Drive In — Sleep Out: Putting The Brakes On Homelessness

BEAVERTON, OR — Family Promise and the City of Beaverton want to address homelessness — particularly youth homelessness — in the city. To do so, and to do so in such a way that resonates with people who've likely never experienced homelessness, the two agencies have invited Beaverton residents to spend a night in their cars at the Beaverton City Fountain Park on Saturday.

Officials are calling it "Drive In — Sleep Out, Putting the Brakes on Homelessness in Beaverton." And by offering even a controlled homeless experience, they're hoping it helps to open a few eyes — and hearts — to a reality faced every day by homeless adults and students in the Beaverton School District.

"More and more we are seeing our community members sleeping in cars in our neighborhoods," said Jolene Guptill, interim chairwoman for the Family Promise of Beaverton board. "We hope that just one night in a car will help the community understand, in a small way, how this can impact daily living. Small things that those who have always had housing might take for granted; eating food without a refrigerator, brushing your teeth, and using the restroom are just a few. Sleeping in a car is not comfortable and it's nearly impossible to sleep uninterrupted."

According to the Oregon Department of Education, the Beaverton School District for six years prior to the 2015-2016 school year had the highest number of homeless students in the state. Beaverton was overtaken this past school year by Portland School District 1J (which counted more than 1,400 homeless students), but the problem nevertheless persists with more than 1,300 students falling into the homeless category as defined by state education officials.

"We have children and families who have no other option," Guptill said. "This has a direct impact on students' performances at school, makes it hard to work during the day for parents, and is a social determinant of health. One of our goals is that our community, once aware, can begin to act with more compassion to children and their families that find themselves in these situations. We hope that this leads to finding solutions within our community that address homelessness. Family Promise of Beaverton is just one piece of how we can go about making positive change in our community for those who might find themselves homeless."

'Drive In — Sleep Out': Saturday, June 10, to Sunday, June 11, from 5 p.m. to 10 a.m. at the Beaverton City Fountain Park, 12500 S.W. Fourth St.

Click here to register an overnight stay in a car for $25, or enjoy the evening activities (food, entertainment, and a movie) for free without staying the night.
Donations are encouraged for those who aren't planning to register for the overnight stay, and all funds raised will go to support Family Promise of Beaverton.

Prior to 2017, Beaverton had no shelter of any kind for people experiencing homelessness, city spokeswoman Holly Thompson told Patch Thursday. But that changed in January 2017 when the city opened its first severe weather shelter.

Helping to plug the hole in the Washington County homeless shelter network, Beaverton officials opened the shelter at the city's Community Center across the street from the city library, Thompson said. The shelter was open for 21 nights, from Jan. 12 to March 30, she said, but was only open to adults 18 years and older. Nevertheless, more than 400 Beaverton residents volunteered to help at the shelter, donating more than 1,400 hours to help provide some small comforts to folks living on the streets of their town.

"These (homeless) folks live here, they're on our streets, and we need to be able to work together to solve the problem," Thompson said. "Our city officials understand homelessness is a community problem that will take the community to solve; the city can't do it alone."

Understanding that dynamic is what helps the New Jersey-based Family Promise organization do what it does best, using already-available resources in cities across the nation at each of its 200-plus affiliates to capitalize on established infrastructure in order to keep costs down while still providing a quality service.

To do this, Family Promise establishes Day Centers in partnered cities and uses affiliates (or host sites) as housing locations for its supported families and individuals. By partnering with the City of Beaverton, Guptill hopes to expand that service in Oregon — which already has Day Centers established in Hillsboro, Salem, and Lincoln County.

"Family Promise of Beaverton will be using the existing resources of community space and volunteers," Guptill explained in an email. "Not only does this make the program cost efficient, it makes it effective. Family Promise is not just about getting families into housing, but addressing all the underlying issues and using the community to keep them in housing. Most of the resources are already here."

Unlike most shelters that only offer a roof for a period of time, Family Promise's service structure seeks to lift people out of homelessness while also providing that roof over their heads. In Beaverton, Guptill said, Family Promise will establish a Day Center where families can take showers, do laundry, receive case management, and look for housing and jobs. Additional to that, however, the organization is also soliciting partners — houses of worship, specifically, to host the families and individuals for one week spurts, four times per year.

"Families will leave the Day Center each day around 5 p.m., with transportation provided by Family Promise, and head to the host site," Guptill said. "They will have dinner, which will be provided by volunteers, work on homework, play games, and visit with volunteers. Then, when the families go to bed, volunteers will also sleep. In the morning, the families and volunteers wake up, have a quick breakfast, grab a sack lunch, and then head back to the Day Center where the school bus will pick up students and the families can work with a case manager to find stable housing."

The host sites take the place of a traditional shelter, Guptill said, and the administrators of those sites have a set timeframe for their required commitment.

"We need 13 hosts, and as of June 1 we have two host sites confirmed and three supporting congregations who will volunteer at sites," she said. "We have been meeting with many churches and organizations and are confident we will get to six hosts by July/August."

The Family Promise organization isn't itself faith-based, however.

"The core belief of our organization is that children and their families should not be sleeping in cars or on the streets," Guptill said. "We recognize that — regardless of the faith tradition — love and compassion are at the core of most belief systems, and we all tend to agree that children shouldn't be homeless. Family Promise partners with community organizations regardless of any affiliation. However, many faith based organizations look at partnering with Family Promise as a way to engage lay members. We are also looking forward to partner with non-faith organizations or groups."

Using the Family Promise model of establishing a coalition of faith-based and otherwise secular organizations to work together in a shared-responsibilities way just makes sense, Thompson said.

"We've been watching (Family Promise) closely … and we want to see them open a Family Promise model in Beaverton," she confirmed. "(But) we have to look at our full range of resources to tackle the challenge. In that way, we can just get so much more done."

Image: werner22brigitte via Pixabay.com