The Safe Rest Pods on SW 17th Avenue have reopened to provide temporary emergency shelter — now with heating and cooling — as plans to construct a new, year-round shelter on the property continue. 

• The shelter site will operate through next summer or fall, with safe sleeping spaces for 30 to 40 individuals in new Pallet Shelter pods.

• Guests will have access to mental health, housing, and employment support to help them meet their housing goals.
  
  
• Read the Project Update & Frequently Asked Questions to learn more.

Elected officials and community partners — including Governor Tina Kotek, Hillsboro Mayor Steve Callaway, Hillsboro City Councilors, 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.

The reopened Safe Rest Pods allow pets and use a low barrier model that makes it possible for more people to access shelter and begin working toward their future housing goals.

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Learn More

• Shelters in Hillsboro
• Year-Round Shelter Project
• Hillsboro’s Homelessness Initiatives 
• Washington County Emergency Shelters 
• Washington County Pod Villages 
• Washington County Day Centers & Homeless Resources