August 2024
Building New Lives
Dear Friends,
We are thrilled to tell you about an exciting new partnership that will have long-term benefits to our community! Since late July, we have been working tirelessly with a cohort of (POIC) construction pre-apprentices on an extraordinary project.
During our time together, this group has embarked on the construction of a prototype for a future on-site village, a project that is already showing promising results. The village will eventually house up to 20 sleeping pods. While this project is still in its early stages, this prototype is a significant step towards realizing our vision and we are excited to share it with our funders, community leaders, and partners.
"We have 15 to 20 people working in our workforce program every day," said Matthew McCarl, director of development and relationships at Cultivate Initiatives.
"They need a place to live to build stability. We desperately need these pods here at Cultivate Initiatives, but the city as a whole needs them. We hope this can be part of a broader continuum of shelter and housing units."
In October, another great POIC cohort will complete construction on this first pod. We are eager to share the final product with you!
Thank you to the Home Building Foundation, PARR Lumber, and POIC for your generous support.
Projects like this are only possible with support from the community. You can support this work by donating and by sharing our work with others!
Operating in Portland since 1967, Portland Opportunities Industrialization Center (POIC) offers free training programs for people of color and others historically underrepresented in the trades of construction, natural resource management, culinary arts, and technology. The program's participants are primarily young adults 18 or older, and POIC serves more than 3,000 students, trainees, and families every year. We are so honored to work with them on this project and are excited for continued collaboration!
Meet our new trailer - “Big Sky”
This past month, we introduced a new shower trailer - named “Big Sky” - to our fleet of vehicles! Built by talented longtime supporters of Cultivate Initiatives, Phat Trak Trail Company, this three-stall shower trailer can be pulled by one of our pickup trucks and will allow us to offer services to more locations in Multnomah County. Its inaugural shower site was at Harvest Christian Church in Troutdale.
Neighbors could access the church’s food pantry, showers, clean clothing, and hygiene supplies provided by our team. Shower sites also provide great opportunities to share information with our neighbors with our workforce and housing services.
We are so grateful to Phat Trak Trail Company, Harvest Christian Church, and the Joint Office of Homeless Services for making this possible.
No Place To Grow Old
We're excited to share about Humans for Housing's new film that they are premiering on Friday September 27th.
Their new documentary, No Place To Grow Old; is a powerful exploration of the rising crisis of senior homelessness in Portland, Oregon. The film uncovers the systemic challenges and deeply personal stories of those unexpectedly finding themselves with no place to call home.
Friday, Sept. 27, 2024
The Newmark Theatre
Tickets $13.25 – $18.25
7:30pm
