On Thursday, April 12, the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners will vote on whether the county should sell Wapato Jail, a remote, 525-bed facility that’s never been used. Should the deal go through, the jail will be leveled and the land resold. But if County Commissioner Loretta Smith gets her way, Wapato will remain county property—and be converted into a massive shelter for hundreds of Portland’s homeless residents.
“We are not suggesting that we warehouse the homeless, but what we are saying… is that this facility can play a pivotal role in our community,” Smith said at an April 2 press conference held in front of the empty jail. “Our homeless crisis is real.” No members of the homeless community were present.
Wapato has been a costly, embarrassing burden on the county for more than a decade. Shortly after building the $58 million facility in 2004, Multnomah County was forced to make major budget cuts, leaving Wapato with no operational funds. Every year since, the county’s paid $300,000 to maintain the vacant jail.
Since Smith’s announcement, several other outspoken Portlanders have backed the plan—including developer Homer G. Williams, who’s perhaps best known for successfully keeping the Right 2 Dream Too homeless community from moving in next to one of his Pearl District properties. Last week, Williams made the county a $7 million offer to purchase Wapato and turn it into a privately owned and operated homeless shelter.
At first glance, it seems logical to turn Wapato into a shelter: Portland has a major deficit in beds for the hundreds of houseless individuals in the city. Meanwhile, the county owns a never-used facility with hundreds of beds, along with power, heating, bathrooms, and kitchen space.
“I’d rather sleep in a tent under the Morrison Bridge than sleep all the way out there.”
But for houseless residents and their advocates, the Wapato plan is a clear example of how out of touch some local leaders are with the city’s homeless population.
Wapato, which sits two miles from Kelley Point Park, is twice as far from Portland’s downtown as it is from the downtown of Vancouver, Washington. Using public transit, getting to Wapato currently requires a 90-minute bus ride and a 25-minute walk from Portland’s downtown, where the vast majority of the city’s homeless services are located.
“It’s a bad idea,” says DJ Husar, a formerly homeless Portlander, sipping his morning coffee at Sisters of the Road Café. “I’d rather sleep in a tent under the Morrison Bridge than sleep all the way out there. What if I have a doctor’s appointment in the morning? So many providers are right here.”
Husar is one of the many regulars at Sisters of the Road, the nonprofit cafeteria that’s served inexpensive meals to Portland’s homeless for nearly 40 years. Husar started visiting the Old Town café when he was homeless, and has kept it a part of his daily routine since moving into Central City Concern housing down the street. For Husar, being near the city center is about more than just accessing useful services. It’s also about the community that’s relied on by many Portland residents who’ve struggled to find consistent housing.
“The people I see here every day, they’re my family,” Husar says. “You can’t just pick that up and move it elsewhere. Homeless people already feel invisible as it is. This just makes it worse.”
“Thinking that people sleeping outside are not part of the community, that’s the problem,” says Bryn Harding, spokesperson for Sisters of the Road. “It feels like they’re trying to export the problem away. You can’t export members of our community.”
It doesn’t help that there’s an inevitable connotation of incarceration that comes with housing homeless individuals inside a jail facility—especially on the heels of Mayor Ted Wheeler’s recent promises to decriminalize homelessness.
“If the first step is to put the homeless in a jail,” Harding says, “that’s a problem.”
RELATED: “County Comissioner Loretta Smith Wants to Turn Isolated Jail into Homeless Shelter” [Blogtown, April 2, 2018]
Another issue: housing so many people in a single building. While Portland’s seen an uptick in people sleeping in homeless shelters, there’s a consensus among those who use them—and particularly among families—that large shelters are generally unsafe.
“Many people won’t go into a big shelter. It’s scary for them,” says Brandi Tuck, director of Portland Homeless Family Solutions. “Especially if there are more than 100 beds, it’s going to be hard to manage.”
Last week, people waiting in line for a meal at Sisters of the Road shared anecdotes of staying in larger shelters—stories that included being robbed, getting sick, and being unable to sleep due to the constant noise of people checking in and out.
“It’s often the last resort,” said one man.
Other issues with Wapato remain unaddressed, including that the property is under a “restrictive deed” from its original owners, the Port of Portland. That deed prohibits any residential use on the land, and current city zoning for the property also forbids housing from being built.
To rally for Wapato’s use as a shelter, Commissioner Smith has partnered with a group of Southeast Portland residents who oppose the county’s planned shelter on Southeast Foster. But she hasn’t met with Portlanders whose neighborhood actually includes the facility.
“The neighborhood association was not contacted by the city and continues to not be engaged in the discussion,” wrote Kyle Janus, co-chair of the St. Johns Neighborhood Association, in an email to the Mercury.
Smith is the only county commissioner interested in keeping Wapato. On Thursday, April 12, the commissioners will vote on whether to sell Wapato to developer Marty Kehoe for $5 million—half of Kehoe’s original offer—so that the land can be leveled and resold. Commissioners previously decided that any funds from a potential sale would go toward services for Multnomah County’s homeless and affordable housing initiatives.
