PORTLAND Oregon (KPTV) – After nearly closing its doors due to a lack of funding, the Bybee Lakes Hope Center has recovered and plans to expand its services.

The Bybee Lakes Hope Center provides more than just a safe place to sleep for people experiencing homelessness. Staff are trained to help people recover from traumatic events and prepare their participants for success by creating individual recovery plans.

“One of our main pillars is being trauma informed,” said Mark Davis, CEO of the Bybee Lakes Hope Center.

The building was originally built to be a correctional facility. It was later converted to become the Bybee Lakes Hope Center, a trauma-informed transitional housing center designed to help people experiencing homelessness.

Davis told FOX 12 that everything in the building was designed to help its participants, even the colors on the walls.

“They (the designers) looked at studies on autistic children and what impacts color had on those children,” he said.

According to Davis, the majority of participants at the center are seniors. The second largest demographic group is women with children. Thus, the center partners with the YMCA to offer childcare, which allows parents to obtain the resources they need.

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“That way, parents are working on what they need to work on to rebuild those life skills, but also so that kids can work on the social and emotional skills that they’re lacking. »

The Bybee Lakes Hope Center has served more than 1,000 homeless people in Portland. But in 2023, the company lost funding and almost completely closed its doors.

“We appealed to Multnomah County to let them know that we have been negatively impacted and that if they do not pay some of the SHS taxes that they have, we will have to close our doors in September,” he said. Davis said. said.

Fortunately, the center was able to establish a new partnership with Multnomah County. According to the Bybee Lakes Hope Center, the county has agreed to fund 175 beds. Davis told FOX 12 it costs about $55 per bed per day.

Through its new partnership with the county, the center said it is working to expand its services, reduce costs and become even more accessible to people in need.

“…We are working as hard as we can to be able to help people who are homeless and we want to do more,” Davis said.

To learn more about the Bybee Lake Hope Center or to make a donation, Click here.

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