If you ask Portland Mayor Keith Wilson, he has met his goal to open 1,500 new shelter beds by Dec. 1.

“Today, I am proud to announce that we have met a major goal,” said Wilson in a video, published Monday, where he announced that his office had secured locations and funding for at least 1,500 total new beds.

Yet only 890 of those 1,500 beds are currently open for use.

Wilson announced Monday that he has identified locations for the 610 additional beds — spread across already-operating shelters and city-owned buildings across town. It’s not clear when they will be open to the public. Some of them will become available when the other shelter beds are full.

The final location for these shelter beds may also change as the city is still in negotiations over some potential shelter locations.

Wilson entered office in January with a pledge to end unsheltered homelessness by Dec. 1.

Since then, the total number of people in Multnomah County considered to be unsheltered — meaning living outside or in a vehicle — has risen by more than 1,000. According to county data, nearly 7,500 people in the county are unsheltered.

Wilson’s new shelters are all overnight only, meaning they open at 8 p.m. and close at 6 a.m. There are no social workers on site to help people access housing, health care, or addiction services. These are also all congregate shelters, or large open rooms filled with rows of beds — and little privacy. These types of shelters are cheaper to set up and run than other models.

Hundred of these new beds sit empty each night. In October, the new shelters were at about 53% capacity on average, according to city data. But the city anticipates more visitors as the nights grow colder.

Wilson said that, despite reaching his bed count goal, his work isn’t done. He said he will now focus on increasing housing production, which critics of the mayor’s plan have identified as the missing piece to his plan.

“We cannot grow complacent before our crisis is fully ended,” Wilson said in the Monday video. “We will work with the same tenacity and grit that we have shown to develop our shelter capacity to increase housing production.”

A number of organizations and city leaders who have been critical of Wilson’s plan will hold a rally on Wednesday at City Hall to demand a clearer housing plan.

Wilson will speak about his housing plans at a Thursday council meeting.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/12/01/portland-shelter-beds-homelessness-housing-goal/