Housing the Houseless with a sense of ownership; Transitional Housing

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Kenton's women village is a rare success story for transitional pod community housing here in Portland OR. An uplifting tale that took many people, a lot of energy, and a lot of time to complete.  The village took the effort and partnerships with the local government, nonprofit, and educational institutions;


 City of Portland, the Joint Office of Homeless Services, the Village Coalition, Prosper Portland, Almar Contracting, Portland State University School of Architecture’s Center for Public Interest Design, Kenton Neighborhood Association, Catlin Gabel InvenTeam, and dozens of other community businesses, organizations, and individuals.

This village has 20 sleeping pods all no bigger than 8’x12’ and were designed and built in late 2016 through the Partners on Dwelling Initiative (POD). This brought together a group of architects, housing advocates, and housing individuals. The pandemic limited the village to only allow 15 women in the village at a time. 


To make the women living in the pod’s feel welcomed and safe, many neighborhood meetings took place to try to get their approval. Though this process seemed to have slowed down the process much more, the people leading the project didn’t want to make the residents feel like outsiders in their new homes. That also informs the decision to make it a women’s village, a demographic that is often in more danger and is less intimidating to the nearby community.


There is a fully functional kitchen and shower that is located in a custom shipping container on the site itself. Garbage services and water delivery has been provided to the community as well. 

A community garden has been added to  promote interaction between the existing and new residents in the neighborhood, and to make the space feel a bit more like home. 


Through Catholic Charities of Oregon, formerly homeless women are able to access a myriad of different services; “Case management, employment assistance, access to legal and financial services, mental and physical healthcare, and support for a personalized transition plan into permanent housing.”


This village was a great opportunity for its designers to seek feedback on what pods and features the residents liked best since each pod was uniquely designed by different architecture firms. This project will lay the groundwork for future pod developments, a precedent that can show others that this is possible. It shows that people can come together to get something done. Though this is only a small step to help end the homeless crisis, it's a step in the right direction.


For more information:

https://www.catholiccharitiesoregon.org/services/homeless-services/kenton-womens-village/



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