Getting through the day while you're unhoused in Portland

Start with staying alive and warm, especially in extreme heat or cold.

• Severe weather shelters open when it is dangerously hot or cold. Call 2-1-1 (or text your ZIP to 898-211) to find the nearest one.
• Portland Street Response sends trained medics and mental health workers instead of police for non-emergencies on the street. Call 911 and ask for Portland Street Response, or call their direct line at 503-823-7773 (6am to midnight, every day). For a mental health crisis, you can also call 988. They can help with a welfare check, a mental health moment, or basic first aid without turning it into a police stop.

If you need a bed, the You need somewhere to sleep tonight path covers shelter intake. This path is about getting through the days.

Staying clean protects your health and your dignity. A handful of day centers offer free showers, restrooms, and laundry.

• JOIN day center, 1435 NE 81st Ave, has showers, restrooms, mail, laundry vouchers, hygiene items, and clothing. Call 503-232-2031.
• Transition Projects Resource Center in Old Town has showers, storage, mail, and help getting an ID.
• Rose Haven serves women, children, and gender-nonconforming folks with showers, hygiene, and clothing.

Two more low-barrier options worth knowing: the North Portland Drop-In Center (9000 N Lombard St, showers 10am to 4pm weekdays) and the county's Behavioral Health Resource Center day center downtown (showers, lockers, laundry, 8am to 8pm). The city's free Wash House laundry program also serves people living outside.

🏳️‍⚧️ Ask staff for a private or single-stall shower if that feels safer. It is a normal request, and most day centers will work with you.

You should not have to go hungry to get by.

• Blanchet House serves three free meals a day, six days a week, in Old Town, no ID or questions.
• Sisters of the Road offers low-cost, dignified meals where you can also just sit and be a person for a while.
• Sunshine Division provides free emergency food boxes and clothing.

For the full map of free groceries, hot meals, and free fridges across the metro, follow the Emergency food this week path.

Losing your belongings or your mail can undo weeks of progress, so lock those down early.

• Mail: both Transition Projects and JOIN let you receive mail at their address. A stable mailing address is often what you need to apply for benefits, ID, and jobs.
• Storage: the city runs City Day Storage, where you can leave belongings during the day (roughly 7am to 8pm). Transition Projects also offers storage to clients.

Keep the essentials on you at all times: ID, medications, phone and charger, and any legal or immigration documents. If you have originals of important papers, ask a day center about storing copies safely.

Camp removals ("sweeps") are stressful and often happen with little notice. Knowing the rules helps you protect yourself and your things.

• The city is generally supposed to post notice before a sweep and to store belongings they remove for a period of time, so you can reclaim them. Photograph your setup and your important items in advance.
• Write down the date, location, and any posted notice. If your property is thrown away without proper notice or storage, that may violate the rules.
• Keep documents, medications, and anything irreplaceable on your body, not in your tent.

If your belongings were destroyed or you were treated unlawfully, Oregon Law Center and the ACLU of Oregon track these cases and can advise you. Street Roots publishes the Rose City Resource guide with current sweep and storage information.

You do not have to do all of this by walking in somewhere. Outreach teams come to where people are.

• Cultivate Initiatives does outreach, hygiene, and paid cleanup work in East Portland.
• Our Streets PDX is peer-led mutual aid run by and for people with lived experience of homelessness.

When you are ready, get into the housing system early, because the wait is long. The Coordinated Housing Access Team (CHAT), 844-765-9384, does one assessment that connects single adults to many housing programs at once. Getting on that list now means you are further along later.

🏳️‍⚧️ If an outreach worker or program treats you badly for being trans, you can ask for a different worker or a different program. A WERQ peer can help you find one that is affirming.