Salvation Army's Harbor Light

Shelter in Portland faces

funding crisis

    PORTLAND — While a woman waits on the sidewalk with her 6-month-old child and a toddler, Lt. Ron Owens, director of The Salvation Army’s Harbor Light Shelter, agonizes over his inability to offer the help she needs.
   “We simply don’t have the staff to provide for her and her children,” says Owens, speaking from his small office. “We have no money in our budget for the caseworkers and the staff that will help this woman end her cycle of homelessness.”
    While the Harbor Light Shelter currently has the space to house more families, the staff is already stretched to capacity, with no money to provide for overtime or to hire more caseworkers and staff. The limited staff necessarily limits the number of people that can be served by the Harbor Light. While the Harbor Light offers a full range of social services, it can only do so if it has the staff to provide those services.
    When asked if the woman and her young children will be turned away and be without shelter, Owens responded with an adamant “No! If we have any space whatsoever, they will not sleep in the street and they will not go hungry. But that is just a band-aid and is not providing real help, a real solution to her problems.”
    As traditional community funding sources evaporate — after more than 40 years of support The Salvation Army Harbor Light was recently denied funding by the United Way — the lack of such funding has made an immediate impact.
    Plans for hiring the needed staff have been tabled and hopes of providing for the case management of homeless families are gone.
    A fixture in Portland since 1896, the Harbor Light Shelter at 30 S.W. Second St. can house up to 198 men, women and families. In the winter months, when the chapel is opened, it can house 298.
    The Harbor Light Shelter offers comprehensive help for people caught in the cycle of homelessness. With case management, health services, counseling, assessments, and social service resources, Harbor Light offers a real opportunity for people to become independent and productive again.    The cost of offering all of this help, plus shelter and food, is $35 per family per night, whether that family is large or small.
    The woman waiting on the sidewalk will wait for shelter during the day, come in at night, eat and feed her children, then go back out again to wait for a solution to her circumstances. Owens will keep trying to find the funding for the staff and caseworkers that can help her. At the Harbor Light Shelter, hopefully, the two will meet.
    John Sebby, executive director of development and public relations for The Salvation Army’s Cascade Division, told Christian News Northwest that according to a recent Oregonian report, the United Way has moved from “traditional core agency support to a competitive process” that allows more non-profit agencies to receive funds.
   “We are very grateful for the more than 40 years of funding from United Way,” said Sebby. “We will have to increase reaching out to the individuals and businesses that have always supported us.”
    In reponse to the United Way’s funding change, the Salvation Army is emphasizing a “Corporate Philanthropy Partnership” program that matches companies’ community commitment with sponsorship opportunities in The Salvation Army, said Sebby. Designed to fit businesses of any size, it creates new relationships or expands existing relationships, with volunteer options, in-kind support and program sponsorships.
    To donate to the Harbor Light Shelter, phone Sebby at 503-239-1202 or send gifts to: The Salvation Army, 1785 N.E. Sandy Blvd, Portland, OR 97232. Designate the donation to the Harbor Light Shelter.