As he clears his plate at Sisters of the Road Café, Husar says the commissioners’ decision comes down to one question: “Would a regular, housed person want to sleep in a jail?”
“As he clears his plate at Sisters of the Road Café, Husar says the commissioners’ decision comes down to one question: ‘Would a regular, housed person want to sleep in a jail?'”
No, because they’re already fucking housed, dipshit. If they were not housed, and the option was between a tarp tent out in the cold and rain versus a bed in a warm building with a shower, I would want to sleep in the warm building with a shower.
It would cost less to modify Wapato to be more homey feeling than it would to construct an entirely new shelter. And it would not be that hard to extend the existing bus line and/or run a shuttle service for people who need to get to appointments. These are the dumbest objections I’ve ever heard, especially since the alternative is a combination of the status quo plus non-existent future promised shelters that may never materialize.
Nice article, Alex.
So sleeping in a large shelter is too annoying because of the noise and the threat of being robbed, but sleeping under a noisy overpass is somehow quieter and safer? Huh?
Also, the distance (as the crow flies) from downtown to Wapato is about 6 1/2 miles, yet the failed “Village of Hope” that The Mercury and the extreme homeless advocates were fighting for was about 11 1/2 miles from downtown.
Makes you wonder why there is a difference in support, don’t it?
If the county thinks they can actively prevent a perfectly usable building being used as a shelter and then turn around to ask for money to build more shelters they’ve got another thing coming. Use the building you already have folks. This such an infuriating example of this county’s incompetence.
“But for houseless residents and their advocates, the Wapato plan is a clear example of how out of touch some local leaders are with the city’s homeless population” could be rewritten as “But for the Portland residents impacted by illegal camping and the illegal activity that comes along with it, the Wapato plan is a clear example of how out of touch most ~so called~ advocates are with the city’s highly-impacted neighborhoods”
How fucking hard would it be to remodel some aspects of the place to make it less like a jail, more like a shelter? Probably wouldn’t be, but people are into their pissing contest now, and nothing shall result.
This story is so ridiculous that’s it becomes infuriating.
This is so ridiculous that it becomes infuriating. These are supposedly homeless people in need of shelter that are being offered a shelter at taxpayers’ expense. And they’re complaining that it doesn’t meet their standards! Makes you wonder whether they actually want to live indoors or simply prefer the vagabond lifestyle.
“What if I have a doctor’s appointment in the morning? So many providers are right here.” What makes you so much more entitled than people who live in Gresham or Beaverton but have an appointment in central Portland? Why can’t you make an afternoon appointment or wake up early just like us working folk? Not like you have to ask your boss for time off.
“‘The people I see here every day, they’re my family,’ Husar says. ‘You can’t just pick that up and move it elsewhere.'” Umm, yes you can. That’s what people do when they move. In fact, your whole family would move with you to Wapato.
“‘It feels like they’re trying to export the problem away. You can’t export members of our community.'” What community are you talking about? The vagrant community? The politicians keep stressing that this is a housing crisis, where there is not enough housing for the homeless. But apparently instead it’s a community crisis, where the homeless don’t want to be inconveniences by having to stay in a shelter 6 miles away from where all their friends hang out and grab coffee together.
“‘If the first step is to put the homeless in a jail,’ Harding says, ‘that’s a problem.'” It won’t be a jail — you can leave whenever you want, which is the exact opposite of a jail. In fact, it’ll keep you out of a jail because you won’t be illegally camping everywhere.
““Many people won’t go into a big shelter. It’s scary for them,” says Brandi Tuck, director of Portland Homeless Family Solutions. “Especially if there are more than 100 beds, it’s going to be hard to manage.”” What? They’re camping in the streets with thousands of people passing them every day. You’d think a 100-bed shelter would be paradise compared to that. I know, let’s build mini-shelters for every vagrant. We’ll call them “condos.”
“[P]eople … shared anecdotes of staying in larger shelters—stories that included being robbed, getting sick, and being unable to sleep due to the constant noise of people checking in and out.” I thought those were the exact problems associated with sleeping in the streets?
“Would a regular, housed person want to sleep in a jail?” This takes the cake. First, it’s NOT A JAIL if you can leave anytime you want. Second, of course a “housed person” wouldn’t want to sleep in a shelter…they have housing! If you don’t have housing, I would think you’d love to sleep in a nice, warm bed with a kitchen and shower facilities. Unless, of course, Portland makes your vagrant lifestyle so comfortable that you would prefer not to sleep in a brand-new shelter.
SOS Portland nails it. Every argument against Wapato is answerable/solvable.
Bring back the upvote system so I can upvote SOS Portland. Excellent rebuttal to the absurd talking points of these so-called homeless “advocates.”
In Portland, beggars always get to be choosers.
Failing to adopt the Wapato plan is an example of how out-of-touch the community leaders are with the hard working tax paying members of the community.
Heaven help us if we hurt the vagrants feelings! Of course my feelings about confrontational beggars and stepping over human manure/needles are not worth a bucket of warm spit.
Vote out the idiots, especially Kafoury!