Help Stop Un-Safe Rest Villages
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Neighbors 4 Safe Smart Shelters (N4S), is a volunteer-based organization working to prevent Safe Rest Villages (SRVs) from being set up in your local neighborhood. Instead, we work with local groups and representatives to find alternative ways to support better, safer, workable shelter solutions for Portland’s growing homelessness crisis — made increasingly worse by fentanyl and mental illness.
Why Safe Rest Villages are NOT the Solution
While local representatives try to force Safe Rest Villages into our neighborhoods as part of the “solution” to homelessness, the reality of the situation is far different. These homeless villages are enabling cells that bring many safety concerns for the homeless population AND nearby residents due to:
- No barriers to entry. This means Safe Rest Villages often attract the most challenged homeless people who are service-resistant and for whom living on the streets is a way of life. They are not looking to seek treatment nor transition to more permanent housing.
- SRV model is broken. The very essence of the model (under the Housing First Program) has proven not to work — no detailed intake analysis of residents; no required drug, alcohol, or mental illness treatments; no viable metrics; and no monitoring or safety protocols. There are no pre- or post-SRV tracking mechanisms to ensure residents don’t return to the streets or other shelters.
- Crime. In June 2022, Old Town’s homeless village permanently closed due to dangerous conditions — including daily and nightly gunfire and gun activity in the area, and drive-by shootings. Crime, including personal assaults, continues to increase year after year.
- Poor management. Lack of training and support for on-site employees, including hiring people who have never worked in social services, or are unprepared and unskilled to manage and operate facilities.
- Unenforceable Good Neighbor Agreements (GNAs). There are no responsibilities or accountabilities by the non-profit organizations managing and operating the SRVs. Whether signed or unsigned, the city and county do not and will not agree to making these agreements enforceable.
- Unjustifiable Costs. Each SRV costs between $68,000 to $100,000 per resident for locations with an average of 60 pods for 120 homeless people. In comparison, Bybee Lakes Hope Center (a high barrier and emergency shelter) costs around $34,000 per person while serving 5,000 annually.
Your contributions will be used to help mainly with legal fees and marketing/pr to prevent homeless villages from being established in our neighborhoods. The efforts include lobbying representatives to direct funds towards more workable shelter solutions outside of high-density areas that are already entrenched with shelters. An alternative is the replication of Bybee Lakes Hope Center — a model that effectively supports participants with drug, alcohol, and mental health requirements, administered by highly skilled and trained professionals aimed at supporting, NOT enabling, homeless persons so they can build self-sufficiency and skills to transition to life after homelessness.
Please contribute whatever you can. N4S is not a 501(c)3 non profit organization so contributions are not tax deductible. We need your help to keep our neighborhood safe and find better ways to shelter people, as well as prepare them for life after homelessness. SRVs are NOT a part of any homeless solution — they are simply warehousing the homeless while wreaking havoc on whole neighborhoods.
For more information, including ways to get involved, visit https://neighbors4safesmartshelters.com/
N4S volunteers include, Joan Neice and Michael Galizio.
Organizer and beneficiary
N4S Neighbors
Organizer
Portland, OR
Joan Neice
Beneficiary