- Community Engagement Process
Before programming begins at any of our shelter locations, including pod villages, a robust community engagement process is completed including:
- Public Information distribution and notification - including flyers and/or postcards delivered to nearby residents and businesses and canvassing with the shelter operator
- Hosting an informational meeting for neighbors and interested community members to ask questions, share concerns,
- Conducting workshop(s) to develop a Supportive Neighborhood Plan for the site, and
- Notifying nearby neighbors and businesses of finalized supportive neighborhood plan, with opportunities to check in after shelter is established.
Neighborhood Plans
- Safe Rest Pod Village at Aloha UMC (February 20-24 - February 2026)
Aloha United Methodist Church (UMC), Washington County, and Open Door HousingWorks are collaborating on the safe reset village located at 2270 SW 198th Ave, Beaverton. As the site shelter operator, Open Door provides 24/7 staffing once. This site serves 30 individuals using a pallet shelter style model. Open Door may be reached at 503-748-0418.
Final Neighborhood Plan:
The site opened in February 2024 and will remain open for up to two years, with program closure set for February 2026 at the latest.
Community Engagement Recordings
Other relevant documents:
- Cornelius Safe Rest Pods at 4th Avenue (September 2023-September 2025)
Open Door HousingWorks purchased a site for a temporary pod shelter location at 397 N 4th Ave, Cornelius and a long-term "access center". This site opened September 2023 and utilizes the pods formerly offered at the Hillsboro Safe Rest Pods location and provides shelter to 30-40 individuals for up to two years.
Final Neighborhood Plan:
Community Engagement Recordings:
- June 28, 2023 - Community Meeting recording
- April 16, 2024 – Cornelius Safe Rest Pods six-month follow-up
Other relevant documents:
- Hillsboro Safe Rest Pods on SW 17th Avenue
We opened our first pod-style shelter in 2022, in partnership with the City of Hillsboro, at a site where construction was planned for a year-round shelter. In the intermediary period, this site would have sat vacant while development and construction plans were underway.
Thankfully, Washington County, the City of Hillsboro, and Open Door HousingWorks acted quickly to provide unhoused community members with temporary emergency shelter using “conestoga hut” pod-style shelter from October 2022 through June 2023. This site provided 30-40 individuals experiencing homelessness with shelter, 24/7 onsite staff, mental health support, and housing navigation.
This site returned to provide pod shelter capacity in November 2023 with 30 new pallet homes, serving up to 30 individuals.
- Beaverton Year-round Shelter
For more information about the Beaverton Year-round Shelter, click here.
Related
Creating and Locating New Shelters