c3po villages relocation: Resources and FAQ

A view inside a C3PO village, showing a Pallet personal shelter along with landscaping and other touches of community.

A view inside a C3PO village, showing a Pallet personal shelter along with landscaping and other touches of community.

The City of Portland/Multnomah County Joint Office of Homeless Services is pleased to announce an important update in our work to help unsheltered adults find safety off the streets.

Portland officials, the Joint Office and community nonprofits worked early in the COVID-19 pandemic to create three outdoor shelters known as C3PO, or Creating Conscious Communities with People Outside.

These spaces offer the dignity of sleeping personal shelters, regular access to meals, water, restrooms and showers, along with the support of a village community.

This summer, 35 neighbors from a village at Southeast Water and Main have moved to a new and improved location on City-owned land at 84 NE Weidler.

Work began June, with residents moving in July 23 and 24. This move will offer our neighbors in the village more certainty about where they’re staying as well as improved amenities, including showers, bathrooms and laundry. The timing was important, as C3PO’s original Eastside sites, which were always meant to be temporary, will not be available beyond this summer. 

As our community finally turns the corner on COVID-19 and begins the work of picking up and rebuilding, the chance to sustain these support services couldn’t come at a better time. Thank you again for your support.

We believe that just because someone loses their housing, they shouldn’t have to lose their community, too. 

outreach: PDF of Postcard sent to neighbors of the weidler site (july 2021)

LEARN MORE: WATCH A VIDEO ABOUT THE sT. jOHNS vILLAGE, ANOTHER VILLAGE-STYLE SHELTER

LEARN MORE: READ ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE C3PO SITES AND THE COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP THAT MADE THEM POSSIBLE

Frequently asked questions (july 2021)

What is C3PO?

  • C3PO stands for Creating Conscious Communities with People Outside. C3PO consists of three unique houseless village-style shelters started by a collaboration of local nonprofits, the City of Portland, and Multnomah County.

  • The three villages opened in Spring 2020 and include:

    • BIPOC Village: focusing on Black, Indigenous, & People of Color

    • QA Village: also known as Queer Affinity, for folks on the LGBTQIA+ spectrum

    • Old Town Village: our non-identity-specific village

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN THE LLOYD DISTRICT?

  • BIPOC Village, which has about 35 residents, will move to a City of Portland-owned lot at 84 NE Weidler, in the Lloyd Community District.

  • Site preparations began June 2021. The village move was completed July 23 and 24.

is this a tent camp? Who will this shelter serve? what amenities will be provided?

  • C3PO villages are not tent camps.

  • This shelter is serving as the new home for the approximately 35 individuals living in the BIPOC Village.

  • Each village operates as a 24-hour, low-barrier adult shelter that allows couples and pets.

  • C3PO villages provide personal tiny-home shelters (with heat and electricity); three meals a day; access to bathrooms, showers, and laundry; medical assistance; clothing; connection to housing and social services resources; and anti-oppression and life skills training.

  • Personal shelters are available only through an intake process. Walk-up shelter or services are not provided.

  • Applicants are interviewed by the village’s intake committee, which is composed mostly of villagers, and are voted into the village via 100% consensus.

Why is the NE WEIDLER site well-suited for hosting a village?

  • The NE Weidler site offers several opportunities for not just continuing but significantly enhancing the C3PO shelter program.

  • Just like its prior Eastside site, the new site for the BIPOC village is owned by the City through its economic development agency, Prosper Portland. That means using the site does not require the added operating expense of a private lease.

  • It is close to transit options, community amenities and social services. 

  • And because this location will be available for up to a few years, unlike the current sites hosting the C3PO villages, it will also allow for upgraded amenities on site, including improved hygiene facilities, kitchenette availability, space for gardening, and natural shade.

How long will the shelter be located in Lloyd?

  • The City has worked with Prosper Portland to host this C3PO village on this property until June 30, 2024.

Will thIS SITE be an asset for the community?

  • Yes. Shelter that focuses on safety and community, while also providing health services and connections to housing resources, is a critical part of local government’s work preventing and ending homelessness. And like any business or program, shelters must be well-run to succeed, not just for their neighbors but for their participants.

