Aloha UMC celebrates opening of Safe Rest Village

After years of dreaming and months of planning, the Safe Rest Village – a temporary pod housing shelter – is open at Aloha United Methodist Church in Oregon.

There are now pallet shelter structures, surrounded by fencing, filling up part of the church’s parking lot, ready to offer immediate shelter to 30 individuals, with heating and cooling installed to protect shelter guests from the elements.

Aloha UMC partnered with Washington County’s Department of Housing Services and shelter operator, Open Door HousingWorks, to develop the project. Aloha UMC is offering the space as Washington County contracts with Open Door HousingWorks to not only manage the shelter but provide case managers to help guests reach long-term housing goals.

This is only a temporary shelter – its projected to be on the church property for two years, at the most – as elected officials and community partners work toward permanent solutions to address the lack of affordable housing not only around Portland, but across the state.

The church will celebrate the opening on Friday, with county officials and community partners, starting at 2 p.m.

Pastor Keren Rodriguez said when Aloha UMC landed in this neighborhood just before then 1970s, few of the houses surrounding them now were built. The church was built on what was a hazelnut plantation and the congregation – long before her time – began dreaming about a large community of worshippers. Over time, that dream shifted.

“We’ve learned more recently that our call was never about the amount of people who showed up for our Sunday services,” she said. “Instead, it was to serve the least among as, as Mathew 25:35 talks about in scripture.”