Category: Services

New Business, Services

Holy Moly Salon on SE Stark

On November 1st, Holy Moly Salon and Gallery opened at 7819 SE Stark Street in the former Harashay storefront with four stations and a back wall dedicated to showcasing local artists. The owners designed the newly renovated space to offer an “elevated experience” that is approachable to area residents and serves the full spectrum of haircare desires for all people.

Interior view of Holy Moly Salon and Gallery, showcasing a cozy seating area with wooden chairs and a round table, surrounded by plants and natural light from a large window.

Owners Jamie Roy and Rachel Jones had worked together at Fringe and Friends prior to the pandemic, remaining friends as Jones went on to create Grace Harry Salon. “We continued to cut each other’s hair and go to continuing education classes together,” recalled Roy. “We always thought about hair the same way, passionate in the same way, and have the same ethos for what a salon should be.” Jones discovered the storefront on Montavilla’s historic main street and brought in Roy to transition into this space. The speed at which they approached the new partnership is summed up in its whimsical name. “It’s just fun and reflects how we feel because we didn’t have any plan of opening a salon together. Within days of seeing this place, we just signed the lease. So it’s like holy moly, what’s happening?” explained Jones.

Two women smiling while sitting at a wooden counter in a salon, with a lamp and a flower arrangement in the foreground.
Salon owners Rachel Jones and Jamie Roy

They appreciated that the previous tenant of the space used it for haircare as well because it required less work to reconfigure the shop than if they had to transform it from an incompatible business. However, they discovered it would require plumbing updates and some electrical work. Overall, they are pleased with the reduced amount of basic work the older building required, allowing them to focus on filling the ample floor space. They soon discovered that instead of needing to be creative to make the space seem less cramped, they would instead need to think on a larger scale. “With the big space, we would put furniture in here, and then it would look tiny compared to the space. A couple of bookshelves we got were half the size at first, and we said, ‘Well, that looks wild.’ So we had to get bigger bookshelves,” remarked Roy. Fortunately, the ordered Minerva styling chairs and other finishes filled in the space well, with the capacity to expand the number of stations as stylists join Holy Moly Salon.

Interior of Holy Moly Salon featuring two styling chairs and a shampoo station with products on display.

The partners chose many furnishings they had appreciated from their combined decades of experience in the industry, but decided to have a custom-built front counter. The upsized shelves around that counter offer products from local makers along with purchasable supplies of the hair products the shop uses in their services. “We put a lot of thought into the products that we chose,” Roy said. They primarily offer products by Innersense Beauty, Cult + King, Lulu Organics, and Afterworld Organics. They focus on smaller brands because they feel those producers bring more practical experience into their lines. “A lot of the smaller brands come from hairstylists who are not finding products that they like, so they create products in small, cool little brands that do everything right,” said Jones. Sustainability in product lines is also important, with some options utilizing refillable containers. For those that do not offer refills, Holy Moly has joined Green Circle Salons, a network of shops working to recycle most of the materials used, including traditionally unrecoverable and hard-to-recycle items such as hair clippings, foils, excess hair color, aerosol cans, and color tubes.

A wooden counter with various hair products displayed on shelves above, set in an arched alcove.
Hair color station

Environmental impact and neighborhood integration are core concerns for the partners. “Community was a big part of what we talked about when opening a salon,” recalled Roy. They envisioned the location being more active than just serving the salon customer base. This perspective included integrating event space uses and art shows. The “Salon and Gallery” in Holy Moly’s name is intentionally balanced to include the owner’s vision for the salon’s place in Montavilla. “The gallery wall is designated in the back. Right now, we have an artist, Sara Murphy, who has these ceramic altars,” explained Jones. “I’ve brought on a friend who’s curating the space. We’re still trying to dial in how often, but every two to three months, we’ll have an art opening potentially.” The salon does not currently offer walk-in services, but they encourage visitors to come in to schedule an appointment, browse their retail offerings, or view the artwork on display.

