Good morning world, so not many of the people on WordPress no not many people know much I’m homeless my family’s homeless we’ve been living in a homeless camp for the past 5 years off and on and today we submitted our own proposal to the Multnomah county for A home for Everyone project. So now we will wait for the rejection because they probably will and I’m being happy about this if it doesn’t sound like it to you because the proposal is in I didn’t procrastinate this is a good thing. However that doesn’t matter even if they say no watch for the GoFundMe that will be coming soon because we’ll need that anyway to help support it until it can support itself along with anyone who wants to volunteer and help donate to it. Watch soon for pause for the cause creating change you will see more of that coming up on my WordPress my Facebook my Instagram likely and who knows where else and here is a copy of The proposal as follows.
Submitted 03/17/2021
Although not scored proposals for stage I are encouraged to include:
∙ A description of how the Community Based Organization (CBO) will be responsible for supporting/operating the shelter program. Include their experience/expertise with serving the proposed participant population and operating similar shelters. The facility will be self managed with election regularity to be scheduled, to be based on the Dignity Village Model, though the OLCC side would have a partially independent elected management to avoid conflicts with OLCC regulations, making both sides independently managed while supporting each other. Carpentry & Construction experience offered for those that help build structures AKA tiny homes, for the main location, as well as other village models and for profit, Art Studio/Gallery to support creativity, building skills, while helping build small businesses. Homeless Cultural Building A History of homelessness through the ages to current, hosting art and reading materials around local and international issues, as a welcome center. We have served on the Dignity Village Council and have asked other individuals what they would like to see happen if this project goes through, everyone always wants the same thing a safe space to sleep, hygiene access, warmth, a place to store and cook food, and a chance to update, renew, or learn new skills to be more desirable for prospective jobs.
∙ Provide a description of the physical attributes of the shelter, including:
(a) the approximate size 58-60 acres
(b) the location .Proposed site the large Port of Portland area between Marine Dr and NE 33rd and NE Sunderland Ave. in sunderland Neighborhood
(c) the type or types of structures that will be used for sleeping: Tents, RV’s and tiny house structures.
(d) the structures that will be used for other services – common room for meetings and gatherings, bathroom and shower spaces, kitchens, and separate designated business spaces for construction, artists sales, and grow site which will have separate security and rules frome the standard living areas.
(e) the utilities and other site improvements that are anticipated to be needed. Water, sewer, and electrical with possibility for solar.
∙ Provide a description of the essential elements of the proposed shelter program and how they were developed:
(a) the guiding values & objectives of the program; The facility will be self managed with election regularity to be scheduled, to be based on the Dignity Village Model, though the OLCC side would have a partially independent elected management to avoid conflicts with OLCC regulations, making both sides independently managed while supporting each other.
(b) who will be prioritized for the shelter; The facility would serve people in RV’s and tents that either do not qualify or wish to work with existing services or want to live in standard housing. The goals of this would be to put a community effort within the homeless community into producing housing for the entire homeless community.
(c) how many people will be served at one time; the minimum at single person occupancy would be 500, however this does not preclude couples, families and street families which could double to triple the population.
(d) the requirements/expectations for participation (e.g. engaged in treatment, or low-barrier); A large residential site plan with a low barrier model similar to that of Dignity Village where residents would be required to do sweat equity hours every week to support the working operations of the community. The Cannabis grow site and residential plan however would require individuals pass the OLCC to both live and work here with a similar model to the low barrier except with all of the OLCC rules also inplace.
(e) the basic safety/hygiene services, and transition service offerings for participants (if any); By providing so many hygiene stations we will be able to allow outside guests to have access to showers and day services.
(f) the staffing model for the program; Will be based on the Dignity Village Model where the residents take up positions on Council and facilitate the everyday working of the Intentional Community, main council body would include the chair, vice chair, Secretary, Treasurer, Head of Security and any other positions decided by members that should be apart of council.
(g) any identified legal obstacles to the proposed program; We are currently in the process of working on acquiring all of our business licensing and LLC for Pause for the Cause Creating Change, the only other legal obstacle we can foresee is if the OLCC says that it can only be people who can pass the OLCC licensing on the same property, in which case it could be as simple as the city and or county subdividing the property into 2-3 properties.
(h) the engagement that was done, in particular with people with lived experience, to develop the program. The founders of Pause for the Cause Creating Change have been homeless these last 5+ years, and have sat down with others over the time we’ve been homeless discussing how to improve the housing situation and make the plan we’ve had work. Charles has always wanted to help the homeless before we ever met, and after being an OMMP cardholder for years for my PTSD and fibromyalgia, our harvest in 2012 yielded over 10,000 seeds, after being split with the other cardholder at the time who my husband was growing for both of us. We to date still have 4000 seeds to start a cannabis grow to utilize the funding from sales after harvest to further fund homeless housing. My Husband is the true visionary here in what he has designed, my family was homeless when I was a child, teenager, and I ended up homeless again as an adult my only dream in life was to have a home I couldn’t be kicked out of that was all my own, like so many others.
∙ Provide a description of outreach that has been done and support that exists for the shelter proposal from organizations, especially those located in the area of the proposed shelter. Respondents are encouraged to include letters of support from as broad a range of stakeholder organizations as possible, including CBOs, neighborhood organizations, local business associations, etc. If you are attaching any supporting documents, please label as Appendix 1 and upload in the Suppliers Attachment section.
Sorry we have nothing currently to share.
