PMC members attend Village Support Network Training

On any given night in Portland about 700 families are experiencing homelessness.* Families in homeless shelters are included in that number. When in shelter, families have a lot of support through housing specialists, social workers, volunteers, etc. Families in shelters like Goose Hollow and Common Cup are often housed within 3 months of entering shelter. Yet, many of these families will experience homelessness again due to the lack of available support from our city’s social agencies. This is where Village Support Network comes in. In this program families are partnered with 4-6 people from a faith community who walk beside them for six months as move into their home, go through job training, find a job, enroll children in new schools, make community connections and so on. On Sunday December 7, eight from PMC attended the Village Support Network Training in preparation for walking beside a family who is moving from shelter to housing. As this Village Support Team begins it’s journey, be on the lookout how you can support the family and the team.


Rachel Ringenberg Miller


*Information comes from the 2014 Homelessness Point-in-Time count