Wall display featuring a variety of colorful candle holders showcasing art pieces with lit LED candles.
Art display of ceramic altars by Sara Murphy

Both Roy and Jones are excited to join the active business district on SE Stark Street and will work with local customers to meet their salon needs at a rate they can afford. Holy Moly Salon and Gallery is open Tuesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., but hours may shift based on appointment schedules. They are looking to bring in two or three more stylists in the near future. Each person working from this salon will set their own pricing and availability, with the potential for walk-in services in the future. Stylists post their booking schedules and rates online at holymolysalon.com, and customers can call (503) 964-5244 during business hours to schedule over the phone.

Article and photos by

Jacob Loeb

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Community, Services

Leaf Day Comes to Montavilla

On November 1st, the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT) began its 2025-26 Leaf Day season. For over 30 years, the City of Portland has offered select geographic areas a curbside collection and cleaning service that prevents streets from flooding in locations that account for the majority of dropped leaves on city streets. This year, the program extends to four new Montavilla zones, assisting residents with extensive tree canopies in keeping the public right-of-way clear during the autumn season.

A tree-lined residential street in Portland featuring vibrant autumn foliage with trees displaying shades of orange, yellow, and red. The pavement is covered with fallen leaves, and parked cars are visible along the sides of the road.

PBOT asks residents within a Leaf Day pickup zone to rake loose leaves into the street one day before the scheduled collection day. Piles should include only loose tree leaves and pine or fir needles from street trees. No other yard debris is allowed in the street. Instead, those twigs, branches, pinecones, and grass clippings must go in the green collection bins. People should pile the leaves in the parking zone near the edge of the street with a foot of space between the pile and the curb. This clearing allows a path for rainwater runoff to reach cleared catch basins, making it easier for sweepers to clean pile remnants after collection loaders scoop up the mounds of leaves.

  • SE 17 (Montavilla / Mt. Tabor / South Tabor) NEW Sweep Date 11/05/2025
  • SE 18 (Montavilla / Mt. Tabor) NEW Sweep Date 01/10/2026
  • SE 19 (Montavilla) NEW Sweep Date 01/10/2026
  • SE 20 (Montavilla) NEW Sweep Date 01/10/2026
Map highlighting the Montavilla and Mt. Tabor neighborhoods with indicated sweep dates in orange.
Map from Portland Maps with Leaf Day overlay

PBOT expanded the Leaf Day service from the historically supported 53 zones up to 82 with additional funding from the City Council. Around 30,000 newly included addresses in a Leaf Zone received a postcard from PBOT introducing occupants to the program and encouraging them to prepare for the service. The formerly two-month program now runs from November through mid-January as crews cover a few neighborhoods each day, six days a week. They take the Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas holidays off, but otherwise progress through the designated routes spanning the City. People wanting to know if they need to prepare should check Portland Maps with the Leaf Day overlay enabled for address inclusion and dates.

A tree-lined street in Portland, Oregon, showcasing vibrant autumn foliage with a mix of red, orange, and yellow leaves. Cars are parked along the sides of the street, and fallen leaves cover the road. A stop sign is visible in the distance.

Leaf Day funding comes from the City’s general transportation revenue, which includes State Highway funds and local parking meter revenue. This year, additional budget allocations for the program came from stormwater management funds. In addition to Montavilla’s inclusion at the eastern edge of City Council District 3, the 2025 leaf collection program’s expansion reaches neighborhoods across District 1, including Lents, Parkrose, and Centennial.

PBOT video with instructions on preparing for Leaf Day ahead of your area’s collection date.