∙ Provide a description of the anticipated budget for the project, including any costs associated with:
(a) site acquisition; .Proposed site the large Port of Portland area between Marine Dr and NE 33rd and NE Sunderland Ave., hopefully to be supplied by the city or county, with the option to purchase in the future, while the businesses save funding to move and create new locations in the future.
(b) site preparation; The minimum 40 acres used for housing would be set up with 16 45’X45’ plots with a 30’X10’ compressed gravel driveway, so people who currently have an RV can pull it on said plot and get off the roadways. This would total a max of 640 plots with 140 of them used for community space and sanitation facilities, leaving 500 plots for residency, 100 of those 500 would be designated to people who pass the OLCC, thus fully separating the grow, from the low-barrier population.
Potable Water and sewer setup to city lines to create sanitation stations using one 45’ X 45’ area every other row for sanitation bldgs which includes portalets/bathrooms, showers, kitchen spaces, and garbage and recycling receptacles. 45’ X 45’ living areas with a 10’ X 30’ compressed gravel pad for a vehicle or RV and the remaining area for yard and living space, with compressed gravel roadways throughout proposed site plan. 45’X45’ concrete or paved pad with 6”-8” raised curb with slight downgrade inward, cost will vary based on whether Villagers supply the time and manpower based on their skills or hiring outside labor. One 45’X45’ area for the Artistic studio space and carpentry/ construction space with room for a pottery kiln, screen printing, and tools we already have to support the startup include and are growing: 3-d Printer, Hand Tools : hammers, screwdrivers, wrenches, sockets, commercial glue gun, Staple gun, rechargeable drill, rechargeable heat gun, dremel + accessories kit, and more as we acquire them. Homeless Cultural bldg, A covid vaccination nurses station, and the Cannabis Grow with 4000 seeds for start up with the prospect of a dispensary later as funding to maintain the facility and build more housing for Portland’s Homeless Community.
(c) purchase/preparation of physical structures & start up supplies (e.g. cots, blankets, etc.); Work with a Solar company to help install panels with inverters and batteries on each plot around the entire site plan to provide energy to residents and businesses and then supply back all excess to help other low income households. We obtained an estimate from Oregon Decorative Rock based on the need for gravel roadways and parking pads of RV’s and vehicles. Our estimate plans for 19 roadways from the existing roadways across the property and between plots, the estimate given was for 3500 cubic yards of gravel to cost $140,000.00 not including delivery fees. As for plumbing we found cost estimates online and attempted to estimate from there, because I would prefer to overestimate than under, it is based on the most expensive piping and the highest cost for hookups, we estimated costs for plumbing to be $286,525.00 and I believe this online estimate included labour. Putting the total between them to $426,525.00, if that was rounded up to a full $500,000.00 it should be able to also supply enough lumber to start the construction of tiny homes, which will be built by the residents and possibly volunteers, so that the residents have structures they feel comfortable living in. The only other estimate we were unable to obtain was the running of local power lines, while we do want to participate in every plot having solar collectors to put power back to the grid.
(d) annual site operations costs (utilities, maintenance, supplies, rent, insurance, etc.);
This is a rough estimate based on the known cost averages of Dignity Village for a 50 person population multiplied by 10 to accommodate the prospective population, while some of these will be different based on site location and density of population. Power Bill $ , Water Bill $ , Sanican Bill $ , Garbage/Recycling Bill $ ,Cable Internet Bill $ .
Businesses at or near startup would include:
A tiny home construction department that would build for this facility, and other camps today and future. Also try to work with community partners such as colleges and construction unions to get it recognized as work experience in a skilled trade, with the possibility of college credits.
Art gallery/studio where artists can work with access to tools they may not own and have the option to sell their creations on site to both support themselves and the community via a percentage model.
Internal gardens and farm space for community food with excess being worked out to go to the Oregon Food Bank and or Sister of the Road Cafe and other businesses like it supporting the homeless through meals.
A cannabis grow with 4000 seeds available to start it, and it would give individuals able to pass the OLCC and new to the field experience growing and working with cannabis, also the possibility to work with colleges for credit. Those that do security for the grow, it would also give them experience that would help them get jobs with security companies.
All businesses would be non-profit provided state and federal government would approve non-profit status, whether they approve that status or not all proceeds from the businesses would go to supporting no cost housing for those living there, an income to individuals living and working there, and producing other homeless encampments and low-income housing.
(e) annual programming costs, including CBO administration, shelter staffing, support services costs etc. This section should identify which of the budgeted costs will be covered by non governmental resources, and what assistance will be needed from local governments. We are estimating the property is 58 acres based on measurements from google earth, we want to use upto 18 of those acres for businesses that once they are profitable will cover all expenses of the facility, and pay back the county startup costs, invest in the residents of the facility starting their own businesses, either buy the property used in the startup from whichever government department owns it or buy a separate piece of property to move to by the time the contract expires, and continue to invest into other properties for low-income housing and camps, without additional government money needed.
∙ Provide a description of the readiness to proceed, and a projected timeline to the opening of the shelter program. We would hope to have the site bare minimum ready with potable water , hygiene stations, garbage, and a laid out site plan for people to start moving into by 06,01,2021 as long as the city and county approve the site. While we work together with Gather Make Shelter and other community organizations to build this new community.
∙ In regards to the culturally specific services described in the Goals, Values, and other Important Considerations, describe how your organization recognizes cultural diversity in the programs and services you provide.
We recognize that we are all human, from a beautiful, unique, skilled, and sometimes tragic background, and homelessness does not care, who you are, what your skin pigmentation happens to be, because when your homeless it will get darker as you toil in the sun and are covered in filth daily when you have no access to the relief of a home and a hot shower to ease your pain, we are human.
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