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Planning for a New Homeless Services Center
It is the goal of the City of Portland to undertake work on a new state-of-the-art, one-story, adult emergency shelter to replace the Oxford Street Shelter. The new shelter will be open 24-hours a day, 7-days a week with on-site meals and a wide range of services including: health and mental health care, substance use treatment, housing assistance, peer support, case management, employment assistance, and more.
The City of Portland’s shelter guests and valued staff deserve to live and work in a respectful and safe environment. We will no longer allow some of our most vulnerable community members to live in inadequate conditions and in locations where they are easily abused, taken advantage of, and judged for their perceived shortcomings.
The current adult shelter on Oxford Street is leased, poorly configured, and requires guests to vacate the facility every morning with all of their belongings for meals offsite. The building has three floors which require almost double the number of staff who could oversee guests in a single-story building designed specifically as a shelter. It also has cramped sleeping space which necessitates floor mats rather than cots and utilizes a large area for sleeping in the eaves of the building.
This page contains information about all of the staff presentations made and public testimony given as the Committee has worked through the public process. We will continue to update the page as new information is shared. Thank you for your interest and support.
The Council's Health and Human Services and Public Safety Committee moved to recommend the Angelo’s Acre and Riverside locations to the full Council at the April 16, 2019 meeting. On June 17th, 2019, the City Council voted to adopt Order 24818/19 Approving a Homeless Services Center at 654 Riverside Street. The Health and Human Services & Public Safety Committee is currently working on a shelter policy recommendation. There was a public hearing on shelter policy at the committee's October 8, 2019 meeting and the committee recommended a Single Adult Shelter Policy Resolution to the full City Council in a 3 - 0 vote on November 12, 2019.
Resolve 719/20 Outlining Policy Goals for the City of Portland's Single Adult Shelter Facility passed in a 6 - 2 vote during the February 3, 2020 City Council meeting. The planning process now moves from the Health and Human Services & Public Safety Committee to the Economic Development Committee (EDC) to work on Homeless Service Center RFP Oversight and Developer Selection during to-be-determined meetings.
Related Documents
2020 Committee Presentations & Information
2019 Committee Presentations & Information
- Single Adult Shelter Policy Resolution 11.18.2019
- Overview of process to replace OSS with timeline
- Shelter Policy Submitted Public Testimony
- HHS and PS October 8th,2019 Shelter Policy Staff Memo
- Attachments for October 8 2019 HHS and PS Shelter Policy Memo
- Maine -Portland shelter bed inventory 2008 to 2019
- Health and Human Services Homeless Services Center Jan 22 2019 Meeting Presentation
- HHS and PS Informational Memo 3.19.2019
- County_Way_Area_VRAP
- Staying at Oxford Street in 2018
- Shelter Location Criteria.2.26.2019pdf
- Riverside_Street_Site_Area_VRAP
- Jennings Memo Airport Land Use
- HSC_Presentation_March19_2019_V3_reduced_size.3.19.209pdf
- HHS Informational Memo 3.26.219
- City-owned Properties from Montefusco of Assessor via email of 2-4-2019
- Transient Water Deaths
- Transient Drownings Table
- 636 Riverside Street Soils and Geotechnical Information
- DEP Email Re VRAP Certification
- Shelter Location Provider Feedback for 3.19.19
- Riverside_Ave_654_FloodZones_1986
- Riverside_Ave_654_FloodZones_2017
- MMA GA Manual - Chapter 2
- GA Ordinances for HHS and PS October 29 2019
- Memo with Staff Response HHS Questions for Oct 22nd
- Attachment B. FY 11 Oxford Street Overflow
- Attachment C. HSC Transportation Costs
- Attachment A. October 2018 to September 2019 OSS Nightly Counts and Overflow
- Attachment D. HHS Committee Criminal Trespassing
- Attachment E. Community Meals and Food Pantries
Fall 2018 Committee Presentations & Information
Summer 2018 Documents
- Staff Recommendation for New Homeless Services Center - HHS Committee Presentation June 26, 2018
- City Unveils Staff Recommendation for Location of New Homeless Services Center
- Best Practices for New Shelter
- Draft Shelter Floor Plan
- Emergency Shelter April 11 GPCOG with Maine Towns
- Service Components 072817
- Shelter Expanded Zoning Council Approved 2017
- Response to Canvasser Script August 16, 2018
Supporting Documents for September 8, 2018: The Future of Homeless Services in Portland
- The Future of Homeless Services in Portland September 8, 2018
- HHS and PS Homeless Services Center Question Answers
- Consumer Survey OSS HSC
- Site Selection Matrix Summary Explanatories 9-5-18
- 203Oxford_Context
- 10 Restriction Protocol
- Response to Canvasser Script 8.14_RebuttalbyCanvassGroup
- Public Comment for HHS and P September 8 and 11
- Submitted Comments HHS and PS July 10
- Proposed Location of the Homeless Services Center
- Proposed HSC budget Aug 30
- HSC Site Assessment Matrix (Final) 8-30-18
- HSC Memo
- Housing Characteristics Bayside and Nasons Corner
- Homeless Services Center Good Neighbor Contract
- Good Neighbor Policy Chart
Shelter Long Term Stayer Data
Public Comment
- Shelter Policy Submitted Public Testimony 2020
- Homeless Services Center Testimony
- HSC Submitted Public Testimony 2019
- HSC HHS and PS Public Comment March 26 to April 16
- Public Testimony April 17 to May 3 2019
- Homeless Services Center Locations Public Testimony May 2019 Combined
- Homeless Services Center Public Testimony June 2019
Contact Us
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Kristen Dow, Director
Health & Human Services Department
207-874-8775
Aaron Geyer, Director
Social Services Division
207-482-5131
Sara Fleurant, Director
Oxford Street Shelter
207-482-5224