Leaf collection support is not only about aesthetics. The impact of wet fallen leaves creates potential hazards for people walking, biking, rolling, or driving through tree-lined neighborhoods. Fallen leaves clog storm drains, causing street flooding during heavy fall rains and creating slip hazards. These dangers are a consequence of Portland’s tree-dense canopy, which helps mitigate the effects of climate change but creates treacherous conditions each autumn. Yearly, City crews remove thousands of cubic yards of leaves from Portland streets to minimize the dangers posed by decaying plant matter on public pathways and roads. City officials request that all residents and business staff in a Leaf Day zone move their cars and other obstructions from the street on collection days and rake sidewalk leaves into piles on the street for easier collection. If possible, adjacent property owners should limb street trees to clear the way for large trucks before their Leaf Day service.

A yellow loader collecting piles of leaves from a street, with trees and a house visible in the background.
City vehicle collecting leaf piles along the street’s edge. Courtesy PBOT

For many new addresses that were previously excluded from the service area, the expanded Leaf Day zones present an opportunity to receive the City’s support in reducing the annual leaf collection burden.

Article and photos

Jacob Loeb

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Community, Government, Services

JOIN Expanding Day Space Hours

At the end of September, the nonprofit JOIN expanded operating hours at its day center through a partnership with the City of Portland. For over a decade, the organization dedicated to transitioning individuals and families experiencing houselessness into stable housing has operated from 1435 NE 81st Avenue, a block behind NE 82nd Avenue near Interstate 84. With the addition of weekday hours and new weekend services starting October 4th, City officials believe this location can meet a critical need in the shelter system, as Mayor Keith Wilson expands efforts to end unsheltered homelessness in Portland.

JOIN says it serves 80 to 100 individuals and families weekly at its Montavilla Day Space, which previously opened from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. With the new City partnership, they will greet guests from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, JOIN staff will open an hour later at 10 a.m. and close an hour earlier at 4 p.m., but still longer than pre-partnership operating hours. Starting in October, JOIN Day Space will open for the first time on weekends from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., filling an often missing gap in day center services.

Day centers are a critical component of the congregate shelter system, which does not provide dedicated individual facilities for people, unlike the recently opened sleeping pod sites in the area. JOIN’s Day Space, which they call “The House,” is a drop-in service center providing access to meals, restrooms, showers, laundry facilities, and hygiene products. People visiting regularly can also use it as a mailing address, a vital function for anyone trying to access supportive programs, reissue documents, or reconnect with people in their lives. The Day Space hosts weekly onsite medical services, providing a resource that can help reduce the use of the emergency medical system by unsheltered people. Additional services center around assistance with employment and addressing substance use disorder. Staff there can also provide support with navigating system resources, so willing families and individuals can work towards finding consistent shelter and eventually stable housing.

Exterior view of the JOIN Day Center with a colorful mural featuring a mountain and trees, a red structure in front, and seating area visible.
JOIN Day Space at 1435 NE 81st Avenue, Suite 100 (Jacob Loeb)

JOIN’s other work focuses on placing people with housing insecurities within stable housing. Their Primary Leasing work helps adults and families access private market units when they have significant barriers to housing by taking on responsibility for the rental through a direct relationship with the leasing company or property owner. They promote the Housing First approach, where they work to secure people in shelter and then continue to support them in addressing the issues that impact their ability to remain housed.

Day center placement can become polarizing within communities as some residents feel it attracts an outsized concentration of people with behavioral or substance use issues to their block. However, Day Centers provide a safe space for unsheltered Portlanders to care for themselves off the streets and in a facility where staff can offer support in making positive changes to their situation. In this instance, JOIN’s Day Space is well established in its location and is only expanding its operating hours. For people reliant on its services, this daily schedule should help people without consistent housing stay clean and safe during the daytime.

Article and photos by

Jacob Loeb

Community, Services

Curbside Bulky Trash Pickup Calculator

Residents living in single-family homes, duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes can now schedule curbside pickup of bulky items from their trash service at a predictable price point. People trying to dispose of something that won’t fit in a residential garbage bin have had limited choices, often with a substantial price tag, prompting some to place items on sidewalks with “free” signs to dispose of them. New city-set rates for curbside collection of large items make it easier for many Portlanders to properly unburden themselves from broken furniture, old mattresses, appliances, and other irregular waste.

