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Safe Rest Pods Now Open: Project Update & Frequently Asked Questions

Post Date:12/11/2023

Article Posted November 28 and updated December 11. Lea este artículo en español.

The City of Hillsboro, Washington County, and Open Door HousingWorks have reopened the Safe Rest Pods on SW 17th Avenue in response to critical need.

The first shelter guests are arriving this week, with more moving in on a rolling basis.

Through late summer or fall 2024, the Safe Rest Pods will offer:

New Pallet Shelters, upgraded with electricity to provide heating & cooling
Capacity for 30 to 40 individuals and couples, with pets allowed
24/7 onsite staff and support services
Communal dining & gathering spaces, showers, restrooms, and trash service
Emergency beds for first responder referrals

The Safe Rest Pods provide temporary emergency shelter and offer mental health, housing, and employment support to help connect guests to stable housing in the future.

A neighborhood support plan — based on lessons learns from the first round of Safe Rest Pods — is in place.

Reopening Celebration

Tina Kotek the tours the Safe Rest Pods Elected officials and community partners — including Governor Tina Kotek, Hillsboro Mayor Steve Callaway, Washington County Chair Kathryn Harrington, and Metro Councilor Juan Carlos Gonzalez — gathered to celebrate the reopening on Friday, December 8.

“These 30 new shelter pods are meeting the urgency of the humanitarian crisis we are facing,” said Governor Kotek. “I applaud the proactive and collaborative work happening in Washington County.”

Washington County, the City of Hillsboro, and shelter operator Open Door HousingWorks worked together to reopen the site with funding support from Governor Kotek’s Executive Order 2023-02 and Metro’s Supportive Housing Services measure.

Event attendees brought blankets and wrote welcoming messages to greet new shelter guests.

Project Background

The City purchased the property at SW 17th Avenue to become the future home of a year-round emergency shelter. While the Year-Round Shelter Project moves forward, the City is utilizing the property to meet urgent shelter needs.

The first round of Safe Rest Pods on SW 17th Avenue opened in October 2022 to operate for a short duration. The site closed in June 2023, and the Conestoga Huts were moved to Cornelius, where they are still in use.

Now that the Year-Round Shelter Project timeline has been extended, there is once again an opportunity to provide emergency shelter at the SW 17th Avenue site.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can community members request shelter at the Safe Rest Pods?

Please call Community Connect at 503-640-3263 or email CommunityConnect@CAOWash.org to request shelter or housing resources. Community Connect evaluates housing and service needs to connect people to appropriate shelter and resources.

Community members may also visit a Day Center for assistance and local outreach teams are working in the community to connect people to shelter services.

Find Day Centers & Resources.

What are the screening requirements and rules for guests?

Like other Washington County pod shelter locations, the reopened Safe Rest Pods use a low barrier model that allows people to access shelter and resources without preconditions such as sobriety.

Guests, staff, and volunteers adhere to a Code of Conduct that requires daily check-ins with staff and prohibits littering, violence, and drugs and alcohol, among other guidelines.

Visit Washington County’s Pod Shelter Frequently Asked Questions to learn more.

Why were the original pods moved? Where did they go?

The first round of Safe Rest Pods was intended to operate for a short duration and provide short-term, life-saving shelter while work on the Year-Round Shelter Project continued.

Since the site was planned to close prior to summer 2023, and to quickly meet the urgent need, the City did not install electricity to each shelter pod for round one.

Without electricity to each pod, it was not possible to cool the pods during dangerous summer heatwaves or provide heat in the winter. To ensure guest safety, the Conestoga Huts were moved to a new site in Cornelius early last summer. That site is equipped with electrical infrastructure to provide heating and cooling for each pod.

Why install electricity and reopen the site now?

There are still not enough shelter beds for everyone who needs them on any given night and the critical need for emergency shelter continues.

With additional planning time and resources, the reopened site can now offer electricity to each shelter pod to ensure safe temperatures.

The electrical infrastructure is funded by Washington County through Executive Order 23-02 and ongoing operations are funded by Washington County's allocation of the voter-approved Supportive Housing Services measure.

Are these Pallet Shelters tiny homes? Are they considered housing?

No, Pallet Shelters are not tiny homes and are not housing. They are an emergency shelter option and not intended for long-term stays.

Visit Washington County's website to learn more about Emergency Shelter Programs.

Why was a different type of shelter used for the first round of Safe Rest Pods?
Did we lose money on the Conestoga Huts?

A Safe Rest Pod with a plant and decorations on the porch Conestoga Huts were chosen for the first round because they have a history of successful use without electric connection in other Oregon communities. They can also be moved in one piece.

The Conestoga Huts are owned by Washington County. Funding for materials and construction was not lost, and the huts are still in use at the Cornelius Pod Village.

For the second round, Washington County purchased Pallet Shelters after a Request for Proposals process. They are portable, have built-in heating and cooling, and can be assembled quickly.

Like the Conestoga Huts, Washington County may continue to utilize the Pallet Shelters at other sites in the future.

What about longer-term solutions and permanent housing options?

A simple pull-down bed inside a pallet shelter Shelter pods and other emergency shelters — including year-round shelters — are just one piece of the homelessness response efforts and are intended to provide short-term support while working to connect guests to stable housing.

Addressing homelessness requires collaborative efforts on proven solutions, including system-level efforts such as:

Adequate year-round sheltering with rapid pathways to housing
Affordable and supportive housing options
Effective outreach
Homelessness prevention
Consistent coordination between institutions, such as medical systems, and the homelessness response system

Passed with voter support in May 2020, Supportive Housing Services Measure funding is supporting these efforts in the Portland Metro area.

Read Washington County's Supportive Housing Services Annual Report to learn more.