Out of the Doorways was a Street Roots campaign to gather homeless people in protest of the lack of a permanent and safe place to sleep. Jack and core group set up camp on a parcel of public land, were given notice to vacate, packed up their shopping carts, paraded across town, and set up camp on another plot of land, picking up other protesters along the way. Rinse and repeat, and the snowball grew. The city and the media began to realize that they weren’t planning on disbanding, and the task of finding a solution was tossed from city to state and back again. Throughout, the protesters used the media and Kwamba Productions to voice our petition for a premanent site to settle the newly named Dignity Village. After long arguments, we were granted seventh tenths of an acre near the outskirts of Portland.
Six years later we have evolved into a true Village, providing temporary housing, portalets, a shower, food and clothing donations, computer access, resource references, and a phone. We are operated by a council elected from members of the community, have worked out through the course of experience all the various kinks of our original bylaws, and have thus far been the only legally sanctioned and longest lasting tent city in America.
We are currently expanding the original seven tenths of an acre to an acre and a quarter, and although our maximum capacity of sixty people has not increased, as we finish the new common area, office, shower facilities, dorms, and housing structures we may be able to expand that capacity when our contract with the city comes up for renewal in 2010.
For anyone interested in visiting, we are open to the public from 10 to 10 and are located at the end of the #10 Bus Line:
9401 NE Sunderland
Portland, OR 97211
(503) 281-1604
