Project Homeless Connect To Open Emergency Shelter In Hillsboro

Press release from the City of Hillsboro:

April 16, 2020

An emergency shelter is opening in Hillsboro to provide a safe place to sleep and a daily meal for up to 35 people experiencing homelessness.

Project Homeless Connect — in partnership with the City of Hillsboro, Community Action, and The Salvation Army of Hillsboro — will operate a shelter staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The emergency shelter is located in The Salvation Army building at 1440 SE 21st Avenue in Hillsboro, near the intersection of SE Tualatin Valley Highway and SE Cypress Street. It will open on Friday, April 17, and remain open through Sunday, May 31.

The shelter is not equipped to provide medical treatment and care for high-risk or COVID-19 positive individuals experiencing homelessness. Those services are available in partnership with Washington County at the Comfort Inn & Suites, located at 3500 NE Cornell Road.

How to Register

Clients need to call 503-726-0850 to register for one of the 35 available 12’ x 12’ spaces. Each space is configured to ensure physical distancing and includes:a sleeping cot

• access to porta potties and hand sanitation stations
• a safe place to stay and help flatten the curve

Caring for the most vulnerable among us

“During this COVID-19 crisis, people who are living unhoused or in unstable housing are among the most vulnerable community members, said Tami Cockeram, Community Services Manager for the City of Hillsboro. “Caring for those who have no place to go is essential to helping ensure the health and safety of our entire community.”

At all hours of the day, the emergency shelter will be staffed by a minimum of two people from Project Homeless Connect which has operated the severe weather shelter at Sonrise Church for the past 12 years. That site closed at the end of March.

Project Homeless Connect staff will provide one hot meal a day, as well as grab-and-go options for breakfast and lunch. They will also work with clients to move toward self-sufficiency. This includes providing services such as housing placement, employment searches, obtaining birth certificates, and more.

“We’re thankful for the opportunity to partner with local agencies to transform our thrift store into an emergency shelter to serve community members in the most need right now in Hillsboro,” said Major Robert Lloyd, Portland Metro Coordinator for The Salvation Army.

The Salvation Army and the City of Hillsboro have also partnered, along with St. Vincent de Paul, on the Food 2 You food pantry delivery program.

For more information about the emergency shelter and to register, call 503-726-0850.

This press release was produced by the City of Hillsboro. The views expressed here are the author’s own.