Tiny Home Village
at St Andrew's
St Andrew's is thrilled to partner with WeShine PDX to host a transitional housing village in the church parking lot. This village will house older adults (45+) and people with physical disabilities, prioritizing BIPOC folks and people who have lived in North Portland.
September 13, 2024
Work on the Hereford side of the church parking lot begins next week--Monday 9/23! First, electrical contractors will trench the lot and supply electricity for the pods. Once that is finished, pods will be moved into their intended places and surrounded by a fence. This development will affect Hereford House pantry traffic and a new traffic flow plan has been developed and distributed to pantry clients. Please get in touch if you have any questions for us!
September 3, 2024
The undercroft of St Andrew's is under construction! WeShine has contracted with NW Specialties to modify the basement so it can be used as communal space, bathrooms/showers, and kitchen for residents with physical disabilities.
July 1, 2024
Five pods have arrived in the St Andrew's parking lot. There will be a total of 10, but they arrive in batches. The two pods built by Portland Youth Builders still have some finish work to be completed. The three pods built by Portland Shed are move-in ready. A big shout out of appreciation to these local nonprofit partners who have done such beautiful work!
June 13, 2024
The first pods have arrived
The Village is Coming!
We are planning for site wokr to begin July 2024
Neighbors and community members are always welcome to attend regular update meetings.
Here are notes from the last update meeting:
Hi friends and neighbors!
Our last meeting was on March 13th. Jan, Nancy, Susan and a guest who does regular mutual aid at Peninsula Crossing Village met at the church and Jennifer, Patty and Sabina were on Zoom. We had some technical difficulties but we did a good job getting through it!
(Yes I forgot the name of the nice guy from Peninsula Crossing but his name is written on a sheet at St. Andrew's! I will follow up with him!)
Jennifer and Nancy reported on a few outreach efforts in the neighborhood regarding the upcoming WeShine village:
1. Applied to have a table/booth at the St. John's Bizzare on May 11th (waiting to hear back)
2. Reached out to the PTA at Cesar Chavez and got the contact info for the principal. We have contact with some teachers there but the PTA and principal's schedules are very tight. St. Andrew's is on the Parents and Friends of Cesar Chavez School Facebook Group so we may consider reaching out that way.
3. We are hosting a Street Roots Civic Circle on April 28th. There are still spots available!
4. We reached out to St. John's Center for Opportunity for a possible event or table at the farmers market and have not heard back.
Jennifer and Nancy also reported that St. Andrew's will be very busy this summer! St. Andrew's is renting the library room to Tistilal Village(NAYA apartments)staff to use as a rental/leasing office from May-September. They are hosting (for free) space for a Cesar Chavez teacher to run a math camp for 8th graders!
And hopefully this summer the pods will arrive and work will start on the undercroft and the lift (WeShine is still waiting on permits and we are excited!) And they are in the market for a renter for Rankin Hall.
We played the new short video Voices of WeShine for a few of us who had not seen it yet! Here it is if you have not seen it!
https://vimeo.com/918117470?share=copy
Susan asked about how things are going out at the Parkrose Village and we talked about how one of the villagers is studying Transcendental Meditation and is offering a weekly meditation session for staff and villagers. Another villager started her own support group for queer folks in East Portland and it is called Q Circle! It meets bi-weekly with discussions and art projects!
We are skipping a neighborhood meeting in April as it is a busy time at WeShine with the Avalon Village getting underway (pods arriving this week!) and other busy spring schedules.
We will meet Thursday May 9th at 6:30pm at St. Andrew's and we will offer a Zoom link for those who need it!
Thanks everyone! As always we are here for questions.
Happy Spring, Nancy, Jan and Rev Jennifer
PS: Street Roots is going around our neighborhood to talk to folks who are unsheltered. Do you have a question for a houseless person in north Portland? Let us know and Street Roots will report back at the Civic Circle at St. Andrew's on April 28th.
Joint Office Approves Village Funding!
After reviewing WeShine's previous work and plans for the St Andrew's village, the Joint Office of Homeless Services has approved funding to build and operate the village for 2024. Site planning is underway and building/lot improvements will begin in early 2024.
Good Neighbor Agreement and Good Guest Agreement
The Good Guest Agreement outlines expectations for guests (residents) of the village.
The Good Neighbor Agreement (still in progress with neighbor residents and business owners) describes commitments and agreements between the village and community members and provides avenues for ongoing communication.
Are you a neighbor or community member interested in signing the Good Neighbor Agreement? Let us know!
Portland Shed Is Building Sleeping Pods!
Our friends at Portland Shed are constructing 10 sleeping pods to populate the village. Portland Shed is an all-volunteer organization. Want to help build pods? Get in touch with WeShine!
