking adequate solutions to do so.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>As Graham Forbes, a Plastics Leader at Greenpeace said: “Not only are plastics killing marine animals, endangering our health, and creating a global pollution crisis, they are contributing to catastrophic climate change.” In just 35 years, the amount of plastic waste generated worldwide is projected to triple. To recycle plastic into building materials is a message to the world that a better alternative exists. Expanding the limits of our recycling system, gives currently unrecyclable plastic a meaningful end to its life. By turning plastic into the catalyst for affordable construction of housing-communities, we can move plastic away from incinerators, landfills, natural environments, and international transport, and into building materials that can play a novel role in making housing solutions affordable in our city. We hope to be an example that there is still room for innovation within recycling.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Let’s talk about housing.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>When we study housing and houselessness across America we begin to see patterns. Cities with significant poverty rates, such as Detroit and Philadelphia, exhibit comparatively lower rates of homelessness nationwide, whereas wealthy cities like San Francisco and Seattle grapple with some of the highest homelessness rates. Conversely, states that record the highest rates of drug overdose deaths like West Virginia, harbor relatively smaller homeless populations compared to other regions across the country. This aligns exactly with the statistics of our state. Oregon is not one of the top states in terms of substance abuse. Oregon is also not in the top ten when it comes to individuals unable to receive Mental Health Care Services. And yet Oregon is at the very top when it comes to chronic homelessness and families living unsheltered. These statistics show us that across America, houselessness always comes back to the issue of housing itself. Housing expenses are outpacing income growth. Within five years the average rent has increased 40%. Research indicates that a mere 10% uptick in rental costs correlates with a 13% surge in homelessness.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>So plastics are rising. The temperature is rising. Rent is rising.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>These are each big issues. So, we had to determine where, as a small volunteer-led organization, we could be most helpful.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Housing-first designs that support people living unhoused often utilize an affordable option for personal housing that a small nonprofit can afford to construct and operate. A Safe Rest Village is a community of tiny homes that provide shelter for people living without it. These places are amazing. Residents have an address, they have somewhere safe to live, a case worker is assigned to help them receive the support they need, they have storage for their belongings, somewhere to wash themselves and their clothes, have warm food, and be a part of a community. The model is built to meet the needs of people who are unsheltered and supply resources to help them reenter society.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Over the last year, we have worked with Cultivate Initiatives who operates and built a 50-person SRV named Menlo Park. This community moved 17 people into permanent housing in the month of May. As residents left these communities many left with an ID card they previously didn’t have, financial support for rent, access to workforce development programs, and career training.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>When living unsheltered, mental health, addiction, and physical conditions are all expected to worsen. So, a housing-first solution, combats this, by providing someone with a home while they receive help.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>The Safe Rest Village model has been a wholesome, community-supported route towards change. So we started to meet with the managers of these villages, organizations, the City Of Portland, and locals who have lived in transitional housing communities. It didn't take long for us to hear the same thing repeated. The method is working, but the homes and building materials that make up each village are starting to create issues.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>A single 84 sq ft unit made of uninsulated walls cost the Menlo Park Village over $17,000. Each one of these units experienced humidity and moisture problems of such severity that smoke detectors filled to the brim with water. One unit was even demolished after mold growth made it unlivable. Portland’s Senior Policy Advisor; Skyler Brocker-Knapp told us that “No one has a housing model yet that works well enough to be used all over”.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>The Safe Rest Village model became successful because free and affordable housing could be constructed by local nonprofits. Its goal was to be an efficient and cost-effective way to provide homes as opposed to large residential developments. The current bottleneck is in the structures themselves. If existing housing nonprofits and developments had access to an alternative material made from free recycled plastic, cost and labor would be drastically reduced while simultaneously creating a new avenue for recycling plastic waste. Safe Rest Villages would have a cheaper, sustainable, and more efficient way to build homes. If we can create a better housing design, we can radically support the nonprofits that run these Safe Rest Villages and the residents who live here.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>So we find ourselves at the intersection of two community needs. One, to recycle plastic. And two, to build better homes more affordably and longer-lasting.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>Recycled Living’s primary objective is to take plastic waste from corporations and use it to fabricate alternative building materials. Unlike a third-party company, we can design for the nonprofits and the residents in mind to make the home that they want.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>This could transform Portland's severe affordable housing shortage and insufficient recycling system through one united solution, to benefit our neighbors and our environment.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>We need solutions that build communities. The most exciting part of Recycled Living is the possibility of bringing Portland together to work on what matters.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>As we’ve seen, there is no shortage of plastic. By recycling this plastic, we can lower the cost of construction. And by caring for the nonprofits and people in these transitional housing communities, we can create the designs that will help them succeed. We hope that we can supply our materials and designs to every Safe Rest Village in Portland so that they can continue their work and rely on the structures that make the housing communities possible.
</div>
<div><br />
</div>
<div>For more info, check out our website or reach out to us: <a href="https://www.recycledliving.org/join-us" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><a href="https://www.recycledliving.org/join-us" target="_blank" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.recycledliving.org/join-us</a></a>
</div>

