A New Home for the Haven

New Long-term Lease in NW Portland

In February 2021, Rose Haven secured a long-term lease from friend and neighbor World Cup Coffee at 1740 NW Glisan in Portland, just 1.5 blocks from our old location. This building provides us with the perfect infrastructure to create the dream “Home for the Haven”.

We were fundraising until the day before our moving truck showed up, and this capital campaign was funded in a grassroots model, primarily from individuals and foundations. The whole community rallied together to make this happen, from the construction workers at Swinterton hosting fundraising drives to the designers at Gensler donating all of their trauma informed architectural, interior and graphic design work pro-bono (valued at more than 300k). Some of our guests even made financial donations to support our new home, because they truly take ownership of the space. Portland needs Rose Haven now more than ever before, as record numbers of our neighbors are living outside in cars or in tents, and Portland stepped up to build us a new home for the haven.

On March 8th 2022, Rose Haven opened our doors to our guests for the first time since COVID pushed our services to the sidewalk 2 years ago with a grand opening celebration that included more than 100 guests. When we welcomed our guests indoors, the entire sidewalk was lined with fresh flowers donated by local floral wholesalers, and each guest was given a gift of a bouquet and a map of the new facility. Some of the guests slept out front overnight to ensure they would be first in line when we opened. When they entered the building that was designed for them, they were truly overwhelmed with joy. The trauma informed design really works, and it was visible how much more at ease our guests were once inside such a beautiful space. The cheerful colors and multiple check in areas improve our service delivery. This building represents dignity for these women, many of which are facing social isolation and invisibility. It not only protects them from exposure from the elements, it signifies their belonging to the community.

Once inside, our guests have been able to access meals, clothing, supplies, showers, restrooms, laundry, technology, first aid, classes and wellness activities. Additionally, we offer on-on-one advocacy support to help connect our guests with resources and financial assistance for ID, housing,  medical, utilities, storage, education, employment and transportation emergencies. These direct service allocations can prevent families from entering homlessness, as well as help lift others out of it. These compassionate listening sessions also serve an important role in the mental wellbeing for our guests who oftentimes have little to no emotional support

We are now open for full services M-F from 9am – noon. We have been serving an average of 75 guests a day since we re-opened our shelter. These are women who would have otherwise been outdoors. We know this is just the beginning, and our new home for the haven gives us the opportunity to expand our programming and services. We plan to expand our hours, offer support groups and launch a mental health program in the summer.

Additionally, we have already seen families with children return that we had not seen since the start of the pandemic. When our services were on the sidewalk, it eliminated the sanctuary many of our guest were accustomed to, and many of our low income families that had stable housing and relied on us for supplies that you can’t purchase with food stamps (such as diapers, wipes, soap ect) opted to stay safe and stay home. In spite of this, we still served a record number of children in need in 2021 through our holiday and back to school programs. We are planning to expand our family services to offer parenting classes and other activities to empower children in our community.