We believe that at any point in anyone's life that they can become homeless...and they don't have to stay that way.
The mission of Transition Projects is to serve people's basic needs as they transition from homelessness to housing. Each year we serve more than 9,000 people.
Welcome to our website. This site is designed to provide you with practical ways to help alleviate homelessness in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area. Thank you for joining us in our work.
|
 tran·si·tion
1. a passage from one state or place to another: CHANGE
Above, men moving through the Clark Center
|
Spring Newsletter
Click here for our Spring 2008 newsletter.
Speaker's Bureau
Click here to learn more about hosting someone from Transition Projects to talk about homelessness and how we're working to solve it.
Oregonian Features Transition Projects
August 2007. The Oregonian featured a terrific article on the Clark Center Annex, our newest project that helps people end their homelessness. Read it here.
Matching Grant Challenge: You Can Make A Significant Gift Easily
We have an amazing opportunity to change lives. Now through December 31st, 2007, Transition Projects has a matching grant challenge from the Maybelle Clark Macdonald Fund. We are offering the naming rights to all 22 units of the rooms at the Clark Center Annex. It's an amazing deal: For a promise of a bequest of $12,000 to Transition Projects, or a cash gift of $12,000 that is payable over 3 years, or a combination of cash and a bequest, you can name a room at the Clark Center Annex. Current named rooms include The J.E. "Bud" Clark Room. You can name the room after yourself, after a loved one, or even anonymously. If we name all 22 rooms by December 31st, the Maybelle Clark Macdonald Fund will match the gifts we raise 1-to-1. The challenge is too extraordinary for words. All funds raised will go into an endowment, the earnings which we will use to ensure that formerly homeless people can stay in the Clark Center Annex, and other housing, in perpetuity. Please call Tony at 503.823.4930, ext. 205 for more information.
Clark Center Annex Opened!
August 2007. The Clark Center Annex, 22 units of permanent supportive housing for formerly homeless men, is now open. Former Portland Mayor, and current Transition Projects Board member, Bud Clark emceed the event that featured Commissioner Erik Sten, Victor Merced from Oregon Housing and Community Services, and special guests included Multnomah County Chair Ted Wheeler and County Commissioner Jeff Cogen.
The beautiful building was designed by Iselin Architects, and built by C.J. Jackson Construction Company. It's located at 1437 SE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd, and we invite you to call 503.823.4930, ext. 205 for a tour.
National Homeless Estimate: 744,313
January 24, 2007. The latest national estimate of homeless persons (based on data for January 2005) is 744,313, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness. They cite Oregon as a state with a high incidence of homelessness--at an estimated 16,221 persons or 0.45% of the population. In the Portland area, they estimate 5,104 people are homeless on any given night--higher than recent prior estimates. Transition Projects is committed to ending this nightmare of homelessness through ensuring that the housing, shelter and services are available to help people gain and maintain housing. With your help, we will.
Involve your Office in Ending Homelessness
Want to involve your office in ending homelessness--and have fun doing it? Check out these ways to get involved.
How Much to Give
Our friends at Just Give tell us that the average American gives 3.2% of their before-tax income to charities. They suggest that as a starting place for figuring out your contributions. People with incomes below $10,000 give the highest percentage of their incomes--5.2%. Just Give has a handy calculator for figuring out your donations. And remember that only donations made by December 31st can be deducted on your 2006 taxes. Here's the link to give to Transition Projects.
And here's how your gift to Transition Projects can make a difference:
- $15 will provide showers, hygiene products and clean clothing for 5 people
- $25 will sponsor 1 day (and night) of shelter and services for 1 person
- $50 will provide 1 person with an application fee for her first apartment
- $85 will provide 5 people with 2 weeks of bus tickets to their new job
- $100 will provide food boxes for 20 people who have moved into housing
- $175 will sponsor 1 week of shelter and services for 1 person
- $500 will provide deposit and rental assistance for a couple moving into housing
- $1,000 could make all the difference in the world--providing services and support that people need to move from homelessness to housing
Welcome Portland Tribune Readers
The November 7th edition of the Portland Tribune features an article by Transition Projects Board Chair Deborah Kafoury on the crisis in women's homeless services in Portland, and the solutions. Click here to read it. To the Trib readers who visited because of the article, welcome! Thank you for visiting. Transition Projects offers many opportunities to get involved and make a difference. Please join us in helping people transition from homelessness to housing.
Newsletter
Our latest newsletter is available by clicking here.
You may use Acrobat Reader, available free from Adobe, to view the newsletter.
Inspiring Words
"This only is charity: to do all, all that we can." ~John Donne
Updated Wish List
Can you provide a coat to keep someone warm this winter? How about hygiene products or a towel for our shower program? Here's our updated wish list.
Inspiring Words
"What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?" ~George Eliot
You can make a world of difference
Your financial gifts enable us to help people transition from homelessness to housing. Ten dollars can provide someone transportation to a new job. Fifty dollars can provide the application fee for someone's first apartment in years. One hundred dollars--well, it can make all the difference in the world as we house nearly 600 people annually and serve, literally, thousands of people. Please make a gift today.
Invite Us and We will Speak
Transition Projects has a speaker's bureau and would love to come to your company, place of worship, or club to talk about our work and how you can get involved. Or, we'll have you down for a tour. Contact our Development Director for more information: 503.823.4930, ext. 205.
Since 1969 Transition Projects has helped thousands of people transcend the streets of Portland. On any given day—today, for example—we’re making the difference in hundreds of lives, providing the tools people need as they transition from homelessness to housing. We offer long-term shelter, for starters, plus a unique mix of valuable services that helps people overcome their own barriers to stable housing and employment. Services like job training, continuing education, alcohol, drug and mental health counseling, and more.
Along the way, we also impart the kind of valuable life skills most of us take for granted. Such as how to manage a checking account, write a resume, fill out a job application, and, ultimately, negotiate a lease.
None of which can happen without our dedicated and caring staff, our dynamic board of directors, more than a thousand annual volunteers, and help from people like you.
Please spend a few moments learning about Transition Projects, and then consider making a financial contribution and/or donating your time.
Looking for a way to help? We have several projects in need of volunteers.
- Meal Providers.
- One of our most popular volunteer projects is providing, serving and cooking meals for 90 men at either our shelter in NW Portland or our shelter in SE Portland. Get together your family, friends, or co-workers and purchase, prepare and serve a meal and make a difference in the lives of many. We serve dinner every night of the year and we have many openings. Contact our Volunteer Coordinator to get involved.
Click here to learn more ways to get involved.
| Serving
Oregon Since 1969 |
The mission of Transition Projects is to serve people's basic needs as they transition from homelessness to housing.
We have served the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area since 1969. We serve more than 9,000 people each year, and work with about 1,000 volunteers annually.
Our core values are:
Compassion/Caring. We care about our community, especially those individuals who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
Acceptance/Respect for Others. We accept people as they are and respect their differences as well as their shared characteristics and needs.
Responsibility/Awareness. We have a responsibility to know what is happening in our community and how it affects individual members.
Action for Change/Service. We will act to make our community a better place for homeless and at-risk individuals.
All Basic Needs Met. We believe in social equity--that everyone, regardless of individual circumstances, should have basic needs for food, shelter and safety met.
©Copyright 2004, Transition Projects, Inc. All rights reserved.
|
