Downtown Portland mental health center for homeless opening in fall

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Millions of federal dollars are going into a new behavioral health resource center in downtown Portland to help the homeless.

Multnomah County bought the building on Southwest Park Avenue and the parking lot next door for $5 million and is spending millions more on renovating it.

Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, along with congresswoman Bonamici, toured the project underway after securing over $3 million for an outdoor plaza as part of the project.

The resource center will provide laundry, showers, meals, healthcare and mental health services, drug use treatment and peer support along with emergency shelter and temporary housing in a five-story building.

Part of the efforts is a peer-run center staffed by people who are no longer homeless. The focus is on long-term homeless and those with mental health issues.

The center is supposed to open this fall.

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