  • We hold our operators and programs to high standards, and support them to ensure their success. We have not seen significant issues with crime or other concerns because of our shelters.

  • The Joint Office has opened many shelters since 2016, from the Pearl District to Mill Park. Some sit on commercial strips. Some are next to residences, and near schools and parks.

  • Those sites include village-style sites like the successful Kenton Women’s Village and the new St. Johns Village. They include a new paradigm for family shelter at the Family Village Campus in Lents and Lilac Meadows in Powellhurst-Gilbert.

    They include the public-private River District Navigation Center in the Pearl District and state-of-the-art facilities such as the Laurelwood Center on SE Foster Road and the Willamette Resource Center in Sellwood-Moreland.

  • And they include the Wy’east Shelter in Mill Park where community members and local businesses even threw a barbecue party for shelter participants, bringing their families to celebrate alongside their new neighbors.

  • After our shelters have opened, community members have come together to celebrate and support their new neighbors through activities, volunteering, and donations.

How will this site be managed?

  • The City of Portland’s Emergency Coordination Center worked with community-based nonprofits, the Joint Office and other City staff to develop and oversee the initial village sites. The Joint Office of Homeless Services, a shared partnership between the City of Portland and Multnomah County, will assume oversight of the C3PO villages.

  • Each village runs on a hybrid shelter-village model where villagers engage in systems of democratic self-governance with support from staff.

  • Villagers collectively determine the structure and rules within their village as well as address village needs and conflict, commonly at their weekly Council Meetings. Paid staff include both villagers and people who live apart from the village, who work together to ensure operations run smoothly.

Why are the C3PO shelters necessary?

  • C3PO reflects what we have learned throughout our emergency response to homelessness. Congregate shelters work well and provide services and stability for many people. But not every unsheltered person is willing or able to live in a congregate shelter environment.

  • We believe our shelter system should offer a range of models so we offer the best options for as many people as possible. This village model provides individuals experiencing homelessness with shelter, increased safety, and stability.

  • The model provides individuals with access to hygiene, life skills training, medical assistance, and connections to housing and social service resources through democratically based governance.

How do c3po and this shelter fit within the city and county’s larger strategies for providing shelter and housing services?

  • C3PO provides otherwise unsheltered adults living in Portland with access to essential shelter resources.

  • So far, that has included an emphasis on resources required for staying safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, including proper personal protective equipment, hygiene facilities, education about the virus, vaccine clinics, community health workers, and the ability to stay physically distant in an outdoor setting. 

  • BIPOC Village also supports community members who have statistically disproportionate rates of morbidity from COVID-19, as well as community members who are underrepresented within shelter systems but over-represented among people experiencing homelessness overall.

  • The C3PO villages helped the community not just maintain but increase shelter capacity during the pandemic, despite the need to space out beds and provide physical distancing.

  • Residents at C3PO villages also can access housing and social services resources throughout the rest of the homelessness response system.

  • The Joint Office funds more than 1,400 year-round shelter beds, and funds housing placement work that helps 5,000 people a year leave the streets and shelters for permanent housing. That housing placement work doesn’t rely on building housing; rather it relies on helping people pay rents in market-rate apartments that are already available.

  • New funding this year — from the County’s share of money from the Metro Supportive Housing Services measure and from the City’s share of American Rescue Plan funding — is expected to significantly expand both urgent shelter, including villages and safe rest areas, as well quick-turnaround housing placements. 

Is this location going to be affected by possible I-5/Rose Quarter projects?

  • The City has an open line of communication with the Oregon Department of Transportation regarding this location. They are aware of our plans to use the site.

  • It is our understanding that the earliest that ODOT could possibly begin construction on a Rose Quarter project is 2023.

HOW CAN COMMUNITY MEMBERS GET INVOLVED IN SUPPORTING THE SITE? 

  • C3PO welcomes donations of new clothes and other goods.

  • Contact C3PO’s donations coordinator at [email protected] for delivery instructions.

  • Items you can donate to support the villages:

    • Towels and washcloths

    • Razors and shaving cream

    • Sneakers (all genders)

    • Laundry soap (individual packets preferred)

    • Sweatpants

    • Socks and underwear