By Sofie Salewsky, Franklin High School’s The Franklin Post
As the temperatures outside drop and the winter months draw near, organizations around Portland are taking action to help those who are homeless or are unsafe in their current households. On Thursday, October. 23, the City of Portland announced the opening of an overnight emergency shelter in the Buckman neighborhood, along with the expansion of another. Both shelters are expected to be running by the end of November.
Overnight emergency shelters aim to provide short-term accommodations for individuals who are homeless and in need of a warm place to stay. These shelters will provide a temporary safe place and a bed for those in need, together adding 280 new beds to the network of resources across the city. These additions bring the total number of beds created in Portland since January 2025 to 1,090, according to City records.
In partnership with the City, the two Buckman neighborhood shelters are run by local nonprofit organizations: Transition Projects and CityTeam Portland. Transition Projects is opening the new shelter on 614 SE Grand Ave., whereas CityTeam Portland is expanding its existing shelter, located on 526 SE Grand Ave. The latter has been operating for over 20 years, but is now upgrading its services, in line with Mayor Keith Wilson’s plan to increase shelter capacity throughout the city.
Mark Rowlett, the Connect Program manager for CityTeam Portland, explains what this shift means for the shelter. “We are going to be recovery-focused and help people access treatment, as well as giving a basic needs assessment as people come in.” He says that the shelter refloored their facility and increased the capacity from 30 to 80 individuals. Previously, the CityTeam Portland shelter was male-only; with the new plan, women will be able to stay as well, according to Rowlett.
In order for individuals to stay at either shelter, they need to be committed to staying sober and clean, cannot be under the influence of any substances upon arrival and must be 18 or older. Robert Layne, the senior communication strategist for Portland Solutions, a city agency that was created to address homelessness, explains that his team had been hearing from the Portland community about the lack of emergency overnight shelters for people in recovery from substance use disorders. Recovery-oriented shelters provide those experiencing unsheltered homelessness a safe place to sleep along with steps forward to recovery.
The new Transition Projects shelter will be able to help more homeless people in the Portland area, providing a roof over their heads and a route to long-term recovery. “The SE Grand recovery [shelter] will be 140 beds with 60 additional beds that can be [opened] based on need,” says Layne. According to their website, Transition Projects helps more than 10,000 people experiencing homelessness annually, and provides a safe place to sleep for 700 people nightly. “These shelters help move people from places of suffering to connection points to other support and services,” states Layne. Along with providing a warm and secure place to sleep, these shelters will also offer showers, snacks, emergency clothing and hygiene products, explains Rowlett.
In recent years, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic, homelessness has risen in the Portland area. According to a January 2025 Point-in-Time survey by Portland State University (released in November), the total number of people who are homeless in the Portland area increased 61 percent from 2023 to 2025. Portland currently has the highest number of unsheltered homeless people in the city’s history at 5,398 individuals, according to Multnomah County.
The access to a safe place to sleep and essential services is extremely necessary, especially as colder weather puts unsheltered individuals at increased risk. Emergency shelters, such as these new and improved sites, help thousands of people each year. “During the colder months, we are usually at full capacity and are [already] starting to see an increase in residents [this fall],” Rowlett says. These shelters are another step forward in addressing the immediate needs of those who are homeless.
The site of Transition Projects’ new overnight emergency shelter located on 614 SE Grand Ave. Photo by Sofie Salewsky.
