By Nancy Tannler

In July 2023, Portland opened the first of the city’s outdoor homeless shelters. The Clinton Triangle Temporary Alternative Shelter Site (TASS), 1490 SE Gideon St., provides a safe, secure and clean place for residents to live while they access housing, mental health support, substance use disorder treatment and other critical resources to move them out of the homeless cycle.
Hank Smith, Policy & Communications Advisor for Mayor Wheeler; Urban Alchemy, a non-profit that runs the encampment; and the Clinton Triangle Oversight Committee are the people who are monitoring the progress of this outdoor camp site. In the last four months, the City of Portland has opened four other Safe Rest Villages or TASS–now serving over 400 people.
Clinton Triangle has 140 pods and 20 tent platforms and currently houses 197 people (in some instances two people can share a spot) and some pets. The site is fully occupied and when one pod opens up it is generally filled within a day. Only those who have gone through the vetting process are eligible to live here. Since they opened, 100 individuals have moved on to permanent housing.
In order to be eligible for a bed at the Clinton Triangle shelter site a person needs a referral by a city outreach worker or nonprofit service provider. These city and county workers will help the applicant navigate issues with pets, friends or family and possessions to determine where they should be placed. The referral number is 211. They do not accept walk-ins.
A few people from the Clinton Triangle Oversight Committee spoke with The Southeast Examiner and shared their observations of the TASS.
Peggy McDaniel is a member of the committee and lives in the boundaries of the Hosford-Abernethy Neighborhood Association (HAND) where the Clinton Triangle is located. McDaniel said for the most part this TASS is working. “Urban Alchemy is doing a great job of managing the site, plus having a direct line to Mayor Wheeler through Smith, gets questions answered and problems solved quickly,” she said.
The Clinton Triangle area is well kept, but the situation remains unresolved in the surrounding neighborhood where unsanctioned camping spots still exist. “The problem is that we can’t build these TASS fast enough partly due to the expense,” McDaniel said. She believes the TASS and Safe Rest Villages are a solution that most people would prefer over random campsites and all the related problems.
Both Smith and Savannah Eadens, Public Information Officer from the mayor’s office, agree that this site is working well. Smith said homeless people tend to be wary of social programs trying to “help” them. Clinton Triangle has proved the exception and people are now queuing up for their turn.

The pods give guests safety, privacy and warmth, along with a multitude of other services available on site. Urban Alchemy care coordinators help guests create a “service plan” by entering them into the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS). This system identifies the barriers that prevent people from finding housing and helps guests navigate the bureaucracy of social services so they can move ahead. The ratio of staff to clients is one to 15.
Peter Finley Fry has been a board member off and on for the Central Eastside Industrial Council (CEID) for 30 years. His knowledge as a land use planner and urban studies master makes him a qualified spokesperson on the subject of the homeless in inner SE Portland. His take on the Clinton Triangle TASS is positive. “There is a problem to be solved and TASS is a creative transitional housing solution,” he said.
Fry spoke to the fact that in the past there were poor farms and mental institutions in every state to help people who were floundering. Many of those institutions quit functioning years ago and there hasn’t been a comprehensive mechanism in place to stabilize people in need of these types of services–until now.
Jeff Dickey, Urban Alchemy Director of Operations here in Portland, says Clinton Triangle has already been a success in helping people transition off the street. “Many of the people are coming from a fight or flight situation and the pods give them a safe place to decompress, set goals and grow emotionally,” he said. He went on to explain that many of today’s people experiencing homelessness have had a home, a job and relationships but a simple twist of fate has them living in their cars or on the street.
Dickey said the city and county and a myriad of other social service providers have made this possible by funding and offering their services. He especially acknowledges the Urban Alchemy staff whose skills at interacting and negotiating with the guests keeps things flowing smoothly in what could be a very volatile situation.
The people interviewed for this article believe the Clinton Triangle site is proving successful. Moving forward, it will be up to our governance with the backing of citizens to prioritize the funding and social services required to build more TASS and begin to solve our homeless crisis.

New Temporary Homeless Site Proves Successful

March 29, 2024 | Headlines, Local Headlines | Clinton Triangle Temporary Alternative Shelter Site, homeless shelter, Nancy Tannler, Urban Alchemy