Washington County, Oregon has effectively eliminated its homeless encampments by spending millions of dollars on a homeless services system that has moved unhoused individuals into subsidized housing, including pod villages.
For the last two years, most of Washington County’s Metro homelessness services tax has been spent building 90 tiny homes at three locations across the county and expanding its shelter network.
Outreach workers have, according to local reporting, been able to eliminate the county’s seven large and medium-sized encampments. In two years, the county grew the number of shelter beds it has from 46 to 426.
The county has increased by some 900 percent the number of housing vouchers available to significantly subsidize the rent of formerly homeless individuals’ apartments.
For the last two years, most of Washington County’s Metro homelessness services tax has been spent building 90 tiny homes at three locations across the county and expanding its shelter network
The county has spent about 40 percent of the $86million in Metro homelessness tax proceeds it allocated to spend this fiscal year, which ends in June.
But not everyone is happy with the arrangements the county is making to get most of its hundreds of homeless residents off the streets.
The pod villages have to go somewhere, and one of the locations selected for a tiny village was Aloha, Oregon, on the grounds of the Aloha United Methodist Church.
The area is largely populated by the county’s elderly population, some of whom are worried about disruptions to the neighborhood and potential safety concerns.
‘If somebody is a potential hazard, we have the right to know that for our own safety,’ Jim Wassgren, who has lived in the are for 25 years, told ABC15.
‘We’ve invested in a lot of cameras. We have also purchased a security [system] for the house,’ said Allen Ballantyne, who lives just a few doors over from the church.
‘Putting a homeless encampment in a frankly, quite geriatric neighborhood … a lot of old folks and young families living here, right in the middle of that, couldn’t seem like a worst idea to me,’ he said.
The pod village, which opened in February, is made up of 30 pods that are meant to be temporary shelters for homeless individuals.
The area is surrounded by wooden fencing, and there is only one way in and out of the area.
It is what’s called a ‘low barrier’ shelter, meaning individuals will not be drug tested or required to participate in certain programs in order to qualify for a pod.
Those selected for pod-living, however, will have gone through a rigorous selection process, according to administrators at the Washington County Department of Housing Services.
The pod structures are based on models of tiny homes, which have skyrocketed in popularity across the US in the last decade
Similar structures have been erected in neighboring Oregon cities, like Portland, where the homeless population has surged in recent years
One such administrator said the county sheriff’s office will be working with the city to keep the pod village and surrounding area safe, and security will be present at all times.
‘I think my message is, anyone who has concerns is to come in [and] to the opening of this program with an open mind,’ she said.
Longtime residents, however, remain wary and say they will be staying vigilant as the community welcomes in residents of the 30 pod units.
‘Well we’re very apprehensive. We constantly hear horror stories about what happens in the other areas and I’ve been by a few of them and they don’t look good,’ said Ballantyne.
‘We’re hoping for the best at this location. We’ve been assured by the county that they have everything under control, but we’re very skeptical.’
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