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• Homeless, not hopeless

  My View: Permanent solutions take community involvement

  By Deborah Kafoury (November 7, 2006)

  A recent Tribune article highlights an opportunity for Portlanders to help more women move out of homelessness (Women’s shelters fall by wayside, Oct. 24).

  There are insufficient services, shelter and housing for the estimated 750 women who are homeless in Portland on any given night of the year.

  Over the next several months, as the temperature drops and the weather worsens, the need for homeless women’s services will be more acute – but the need will not go away after the weather warms. Portlanders can and must support permanent solutions to address this crisis.

  I have been privileged to serve on the board of Transition Projects for the last nine years. Transition Projects is a locally based nonprofit agency that helps people transition from homelessness to housing.

  Every night of the year, we shelter or house 267 men and women. In addition, we offer services that help people overcome their barriers to housing by assisting them in obtaining housing and supporting them to stay in housing. Last year, we helped nearly 600 people obtain permanent housing.

  In 2004, Transition Projects’ homeless women’s task force released a study that looked in-depth at the needs of homeless women and the paucity of available resources.

  Unfortunately, since that study was released, the community has lost a number of services, including an emergency night shelter, access to the Oregon Health Plan and, at least temporarily, Rose Haven, a women’s day shelter.None of these losses was inevitable. Portlanders should support programs that help homeless women transition to housing. Portland is blessed with some of the nation’s most innovative homeless programs – programs with measurable results that are accountable to the community. In turn, we, as a community, must support these programs and ensure that they continue to be available to those who need them.

  Transition Projects offers a number of programs specifically geared toward homeless women:

  • Shelter. Our 55-bed women’s facility, Jean’s Place, provides a homeless women with more than just a roof over their heads. From counseling to employment services, from advocacy to life skills, Jean’s Place gives women the services they need to end their homelessness

  • Housing assistance. Transition Projects offers housing programs that help women find, obtain and maintain housing. Through Portland’s innovative HousingConnections.org, which helps locate housing, and path-breaking services such as Ready to Rent and Fresh Start, which help people overcome barriers to housing, Portland is leading the way in innovative housing assistance.

  • Tools to obtain housing and income. Most of us take it for granted, but if you don’t have state identification or a birth certificate, you can’t get housing or a job. Transition Projects helps women get these documents and other tools so that they can move on with their lives.

  • Services to maintain health and dignity. Showers, clothing and hygiene products are essential to human dignity. And essential for those looking for a job or housing. By offering these basic services, Transition Projects makes sure homeless women get the start they need.

  Homeless women – and men – do not have to be abandoned to the cold this winter. But we need to recognize that the problem will not go away without our involvement. Your financial contributions, your volunteer time and your support of public policies that seek to end homelessness are what it will take.

  Deborah Kafoury is chairwoman of the board of directors at Transition Projects, a Portland-based agency serving homeless people.

• Board expands to support new homeless efforts
  Portland, October 4, 2006: Transition Projects, Portland’s primary provider of shelter and services for homeless single adults, announced the elections of former Portland Mayor Bud Clark, former Dean of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral the Very Reverend Anthony “Bud” Thurston, retired businessman Richard “Dick” Thomas, and Deloitte tax consultant Gloria Pittel to its Board of Directors. It also elected Deborah Kafoury as Chair of the Board. The agency is expanding its Board of Directors to take on the challenges of helping more people transition from homelessness to housing.

In July, the agency broke ground on the Clark Center Annex, 22 units of permanent supportive housing in SE Portland. Transition Projects is currently raising funds to fund the gap between the cost of operating the building and the rents that people are expected to be able to pay, and raising a permanent endowment that will help people obtain and maintain housing. The Clark Center Annex is a demonstration project of the City’s 10-year plan to end homelessness. The agency’s new Board members will help lead this campaign and also ensure that the agency provides services that respond to community needs.

J.E. “Bud” Clark, former Portland Mayor and proprietor of the Goose Hollow Inn, is a Portland legend. He was elected Mayor in 1984 and reelected in 1988. His nationally acclaimed 12-point homeless plan paved the future for homeless services in Portland. In 1998, Transition Projects honored Mayor Clark and former Housing Authority of Portland Director Don Clark for their efforts to alleviate homelessness by naming their new men’s shelter the Clark Center.

The Very Reverend Anthony “Bud” Thurston is the retired Dean of Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, one of Portland's most prominent churches, and one of the largest Episcopal Churches in the United States. Rev. Thurston is a long-time friend of Transition Projects through his work with Trinity.

Richard “Dick” Thomas, with his wife Lee, built the largest real estate auction marketing company in the in the Northwest. His 52-year career spanned the fields of advertising, marketing and management. He has served on the Vestry and as Senior Warden at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, where he and his wife first learned about Transition Projects through the church’s involvement in our meal program. His involvement with Transition Projects has stretched well over a decade.

Gloria Pittel is a senior tax consultant at Deloitte who has a strong commitment to community involvement and the issue of homelessness in particular. She assists Deloitte with organizing their company-wide volunteer day, and teaches Junior Achievement curriculum to first graders at Riverside Elementary School.  She was involved with an outreach mission in Las Vegas and has supported other organizations assisting poor and vulnerable populations. She learned of Transition Projects through Deloitte, a longtime friend of the agency, and was eager to join the Board of Directors in order to advance our work.

Deborah Kafoury has been elected Chair of the Board of Transition Projects. She is the former Minority Leader of the Oregon House of Representatives, and a State Representative from 1999 to 2004. She currently serves on the Advisory Council for REACH Community Development Corporation. Kafoury has a B.A. from Whitman College. She has served on the Board of Directors at Transition Projects since 1997.

During their last fiscal year, Transition Projects housed nearly 600 people. They shelter 235 people every night, and serve more than 9,000 people annually. Since 1969, Transition Projects has served people’s basic needs as they transition from homelessness to housing. The agency serves more than 9,000 people annually, and shelters 235 people each day of the year. It is a private nonprofit agency led by a volunteer Board of Directors. Doreen Binder has served as the agency’s Executive Director for 11 years.

• Building Hope: The Clark Center Annex
  Transition Projects unveils plans for 22 units of permanent supportive housing at the Clark Center. The culmination of a 3-year pilot project providing supportive housing to men from the Clark Center, this expansion will enable, over time, hundreds of men to make real and lasting change in their lives.

  Modeled on our successful Jean’s Place program for women, the Clark Center expansion will fuel our efforts to help more people than ever transition from homelessness to housing.

  The expansion will occur on the Clark Center property, adding a 3-story building next to the current shelter. The design will blend both buildings into a whole that will appear seamless.

  With case managers, a bustling employment center, life skills, education and training opportunities on site at the Clark Center, the residents in the expansion will have the supports they need to maintain their housing, and to thrive.

  The new construction will happen largely thanks to the City of Portland’s new housing bond. The City is funding this and four other projects that support its plan to end chronic homelessness in 10 years.

  We expect to begin construction in Julyy 2006, and open the program by early 2007.

• The Clark Annex. We are building 22 units of supportive housing at the Clark Center.
• Kaiser Permanente provides a grant to support the work of volunteer Alcohol and Drug Counselor Sherwin Moscow at Transition Projects.
• Transition Projects speaker's bureau begun. If you would like to schedule a speaker at your group, please call (503) 823-4926, x4 or e-mail volunteer@tprojects.org