Often forgotten in the struggle to house homeless people are LGBTQ citizens. But that is changing in thanks to a nonprofit called WeShine that is close to finishing a tiny house village at a church parking lot in the Parkrose neighborhood of Portland, OR.
The Portland-based nonprofit, founded only last year, has an ambitious plan: build 10 tiny house villages in 10 different neighborhoods, each with a maximum capacity of 12 residents. Each village will offer pods to specific groups most likely to slip through the cracks of homeless outreach, and each will be outfitted with kitchenettes, restrooms and showers.
WeShine has had particular success so far with churches. Parkrose Community United Church of Christ is the location of the village close to accepting residents.
One barrier the nonprofit seeks to circumvent is obtaining a commercial permit for the Parkrose village’s other planned amenities: a shared kitchen, restrooms and showers. It’s meeting with the city’s Bureau of Development Services this week to discuss.
Once all the details and permits are completed, Weshine may have another problem, albeit, a good one. Some Weshine members think they will get to a point where the churches are competing with each other to have villages. The Archdiocese of Portland has already shown an interest and they own a lot of land in the Portland area.
Here’s a “Tip of the Hat” from Modcoach for Weshine’s efforts in bringing tiny house villages to fruition.
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