Eligible households can contact their garbage and recycling company to schedule curbside pickup for large items, often referred to as bulky waste. After being assigned a special pickup day by the hauling service, people will then place the items at the curb by 6 a.m. on the scheduled day, but no more than 24 hours before pickup to avoid excessive rainwater contamination that can make items heavier and more challenging to handle. Collection companies could charge an additional fee if the pickup requires extra time or additional staff.

The City of Portland is currently promoting its bulky waste cost calculator, which allows people to view the expected collection cost for each item, along with a single-trip pickup fee of $18. Although they include many common examples—including a refrigerator collection cost of $51, a Water heater is $6, and a King mattress is $29—the garbage company decides which category each item falls into. If the item isn’t listed, it will estimate the price based on size or type. This tool is not an exact quote, but it offers many residents a reasonable option for budgeting when disposing of larger items.

The garbage service account holder must authorize the added cost of collection; therefore, some renters may need to contact their landlord to request pickup. People in apartments or businesses will need to check with the property manager about disposal options. If people have a transport vehicle, there are free options for disposing of mattresses through Bye Bye Mattress’s listing of drop-off locations or E-Cycle Oregon’s directory for responsibly disposing of unwanted electronics. People can pay less if they take their bulky waste items to a Metro Transfer Station for disposal, paying a fee based on weight and other factors. Additionally, a new Metro program allows people to recycle old mattresses and box springs for free, thanks to a 2022 Oregon Senate Bill.

The city-set rates for curbside collection of large items and bulky waste cost calculator can help people make an informed choice about how to dispose of items that are challenging to handle. The predictable prices and convenience of curbside collection could entice more residents to use the collection service and help reduce abandoned items on Portland Streets. Visit the Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability website for more information.

Article and photo by

Jacob Loeb

Community, Services

Do Good Headquarters on NE Everett

In October 2020, Do Good Multnomah moved into the century-old former Hope Presbyterian Church building at 7809 NE Everett Street, just as the organization expanded beyond its core mission of providing supportive service to unsheltered veterans. With the move to Montavilla and subsequent years of growth supporting a broad range of houseless services, Do Good has expanded its 75-person organization to 300 staff working in various locations across the Portland Metro area. The majority of staff employed at Do Good work from multiple sites and interact directly with program participants, with the Everett Street location facilitating a handful of administrative services and storing donated home goods for people transitioning into housing.

Lisa Horness, Community Partnerships Manager for Do Good Multnomah, explained that during the height of COVID-19, Multnomah County and the City of Portland asked the organization to grow its offerings to meet an expanding need to shelter vulnerable people living outdoors. “As an organization, we were initially serving primarily veterans. When the pandemic happened, the City and the County saw what we were doing, our highly relational approach to the work of serving veterans experiencing houselessness. They asked, ‘Hey, can you do more? We’re going to start operating these motels to support folks who have more of the comorbidities that the pandemic is primarily affecting,'” recalled Horness. Those new programs focus on sheltering older adults, BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) community members, and people with medical conditions. “That kicked off a period of rapid growth for Do Good. We moved from having a low-barrier congregate shelter serving male-identifying veterans to growing into these motel programs. We now serve somewhere around 700 folks a night across three counties through about 20 programs. Some of those are wrap-around services, so not necessarily physical sites, but have grown and expanded into supporting folks from all marginalized communities, but still prioritizing veterans experiencing houselessness,” said Horness.

After a year in the NE Everett Street building, the organization identified a community need for a resource center to collect and distribute donated housewares, mattresses, furniture, towels, clothing, and toiletries. People moving into housing from the shelter network often lack basic supplies and resources to furnish an apartment. Through word-of-mouth, they began collecting donations from barrel drives and individual donations, storing the items in the former church’s ample basement and nave. The wide open floor space made it possible to organize the donated items so staff could easily package items for delivery to program participants. They receive corporate contributions, including two recent semi-trucks worth of mattresses with box springs made surplus during a Great Wolf Lodge remodel project and new mattresses gifted by Mor Furniture. However, Horness says most contributions come from household donations. Anyone can arrange to donate needed items by filling out the company’s web form and then dropping off the items during a scheduled time at the NE Everett Street location.

