County announces partnership with Do Good Multnomah to add 52 beds of shelter, housing at downtown Behavioral Health Resource Center

March 22, 2023

The contract will add shelter and bridge housing for people experiencing homelessness and behavioral health challenges in Multnomah County

Multnomah County’s Behavioral Health Division announced a partnership with Do Good Multnomah March 22, 2023 to operate shelter and bridge housing programs at the Behavioral Health Resource Center (BHRC) in downtown Portland. The programs’ combined 52 beds will serve people experiencing homelessness and behavioral health issues. 

The first phase of the Behavioral Health Resource Center, a peer-focused day-use resource center run by the Mental Health & Addiction Association of Oregon (MHAAO), opened in December. Through March 8, the day center recorded more than 12,000 non-unique visits, providing peer-delivered services, thousands of showers, and access to laundry and lockers, and housing and employment assistance. For some, it is their first time at the BHRC and for others they continue to come back to continue accessing services, developing relationships with onsite peers, and moving forward on their goals. The center has also referred more than 720 people to overnight shelters and more than 200 people to mental health and substance use services. 

The 33-bed behavioral health shelter program will operate on the building’s third floor. The shelter will provide 24-hour beds and tailored behavioral health support to people who need ongoing services with a goal of helping them move into transitional or permanent housing within 30 days.  

The 19-bed bridge housing program will operate on the fourth floor. The program will serve people actively working on a plan to obtain and sustain permanent housing within 90 days. Participants will receive life skills training and assistance, peer and recovery support, and connection to treatment and other services.

“This is an important step forward in our overall response to serve those most in need in ways that can and will benefit them for both the short and longer-term,” said Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson. “When we created the vision for the BHRC, we hoped to be able to provide exactly these kinds of longer term solutions with the additional benefit of participants becoming better stabilized to move into permanent, supportive housing.” 

Unlike the day center, which is available as a drop-in resource, both the shelter and bridge housing programs will be accessible through referrals or reservations only.

Do Good Multnomah was founded in 2015 to create a low-barrier shelter for houseless veterans. Since opening that first shelter, Do Good has grown its programming and areas of expertise to include additional shelters serving all populations, emergency response, transitional housing and permanent supportive housing. Today, the organization offers homeless services, mental health expertise, wraparound services, peer support, and housing navigation. 

“Housing is a human right,” said Daniel Hovanas, Chief Operations Officer at Do Good Multnomah. “We’re thrilled to partner with Multnomah County to expand shelter capacity in our community and help people overcome barriers to long-term housing.” 

The behavioral health shelter and bridge housing programs are both slated to open in spring 2023. 

“This is the first time we have offered a low-barrier resource center, housing, shelter and coordinated services all under one roof,” said Christa Jones, who manages the County’s Community Mental Health Program. “Thanks to our partnership with Do Good Multnomah, we are one step closer to providing a path of hope and long-term stability for our most vulnerable community members.” 

About the Behavioral Health Resource Center:

The Behavioral Health Resource Center, at 333 S.W. Park,  is designed to serve and support people with chronic behavioral health challenges who are experiencing homelessness —  people who need accessible and trauma-informed services to support their journey to recovery and hope.

The BHRC, open since December 2022, is managed by the Multnomah County Health Department in partnership with contracted community providers. Combining a drop-in day center on its first two floors with reservation-based shelter and bridge housing programs on its third and fourth floors, the BHRC is the first facility of its kind in Multnomah County.

The BHRC’s day center is not a crisis center, or a detox or sobering center, but a place to rest, work with peers who have similar lived experience, and get connected to services.

During operating hours, staff work with people to support their immediate needs by offering peer support; help with basic needs, such as showers, restrooms, laundry, and locker services; access to community providers that provide services onsite and connections to longer-term supports in the community.

Depending on available capacity, people accessing the day center can be referred to the shelter program, which offers peer-led and clinically supportive services. Shelter participants, as well as people accessing the day center, can also be referred, based on capacity and the person’s needs, to the bridge housing program. That program provides individualized housing plans to help participants find stable homes of their own. 

 

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