Move-ins begin at one of Portland’s Safe Rest Village for the houseless

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - People will begin moving into one of Portland’s Safe Rest Villages that gives the houseless a place to live, Friday.

This village on Southwest Naito Parkway will be home to the LGBTQIA+ community experiencing homelessness.

The group of community members, downtown business owners and staff and parents of two schools have been meeting since last Summer.

They recognize the need for safe rest villages, but they have problems with the unsanitary and risky conditions that they’ve experienced near the unsanctioned campsites and don’t want to see that happen here.

A few dozen small white tiny homes already sit behind a fence on SW Naito pkwy, ready to be home to the queer affinity safe rest village.

A stakeholder group of neighbors, business associations and schools have asked for a requirement of those who will live here, to undergo background checks for violent crimes and sex crimes.

They would also like a buffer zone around the village that’s free of camping, drug dealing and criminal activity.

“We were in full support of the safe rest village,” said Beven Byrnes of Bridges Middle School. “Our big concern is as we have seen with other safe rest villages and C3PO sites throughout the city that it will attract additional peripheral camping, drug use, predatory drug dealing, and a buildup of biohazard and trash without support.”

They’ve been meeting with City Commissioner Dan Ryan who heads up the homeless situation for the city and his staff to try and work out some their concerns.

According to the group’s website, they last met with his chief of staff on Wednesday and called it a productive and collaborative two-way dialogue that instills much hope for true progress.

The group says they want the village and people who move in here to be successful, and the neighbors and school kids and staff nearby to be safe.

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