Although Do Good Multnomah expanded support to a broader demographic of marginalized people and to counties beyond its namesake, the staff continues to focus on former military service members facing housing insecurities. “We have programs that are still veteran-specific and veteran-only, like our Wy’East Veterans Shelter. Most of our permanent supportive housing sites and our Veterans Village are veteran-specific,” explained Horness. “As we grew, to maintain our focus on serving veterans, our programs that are civilian-based reserve 15% of the beds for veterans, which is the percentage of veterans experiencing homelessness across the nation relative to the population.”

Do Good’s expansion into serving other populations was not just about meeting the abundant need for shelter across the region. They also recognized they needed to cast a wide net to reach everyone they wanted to serve. “Not every veteran is going to want to be in a veteran-specific community. So by having both veteran-specific and civilian-based programming in the full spectrum of programs, we can meet people where they are at,” said Horness. They now offer everything from low-barrier congregate shelters, motel shelter programs, pod villages, permanent supportive housing, affordable housing, and behavioral health treatment. They recently partnered with the Mental Health & Addiction Association of Oregon at the County’s Behavioral Health Resource Center to offer bridge housing for people experiencing mental health challenges or substance use disorder. The organization is participating with a new outreach team in North Portland, and the North Portland Day Center is opening at the end of April or early May. In addition to low-barrier shelters that do not require sobriety, Do Good will open the Kenton Motel, which will offer sober housing for veterans.

According to Horness, they see significant movement between programs. “Just because one individual might start in a congregate program doesn’t mean necessarily that they’ll move directly into housing from there. Some do, but others may reach the next positive step for them, like a motel program where they have more independence, personal space, and an opportunity to grow. Or perhaps it’s a pod. Each of our programs have different goals associated with a timeline. We want folks to progress, whatever that means to them, but shelter is not the end goal, housing is the end goal. A place that is one’s own, or maybe it’s assisted living, or maybe it’s into recovery. Again, it’s going to look a little different for every individual because we are all individuals. But the end goal is not one of our programs unless it happens to be permanent supportive housing.”

The organization will celebrate its tenth anniversary this May, recognizing the dramatic transformation into a multi-site service provider from its origins as a 13-bed shelter for veterans in the basement of Rose City Park United Methodist Church. Horness explained that although they have grown Do Good’s reach, they will maintain their purpose. “Our mission is journeying alongside folks as they navigate towards housing. But really, the goal is providing supportive services and partnering with our community and neighbors to provide access to resources. Housing can be really challenging; it’s not always a linear journey, but we are here to support folks wherever they are along that journey. That takes a village.”

Article and photos by

Jacob Loeb

Business Relocating, Services

Bethany Rydmark Landscapes

Almost a year ago, Bethany Rydmark relocated her eponymously named company from a home studio to a Montavilla office, sharing space with Arctura Design Build at 425 NE 80th Avenue. Since moving into the green cement-block building, Bethany Rydmark :: Landscapes has grown into a five-member team helping clients create functional, evolving outdoor spaces designed to thrive in a changing climate.

Rydmark’s return to Montavilla workplace harkens back nearly 20 years to her time working for Quatrefoil, which operated from the boxy 1,200 square-foot building at 404 SE 80th Avenue before that company relocated to NE 65th Avenue. That job also influenced her family’s move into the area. “My husband and I ended up moving about a year later to live in the neighborhood so that I could be close to work, and he was close to his university around the corner,” recalled Rydmark. In 2013, she started her private practice from a backyard studio and a decade later signed a lease for the NE 80th Avenue location in May 2024.

