Bridge to Home Shelter celebrated as steppingstone for families

For b-roll from the event and an impactful speech from one of the families served by Bridge to Home, click here.

Elected officials, community partners, and residents gathered last week to celebrate the success of the Bridge to Home Shelter, located in Tigard. Attendees toured the largest shelter for families experiencing homelessness in Washington County. The Bridge to Home Shelter, owned and operated by Family Promise of Tualatin Valley, provides safe haven for up to 70 households, either families with children or medically fragile adults.

Kayla, a former shelter participant who recently moved into housing with her family, shared, “You wouldn’t know that we were homeless when we were here at Family Promise because we weren’t homeless; we had a bridge to home and because of that, because of our case manager, because of Family Promise, because of everyone that helps here helped us so much we now have an amazing home that we live in … All the other cities, other countries in the world, take a note, take a lesson because this is how you change the world.”

“Our Washington County community is combining resources with steadfast courage and committed partnerships, and we are on track to make homelessness brief, rare and one-time,” said Washington County Chair Kathryn Harrington. “We are not stopping any time soon and this shelter is a fantastic example of that work in action.”

Rose Money, Executive Director of Family Promise of Tualatin Valley said, “Families are a rapidly growing segment of the unhoused in our community. Our new building not only allows us to meet the basic needs of food, shelter and clothing for program guests but allows us to co-locate additional supportive services to wraparound families while they work hard with our case managers to get back into their new homes.”

City of Tigard Mayor Heidi Lueb shared, “Tigard is proud to be the home of the largest family shelter in Washington County. When families have a stable foundation, children can thrive in school, parents can secure employment, and the cycle can be broken. This leads to stronger, healthier communities for us all.

Bridge to Home offers important amenities to program participants including meals served onsite, a dedicated dining hall, a food pantry and clothing closet operated by dedicated volunteers, and individualized case management and housing navigation services aimed at addressing barriers and achieving long-term, stable housing.

The site operates out of a converted hotel and was purchased thanks to state funding through Project Turnkey administered by the Oregon Community Foundation, Washington County, and the City of Tigard. The Bridge to Home Shelter is one of three Project Turnkey hotel to shelter conversions in Washington County and is included within the County’s robust shelter program, which currently offers over 400 beds of shelter. Ongoing operation of the shelter is made possible by voter-approved Supportive Housing Services measure resources provided by Washington County.

Learn more about Washington County’s existing shelter capacity here.