Portland could lose more than 950 homeless shelter beds under Mayor Keith Wilson’s proposed budget.
The proposal reflects the lagging support for Wilson’s new emergency shelter system from other local governments. It also represents a swift reversal of the plan Wilson hitched his mayoral campaign to. The closures could begin as early as July 1 and come as homelessness remains a dominant issue in the Portland metro area.
Wilson entered the mayor’s office in January 2025 with a promise to swiftly open 1,500 new overnight-only shelter beds. Last year, Multnomah County, Metro Regional Government, and the state gave the city tens of millions of dollars to fund that work. But that money has all but disappeared a second year into Wilson’s term.
“This reduction is a result of past reliance on one-time funding,” said Skyler Brocker-Knapp, director of Portland Solutions at a Tuesday budget hearing. “We are just simply not going to receive the same level of funding next year.”…