Portland could lose more than 950 homeless shelter beds under Mayor Keith Wilson’s proposed budget.

The proposal reflects the lagging support for Wilson’s new emergency shelter system from other local governments. It also represents a swift reversal of the plan Wilson hitched his mayoral campaign to. The closures would be effective July 1 and come as homelessness remains a dominant issue in the Portland metro area.

Wilson entered the mayor’s office in January 2025 with a promise to swiftly open 1,500 new overnight-only shelter beds. Last year, Multnomah County, Metro Regional Government, and the state gave the city tens of millions of dollars to fund that work. But that money has all but disappeared a second year into Wilson’s term.

“This reduction is a result of past reliance on one-time funding,” said Skyler Brocker-Knapp, director of Portland Solutions at a Tuesday budget hearing. “We are just simply not going to receive the same level of funding next year.”

Multnomah County, Metro, and other metro-area counties have all rejected Wilson’s request to continue funding his shelter plan. The state’s housing department has promised over $2 million (Last year, the state gave over $10 million).

Because of these cuts, the city’s shelter program — housed in an office called Portland Solutions — is facing a 30% cut to its current budget. To bridge that gap, Wilson proposes pulling funds from 951 shelter beds.

Some of these proposed closures have already been announced. Here’s every location where Wilson’s proposes making shelter cuts:

Northrup Shelter: The city has already announced plans to close this 200-bed overnight-only shelter in the Pearl District.

Centennial Shelter: The city also previously announced plans to shutter this overnight-only 96-bed shelter in this outer East Portland neighborhood

Weidler Safe Rest Village: Previously called the BIPOC Village, this pod shelter was created to support homeless people of color. Wilson’s budget suggests removing all 38 pods. The city aims to move some of those pods to the North Portland Road Safe Rest Village.

Reedway Safe Rest Village: This Lents Neighborhood pod village will close and lose 156 shelter pods. The city proposes also moving many of these pods to North Portland’s village.

North Portland Road Safe Rest Village: To accommodate the Reedway and Weidler pods, this St. John’s shelter would remove parking space for RVs that currently provide shelter to 91 people. On Tuesday, several city councilors raised concerns about relocating other pods to this site, which will grow the total pod count to around 275. “I want to add my voice to the echo of voices who are concerned about the size of that North Portland space,” said Councilor Elana Pirtle-Guiney. “Especially given that this is a location that is a pretty significant distance from services.”

CityTeam Grand: In October, Wilson announced that the city would pay for 80 shelter beds at the privately-run shelter in the city’s Central Eastside. According to CityTeam Executive Director Lance Orton, that will effectively shutter the shelter, which has offered meals, shelter, and work for people experiencing homelessness on SE Grand Ave. for over 25 years. Orton told OPB the organization will be focusing on establishing its new, privately-funded Old Town shelter.

SE Grand Recovery: Down the street from CityTeam, Transition Projects, Inc. runs a 140-bed city-funded shelter for people in recovery. Wilson’s budget suggests closing 40 of those beds.

“Flex” shelter beds: Part of Wilson’s shelter plan created financial reserves to use on emergency shelter beds if needed. That “flex bed” money could quickly open 250 additional shelter beds. His budget plan cuts that resource.

Wilson’s budget does propose some new shelter beds, funded by $30 million that the city historically shared with Multnomah County to run county shelters. That includes adding five beds to SW Naito Safe Rest Village, and 90 to the River District Navigation Center, a shelter previously run by Multnomah County that the county can no longer fund.

It’s not immediately clear how the city plans to help people who may be losing pod shelter beds they relied on. There are few shelter options — Multnomah County is considering cutting 600 of its shelter beds due to its own budget shortfalls.

At the Tuesday meeting, Councilor Loretta Smith asked Portland Solutions staff if they plan to keep relying on temporary funding sources to pay for city shelters.

“The question is, are we going to have the same problem next year?” Smith asked.

Wilson, who oversees the city’s revenue and spending, didn’t attend Tuesday’s meeting. Brocker-Knapp said that yes, she expects to “keep having the same conversation” until the city finds some kind of ongoing revenue.

If city council approves Wilson’s plan as-is in early June, all of these shelter beds would likely shutter by the end of June.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/05/12/portland-mayor-budget-950-shelter-beds-could-be-lost/