Deena Fishbein

Anonymous

Ross Duran

Candee Wilson

Julie King

Karla Niehus

Tim Vinegar

wendy tatter

Damien Erlund

JENNIFER L'HOMMEDIEU

Catherine Stimac

Paige Hazard

Recycled Living: Let's Support Our Unhoused Neighbors

platform

Platform is iOS

Android

Adyen Google Pay Development Audience

$opt_dummy_attribute

English only

Deprecate Stripe Legacy

dyn_template_ids

Adyen V6 Bene Transfer & MyMoney Campaign Organizers - test01

Bene transfer V6 and AdyenV6MyMoney Campaign Organizers - production

OneTrust next-app audience

fundCountryCode

NextDoor Share Option Users

Fundraisers with Reactions feature capability

fundCurrencyCode

US + Non-charity COs Only

locale

fund country is US and user language is English

personId

comms-internal-person-ids

Enhanced Story Experience Users

Suggested Goal Experience Users

user language is English and fund country: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

Poster share - new funds eligible (newest 9/18)

Streaming widgets beta user

paymentProcessor

3DS payment method

user language is English and fundCountry: US, AU, DK, FI, IE, NO, SE, CA, GB; 

currencyCode

Money Box Donation List Prompt Experiment Audience

GoFundMe Employees

ipAddress

Mark Rieth IP Address

Version 9.2.0 and above

Fund is in English speaking country

desktop

Android v12.11.0 and above

Platform is Android

paymentMethodType

checkoutType

Payment method type group to be vaulted on success

admin pr kit prod

EUR Donation Upsell

Share Text generation Skip Fundraiser

(prod) new funds eligible for amp12 (UGC gallery)

fintrac_cad_idv_form_v2 audience

paymentProcessorAccountId

fallback mode accounts

proCampaignId

p2p legacy startfundraising page

AMP24 New Funds Only PROD (DO NOT MODIFY)

Eligible for Profile Share Badge

countryCode

charityId

UKCharities

Federated Search Internal Testing

route.pathname community

US Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks Feature Audience

Supporter Comments Eligible Funds

International Only

fundId

braze fundraiser group 

Payment Identity Transfers ATO Risk Check (Targeted) - Production

Fundraiser Saved Payment Method Rate Limit Bypass (Production)

leaderboard-partner-id-audience-givepanel

Version 9.2.1 and above

AUD Donation Upsell audience

fundraiserCountryCode is US/EN

Active Fundraiser - Smart Default Cadence

DAF Internal

Vault on success card payment method

Platform is iOS v11.0.0 and above

Desktop users

Person ids

United States (US) users

allow yuno fundraisers for test

Mexico country code

Posters INTL

NPO Profile Opted-In

iOS at or above 12.4.0

non-US recurring donors

Canada Campaign Owner Group

Fundraiser Without Meta Link

Scheduler payment tester gorup

charityCommunityId

Charities allow to be claimed unclaimed (PRD)

Canada (CA) users

UC Tipping v20250115 International

pymk_production_xplr_fe_team

Android at or above 12.2.0

Profile photo entry point audience

smart goals (fundraiser/manage) on test01

Activity Tracking v1 Beta Testing

start gfm intl allowed locales

Platform is iOS v11.2.0 and above

NPO upsell education category

unclaimed charities

prod_ach_audience

AI Chatbot Audience

amp13 only new funds (prod) (anyword auto)

UC Flow Enabled (Prod)

Payment Identity Beneficiary Verification - Production

shared notification bell audience

Custom users

ach frontend audience

Android v11.0.0 and above

Users Receiving Payments Paused Notifications

smart goals test01

Manage Coach - US English Organizers Only + new funds only

Team EGG - IP Address list

NPO recommendations prod

Fundraiser Without Instagram Deep Link

Native 11.4.0 and above

UC Tipping v20250107

Users Receiving Braze KYC Validation Failed

ai_title_page

anyword

openai

control

manual_entry

userEmail

template_id

userId

fundUrl

isCharityCo

email

appVersion

shouldBucketIntoExperiment

isEligibleForProfileBadge

partnerId

donationCadence

isActiveFundraiser

isPartner

isMobile

npoProfileOptIn

fundIsLinkedWithMeta

hasSessionDonation

categoryGroup

isCampaignOwner

fundHasInstagramDeepLink

Native 11.3.0 and above

Native 11.4.0 and higher

New funds eligible - Video Sharing (PROD)

GB Donation Upsell audience 

Auto Thanks V3 Rollout Audience

Thank you V3 testing whitelist

isRecurringFriendly

Is Recurring Friendly

Excluded funds - Video Sharing

NPO upsell animals category

NPO upsell disaster relief category

Logged In Users

CH Donation Upsell audience

Android v10.6.0 and above

NPO upsell essential needs category

NPO upsell medical category

userCurrencyCode

Localized Currency

NPO upsell cancer category

v11.5.0 and above

testAudience

pathname

Survicate

appVersion is at or above 12.8.0

Non-charity fund

isChallengeFundraiser

challenge-fundraisers

Payment Identity Launch Verification - Production

New funds eligible - Posters v2

CAD Donation Upsell Audience

Braze Email Tester

NPO Profile Opted-Out

iOS App Version

hasKnownDonors

PYMK has donors

iOS v12.3.0 and above

Enter your donation forRecycled Living: Let's Support Our Unhoused Neighbors