Providing Shelters & Support for PDX Houseless

History and Vision

The People’s Housing Project was founded in October 2021. We are a grassroots organization building emergency shelters and providing support services to help support the health and safety of houseless folks and our communities at-large.

Until more housing is made available, we will continue to bring humanity to our unhoused neighbors across Portland. We are building temporary, transitional dwellings that allow people to sleep off of the ground. It gives them the basic dignity of room to stand up, a place to hang wet clothes, and allows people to sleep off of the ground.

There are thousands of people sleeping on Portland's streets each night. By building these and other emergency shelters, we offer people without housing a safe, accessible place to live and rebuild while they secure permanent housing. They are designed to create warmth, accessibility and functionality

As we expand our work, we will be able to include broader intersections of the community. We do not have years to spend deciding who gets to slowly build tiny houses on which of the many surplus plots of ground that are available in Portland. Politicians use words like "emergency" but do not act with resourcefulness or urgency. We need to provide care for people in need right now. The city is leaving trash to pile up. Toilets were placed but didn’t get cleaned out. Our solution is more humane, more effective, and costs less than what the city is offering. We are doing the work the city cannot or chooses not to do.

This is not a permanent solution-- it is a vision of an alternative present, a pathway to survival and self-empowerment for people who are the most oppressed. Creating the structures for houseless folks to self-organize allows us to build a coalition between houseless Portland and housed Portland to work together to solve trash, addiction, and waste issues. If we come together as a community, we can care for the people the city has left behind.

Where does your money come from?

We are funded entirely by grassroots donations and small business in-kind contributions. Not taking corporate or government funding allows us to remain completely independent, accountable only to you and the folks on the street we serve.

Where does the money go?

Monthly giving allows us to provide ongoing support to the people we give shelters to, including things like sanitation and needle pickup. The People’s Housing Project is currently operating as a registered S Corp. Part of our fundraising goes toward paying five full-time employees to run the organization.

Isn't this the city's job?

Sure, feels like it f****** should be, right? Unfortunately, it has been six years since the city declared homelessness an emergency, and things have only worsened. If things are going to get better, we're going to have to do it as a community. We are also working to put pressure on the city council and our county commission to adopt a Housing First model and provide people housing. Please get in touch with us if you'd like to help us pressure the city council.