Skip to main content
Do Good Multnomah, a homeless services nonprofit funded by Multnomah County, plans to close the shelter it operates in the disused Greyhound bus station in downtown Portland because of “safety risks” to participants and staff, according to an internal email describing the closure obtained by WW.
The shelter will close March 31, the email says.
“When Do Good assumed operations of the downtown shelter in 2021, we understood that the building was not intended as a long-term solution,” Do Good chief executive Daniel Hovanas wrote. “Initially established to shelter medically vulnerable individuals during COVID, the shelter remained open to meet the growing need. However, maintaining this site for far longer than anticipated has placed participants and staff at the downtown shelter at a safety risk.”
Hovanas said he and his staff tried for two years to find a place to relocate the shelter and its 96 beds, but the Joint Office of Homeless Services, the county agency that cooperates with the city on homeless issues, rejected four options.
“Two of these proposals included detailed staffing plans and feasibility studies demonstrating the viability of the suggested sites,” Hovanas wrote. “Regrettably, JOHS declined all four options and has confirmed that replacing this site is not part of their current plans.”
Early today, Multnomah County said it was in talks to fund more beds at the Bybee Lakes Hope Center to replace the beds lost downtown. The Bybee Lakes facility, housed in what was once the Wapato Jail in North Portland, is 10 miles from Do Good’s downtown shelter.
The shift of funds to Bybee Lakes Hope Center is the latest step in a striking reversal by county officials, who for much of the past decade viewed the shelter with skepticism. Bybee Lakes' model, which requires people receiving its services to kick their drug habits and travel to the far edge of town, ran counter to what county policymakers saw as best practices—even as it was lauded by property owners fed up with conditions downtown.
The news of Do Good’s shelter closure comes as newly elected Mayor Keith Wilson is pushing to open more shelters so that people swept from camps have a place to go. On Wednesday, Wilson unveiled his “blueprint” for ending unsheltered homelessness, proposing to spend $28 million to create 1,500 beds and open four day shelters.
Employee discontent grew at Do Good’s downtown shelter last year. An anonymous complaint filed with the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division alleged that Do Good subjected 16 employees to dangerous heat in July.
In August, employees asked Do Good to recognize a newly formed union, saying they needed representation to push for better safety protocols and guaranteed leave time made necessary by trauma inflicted on the job. Do Good voluntarily recognized the Oregon chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees as the workers' representative in September.
An AFSCME leader expressed concern that the Do Good beds weren’t being replaced in a shelter with union labor.
“At a time when we need more housing options and shelter beds, the county is looking the other way and allowing union represented facilities to close in favor of unrepresented employers, instead of finding space better suited to the needs of these programs,“ Porter Clements, president of AFSCME Local 1790, said in a statement. “Oregon AFSCME is proud to continue working in partnership with Do Good Multnomah to find solutions that fit the needs of workers and the houseless community Do Good workers serve.”
Real estate developer Jordan Schnitzer, who owns the Bybee Lakes facility and leases it to Helping Hands Reentry Outreach Centers for $1 a year, says he’s gratified that the county wants to make greater use of it.
“These last five years, I’ve not understood why the Joint Office, the city and the county have not embraced and utilized all the beds at Bybee Lakes Hope center,” Schnitzer said in a text message. The average cost to house one person for a day there is $54, he said. “This is very positive news.”
Do Good didn’t immediately return an email seeking comment on the shelter closure. The nonprofit was founded in 2015 to create a low-barrier shelter for houseless veterans. Since then, it has expanded to serve other populations, providing transitional housing, permanent supportive housing, mental health services, and peer support.
Do Good’s downtown shelter is located at 550 NW 6th Ave. It welcomes couples, pets and all gender identities. It serves dinner and has showers open 24/7.
“Because of challenges with the space and the cost of the lease, the downtown shelter was always intended as a temporary solution,” Multnomah County said in a press release about the Bybee Lakes negotiations. “Do Good Multnomah staff nonetheless served hundreds of people over the years, providing not only beds and meals, but also a sense of community and case management and other services that help people leave homelessness for housing.”