Directory sign at 425 NE 80th Ave (photo by Jacob Loeb)

Rydmark explained that she has always loved gardens, and outdoor interactions were a staple of her upbringing. However, passion alone will not lead a person to a career in landscape architecture. It is a State-licensed profession that required she complete a five-year Bachelor of Landscape Architecture (BLA) degree from the University of Oregon and participate in a three-year apprenticeship program before taking the national Landscape Architect Registration Examination. Bethany Rydmark received her license in 2010 after completing an oral exam with the Oregon Landscape Architect Board. In 2012, wanting to expand her understanding of the profession’s practical applications, she embarked on a year-long worldwide trip to visit diverse landscapes and ecosystems. “I went to 25 countries and territories for a year and brought all that inspiration and knowledge back with me,” Said Rydmark.

According to Rydmark, understanding how gardens thrive in other climates is essential to working in Portland as environmental shifts make tradition less impactful in landscaping design. “We do incorporate a lot of native [plants]. We’re very happy to celebrate and use natives, but we love to help encourage clients to think beyond the traditional palette of plants that have been used for a long time. Part of that’s out of necessity because the climate continues to change, and our weather patterns have shifted. The typical Portland garden you saw in a photo from a garden club in the 60s, those plants don’t necessarily live in and experience the same weather patterns now that they did then.” She explained that holding to older design principles creates resource-heavy gardens, requiring extra water and protection from freezing weather or extremely hot days.

Photo courtesy Bethany Rydmark :: Landscapes

The team at Bethany Rydmark :: Landscapes produces spaces tailored to their clients’ desires while staying committed to creating a sustainable outdoor space that continues to grow into its envisioned shape over years. “We’re interested in places where we can make a difference with thoughtful, non-cookie-cutter design, which is sometimes hard because oftentimes in public spaces, there are the cookie-cutter ways of getting things done. There’s city code, and there’s the standard accepted way of doing things. Our ethos is about how we dig down to find health, [building back in] holistically healthy ways of design, creating things that are beautiful, that are also nourishing to our human spirits, to our ecosystem, neighbors, and other creatures,” said Rydmark. That can include considerations for pollinators, soil health, or birds. Their designs often shape lighting arrangements to maximize safety while reducing the disorienting effects of light pollution on migratory birds flying in the night sky.

Bethany Rydmark explained that her company is best suited to people making a long-term investment in their properties, spending twenty percent or more of their home’s value on the entire outdoor project. “Oftentimes, I find that people are committed to their land for a period of time to justify the amount of effort that it takes to go through a thoughtful design project; they’re the ones that are a good fit for the level of work that we do,” said Rydmark. “We focus on residential scale projects from estates and beautiful luxury homes to more modest-sized properties where clients have a vision. We are also partnering with a few other architects and developers on more commercial projects.” However, she feels good outdoor design should be accessible to everyone but would rather people with constrained budgets put most of their money towards plants and placemaking material instead of the services her company provides.

Photo courtesy Bethany Rydmark :: Landscapes

Investments in outdoor spaces extend beyond the initial design and implementation. Many plantings take years to reach maturity, so designers use filler plants to keep the soil protected and active, but people will need to remove them as the primary vegetation grows to its intended size. “I kind of laugh at the idea of the no-maintenance garden unless you’re going to go walk in the woods and be a visitor there. Just about any landscape you interact with has some form of dynamism,” said Rydmark. “Oftentimes, I’m working for clients that are aware that they need extra help and will plan for a maintenance budget going into the future, whether that’s ongoing regular maintenance from a company that can provide that or an engaged gardener.” However, manicured spaces are not always the outcome of designed gardens. “Honestly, sometimes maintenance is overdone, and I teach people how to take a step back and let things look messy, to build a rich garden ecosystem with a little less maintenance and a little more allowing for nature to cycle through,” remarked Rydmark.

