Alternative Shelter Network

About

Alternative Shelter Network was launched in March, 2022 by advocates from Portland-area homelessness response initiatives including WeShinePDX, Shelter Now, Beacon Village, Agape Village, Housing Alternatives Network, and the office of Multnomah County Commissioner Sharon Meieran.

$250,000 was allocated in the FY 2023 County budget to the [City/County] Joint Office of Homeless Services to support ASN.

Mission

MISSION: We are an inclusive network that collaborates, advocates, communicates, and learns together to create and foster a wide variety of shelter alternatives across the Portland region.

VISION: That all people have access to a choice of shelter that meets people where they are, offers healing and community, and where they are treated with dignity and humanity.

Shared Beliefs

  • Shelter alternatives should be fairly distributed across the hearts of our neighborhoods rather than out of sight in service deserts.

  • Unhoused people need trauma-informed, anti-oppressive and person-centered alternative shelter choices.

  • There is a place for government action and there is a place for community action. Both are required for a complete set of solutions.

  • There is an immediate and ongoing need to act responsively and intentionally.

  • Building a sense of community and mutual engagement between shelter guests and housed neighbors is critically important.

  • There is a need for ongoing tracking and learning about best practices, and how to address challenges, with regular reports to the public.

  • There is a need to elevate the voices of BIPOC, LGBTQIA2S+, those with disabilities or who are neurodivergent, and other marginalized communities and to center the needs and voices of those with lived experience of homelessness.


[ALTERNATIVE SHELTER NETWORK – FINAL MISSION STATEMENT: 7/19/2022]

Mailing List

You can sign up for the list and view postings at: https://groups.google.com/g/alternativeshelternetwork

Twitter

Project Directory (Google Drive)

"Alternative Shelter Network" folder on project Google account alternativeshelternetwork [at] gmail.com.
(formerly hosted in Shelter Now organization's Google Drive, until 2022-10-04).