Getting Ready For Winter

Winter Warming Center Opening Soon

Transition Projects will once again be operating one of the city's Winter Warming Centers this year, an overnight emergency shelter for Portland's homeless. This center will shelter 90 people - 38 women and 52 men - each night from 8pm until 7am, opening November 2nd and running through March 31st.

The warming center will be housed in the Convention Plaza, in inner Northeast Portland. The converted offices in this space will provide more privacy than our previous winter shelters have offered, with smaller rooms for three to six people, rather than one large space. In addition to separate men's, women's and couples areas, there will be a common area in the shelter as a welcoming space, where residents can eat and spend time while not sleeping.

"We are looking forward to being able to offer additional services in this space, a place where people can come together to learn," says Warming Center Coordinator Shannon Rose. "We're hoping to have various groups come in to share information about local resources, health care, how to best take care of themselves during the winter months."

These warming centers are a much needed service during the inclement weather of the winter. Says Stacy Borke, program development intern, "(Transition Project's) waitlist is 2-3 months long right now - this warming center is an opportunity to provide an emergency solution to people to stay safe during the winter, and gain access to referrals and resources while they are waiting to get in to transitional shelter."

Truckload of Coats!

Transition Projects is honored to be the benefactor of the Truckload of Coats donation drive for another year, with partners Safeway, Columbia Sportswear, Amica Insurance, and this year's new radio partner KINK.FM. The Truckload of Coats is a one-day donation drive where we endeavor to fill two 40-foot trucks with donations of coats, blankets and warm winter clothing to provide to Portland's homeless through the winter.

 "KINK.FM is thrilled to partner with Transition Projects, Safeway, Amica Insurance and Columbia Sportswear to bring the Truckload of Coats to life with our live broadcasts on Friday, November 13th at the Safeway store on Murray and Cornell," says Candace Gonzales, Director of Marketing and Promotions at KINK.FM. "We hope our listeners respond to our call to action and help us fill the truck with new and gently use coats to help those individuals and families in need."

At last year's event, we received over 8,500 much-needed items! With your help, we can make this year's Truckload even more successful. These donations go to benefit the clients of Transition Projects, and those of several other partner agencies throughout the Portland area.

Donations will be accepted at two area Safeways, at 39th and SE Powell, and in Beaverton at the intersection of Murray and Cornell. We will be accepting donations from 5:00 AM until 7:00 PM on Friday, November 13th.

Order Your Copy of Where I Slept!

There are still copies of our book Where I Slept available for sale! The cost is $20 per copy. This book is a collection of photographs, taken by Transition Projects residents, of places that they had slept before moving into our transitional shelters. Also featured in the book are contributions from local public figures regarding the issues of homelessness.

It's available online at www.whereislept.com or from our development department (503.823.4930, x205). We have also added a new feature: if you have a book group that might want to discuss the book, we have a discussion guide that we can send you. We may even be able to send a speaker to your book group. Please let us know if you are interested in either of these options.