Bethany Rydmark :: Landscapes focuses on working with customers to create authentic outdoor spaces people can enjoy as much as their homes and businesses. “I like to stick with things that are real, real stone, real wood, real steel, real stone, and real rock. It’s the antithesis to the AstroTurf, Trex decking, or fake stone veneer that pretends it’s something else,” said Rydmark. “Oftentimes fast or cheap design and construction can strip out life and leave something that’s somewhat exploitative of resources. Our hope is to create places that have a story to tell, that have been thoughtfully designed and thoughtfully constructed with honor given to the materials, to the people, to the outcome, to the long-term life of the place that we’re shaping.”

People interested in seeing Bethany Rydmark :: Landscapes’ featured projects or talking with the team about an outdoor space can contact the group at bethanyrydmark.com.

by

Jacob Loeb

Community, Services, Transportation

Transit to Warming Shelters

Multnomah County will open emergency warming shelters on Thursday night, February 13th, through noon or later on Friday, February 14th. In coordination with the County’s state of emergency efforts related to expected cold weather, TriMet will not turn away riders unable to pay for transit on their way to or from a warming shelter during shelter operating hours. Six additional warming shelters will join Multnomah County and the City of Portland’s nearly 3,000 existing shelter beds to help more people off the street during the intensely cold night-time hours.

TriMet is committed to transporting people to emergency warming shelters during declared emergencies and will not collect a fare if the person informs the driver they cannot pay and are on their way to or from a shelter. However, those who can pay the fare must do so, even when riding during cold weather. Fare-free transportation for people unable to pay is limited to direct shelter travel and not as a warm alternative to being outside. TriMet wants to help individuals get out of the cold and into shelters with access to food, restrooms, wraparound support services, and other resources unavailable on the transit system.

Multnomah County’s Care for When It’s Cold website offers updated details about emergency warming shelter locations. Montavilla has one location open during this cold weather event within the Ascension Catholic Church at 743 SE 76th Avenue. The County will operate this temporary location. Warming site operators will not turn away anyone seeking shelter. All warming locations will welcome pets and be accessible to people with disabling conditions. Additional free transportation to warming shelters is available by calling 2-1-1.

Update: This article was updated with current information about emergency warming shelter access for the extended winter weather with an expected snow and ice storm.

Article and photo by

Jacob Loeb

Community, Government, Services

1818 SE 82nd Village-style Shelter Meeting

The Joint Office of Homeless Services (JOHS) will hold a community meeting on December 5th to present information on a new alternative shelter planned for the former RV sales lot at 1818 SE 82nd Avenue. This site is the second location purchased by Multnomah County in Montavilla as a shelter site. Montavilla News first reported on the County’s purchase of the two properties in 2022, and crews working for the JOHS are currently building the Oak Street Village at 333 SE 82nd Avenue.

Harrison Birds Eye View titled image courtesy JOHS

This proposed shelter at SE 82nd Avenue and Mill Street is just 15 blocks south of the site under construction. Several JOHS documents refer to the site as Harrison Village. However, County staff changed the working title for Oak Street Village during community engagement, and the Harrison Village name could be a placeholder. JOHS plans to install 38 sleeping pods and larger portable units that will house showers, bathrooms, kitchenette space, and a laundry facility for residents. Like other shelters of this type, outreach specialists refer people into this temporary housing, and residents receive case management with the support necessary to move into more stable housing.

JOHS staff anticipate that this second County-owned Montavilla shelter will begin serving unhoused community members in late 2025. Organizers ask that people RSVP for the 6 p.m. meeting that will take place within the Montavilla United Methodist Church at 232 SE 80th Avenue. Attendees will learn more about the JOHS plan for the site and have the opportunity to provide feedback about the project’s design layout. The hour-and-a-half meeting should conclude around 7:30 p.m. People interested in staying informed but unable to attend the Thursday night gathering can follow the JOHS site for details.

