Documenting Mutual Aid in Portland
Our mission for 2022 is to highlight all the community efforts happening behind the scenes that supplement city programs & funding.
It's almost the new year, and we're jumping into writing about mutual aid in Portland to document community efforts & highlight important issues overlooked by local mainstream media.
JOHS Supply Runs
We'll be documenting our coordination with the Multnomah County Joint Office of Homeless Services and a few community groups working hard to distribute supplies to homeless camps, shelters, and people in need throughout Portland during a chilly and unpredictable 2021-22 winter season.
Our main activity for the last few months has consisted of picking up supplies by appointment at the downtown JOHS office and taking them to MA hubs, where they are then efficiently distributed throughout Portland.
This allows us to have a clear picture of where the city's supplies are lacking and buy whatever additional items are needed, such as propane, blankets, and N95 masks which are often unavailable from JOHS.
Halospace will be building a MA hub of its own in the Lents neighborhood in Q1 '22, where we plan to also host a PDX Free Fridge and support community building activities as a fledgling non-profit maker space, which will serve to supplement the MA resources we'll be providing.
Stay tuned for more updates, but for now:
Happy New Year!
Last updated at 11:01 p.m. on Friday, December 31st, 2021
Images
JOHS supplies from 21-12-29 #1
Warm clothes & warming supplies, tents, navy blankets, sleeping bags, and hygiene producs.
JOHS supplies from 21-12-29 #2
Boxes & bottles of water -- excess is sent to Warm Springs.
JOHS supplies from 21-12-29 #3
The best way to use a garage. Not pictured -- thousands more water bottles spilling out into the yard, with thousands more still needed.