Portland Safe Rest Village Plan For Southwest Loses Community Support

PORTLAND, OR — Portland's plans to build six Safe Rest Villages, pods of tiny homes that would act as transitional housing for people in need, hit a snag on Friday when a community group withdrew their support for the first one. The Safe Rest Village is planned for SW Naito Parkway and would house Queer Affinity Village, which will focus on LGBTQ+ people who are living in shelters and/or on the streets.

It is scheduled to open this month. Two others are scheduled to open by the end of September.

The 2300 SW Naito Stakeholder Group, which was organized by the leaders of two schools in Portland – The International School of Portland and Bridges Middle School – said Friday that they can no longer support the village because their voices had not been heard and promises from the city had not been kept, the group said.

The schools are approximately 100 feet from the village.

Members of the stakeholder group said that of particular concern to them is that people allowed to live in one of the tiny homes will not be required to undergo background checks and there are no current plans for a community advisory board.

City Commissioner Dan Ryan, who oversees the Safe Rest Village program, expressed disappointment that the group publicly withdrew their support without giving the city a chance to first respond.

In a statement, Ryan said that they are absolutely willing to discuss the group's concerns.

"The city's Safe Rest Village team would love to learn about" what they view as an "appropriate Safe Rest Villages Advisory Board," he said in a statement.

"We have demonstrated our commitment to community engagement and we welcome additional conversation n concert with the Jont Office of Homeless Services on the structure and implementation of such a board."