Article and Photos by

Jacob Loeb

Promotion: Help keep independent news accessible to the community. Montavilla News has a Patreon account for monthly support or you can pay for a full year directly online. We invite those who can contribute to this local news source to consider becoming paid subscriber or sponsor. We will always remain free to read regardless of subscription.

Community, Services

Unified Library Schedule

On December 1st, all Multnomah County library locations will adopt a unified schedule to offer consistent services for patrons and streamline employee scheduling. All branches and the library’s contact center will serve the public from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. The primary schedule shifts two hours later on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, from noon to 8 p.m. On Sundays, the locations operate from noon to 6 p.m.

This update is the first large-scale adjustment to the Multnomah County Library system’s operating hours since 2013. Most locations will continue to provide a comparable quantity of operating hours, just with a modification to open and close times. However, the Contact Center staff that assist users by phone, email, or chat will start later to match library hours.

These updates are not part of any budget reduction efforts, and library management does not anticipate any associated changes to employee hours or pay. For many patrons, this will simplify their library system use, focusing on geographic access instead of traveling to alternate locations because a closer branch is closed. Library visitors will first see updated signs and public information reflecting the changed schedules on Sunday, December 1st, 2024.

Article and photos by

Jacob Loeb

Promotion: Help keep independent news accessible to the community. Montavilla News has a Patreon account for monthly support or you can pay for a full year directly online. We invite those who can contribute to this local news source to consider becoming paid subscriber or sponsor. We will always remain free to read regardless of subscription.

Community, Services

VOA Oregon Rents Space at Jessup University’s Multnomah Campus

At the end of October, Volunteers of America Oregon (VOA Oregon) began using two buildings at Jessup University’s Multnomah Campus for its residential treatment for women with children. This partnership leverages surplus dormitory space at the faith-based higher education institution to support the behavioral health and recovery service provider. Thanks to the new partnership, students enrolled at Jessup will have an opportunity to expand social services, healthcare, and counseling internship activities with hands-on experience in a behavioral health setting on campus. Additionally, VOA Oregon will benefit from a modern facility in close proximity to its future campus east of the college.

VOA Oregon leased Memorial Hall and the Ambassador Apartments on the northwest corner of Jessup University’s campus at 8435 NE Glisan Street. Program operators will house participants in designated areas separated from academic buildings by a fence. VOA Oregon staff will have office spaces onsite, with additional rooms for therapy, counseling, and program-related group meetings. The center provides trauma-informed integrated chemical dependency and mental health services in a residential setting to women. Women and their young children can temporarily live at the facility, removed from triggering environments, so they can effectively receive individual and group counseling, medication management, naturopathic health care, and case management. Program participants will also have access to education, training, and other resources through this move to the Montavilla campus.

VOA’s future site rendering looking northwest, courtesy VOA Oregon created by Opsis Architecture

The partnership between the two institutions began with VOA Oregon utilizing Jessup’s catering services for lunch and dinner. Multnomah University experienced a declining student population in its dormitories for several years. When they joined Jessup University in 2023, new leadership looked for ways to effectively utilize school resources to fit the institution’s educational and social goals. That expanded from commercial kitchen capacity to hosting VOA Oregon’s woman-focused program. University food service will continue when program participants move to the campus, and the educational partnership will likely strengthen after VOA builds its facility on the neighboring block of NE Glisan Street.

Leaders at Jessup University’s Multnomah Campus feel that VOA Oregon’s commitment to helping people reach their full potential aligns with their student’s values of service and compassion. The organizations believe everyone deserves access to health care, housing, and supportive services. This partnership also introduces VOA Oregon services to Montavilla, several years ahead of the organization’s expansion into the community on the group’s six-acre site at 8815 NE Glisan Street. Jessup staff created a frequently asked questions section on the University’s website. They plan to update this resource with new information to keep students and the community updated on the partnership. Both institutions expressed a commitment to being good neighbors and hope the expanded access to critical behavioral health services for women in recovery will positively impact participants’ lives and the greater community’s overall health.

Article and photo by

Jacob Loeb

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