A look inside Dignity Village, the self-governed homeless community in NE Portland

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - In a city grappling with homelessness, one Portland community shelter has been policing and running itself for decades.

As the city works to tackle a housing crisis, one homeless shelter is solving it from the inside out.

“This is stability, this is a place that I know will be here when we come back,” said Dignity Village Vice Chairman Lisa Larson.

The city-sanctioned Dignity Village opened in 2000. After years living on the streets in constant fear, Larson found stability here in 2010.

“Are the cops going to come, are we going to get harassed, is someone going to come to steal all of our belongings,” said Larson.

Currently home to 40 residents, the self-governed village has room for up to 60 people.

“We make our own rules and we enforce our own rules, it works for the villagers and if there is a rule that we make and life changes over some time we can change those rules,” said Larson.

Getting in requires approval from a seven-person council. Newcomers start as guests for 60 days before earning voting rights and membership.

“I was relieved, because I felt like I found home, because the people here treat me with respect,” said Tanya Wrisley, who has lived at the village for more than two years.

Members live in donated homes they can personalize and if conflict arises, members resolve it together—and breaking rules can cost you your spot.

“We have to be adults and deal with our own issues, so if two people are having conflict, if it was a service provider encampment they would run to the service provider like mom and dad but here we have to talk things out and work things out,” said Larson.

But for many, leaving this tight-knit community for permanent housing can be just as daunting.

“Moving into an apartment is kind of scary for people because everybody is behind closed doors and nobody knows each other, we all know each other,” said Larson.

Still, Larson said this model is changing lives for good.

“They used to say ‘it takes a village to raise a child’,” said Larson. “Also takes a village to build up a village.”

To learn more about Dignity Village, visit their website. The shelter is currently seeking both monetary and in-person donations from the community—find details on how you can support them on their donation page.