PORTLAND, Ore. -- Through Clackamas County's "point in time" count, they determined there were nearly 100 veterans living on the streets. They set a goal to have all veterans into stable housing by the end of 2019. A new project with the Portland State architecture program, Pickathon Music Fest and community volunteers has them well on their way.
The county asked SRG, a local architecture firm, to design a portable sleeping pod and that design was given to the PSU architecture program. The key SRG contributors were Bethany Gelbrich and Scott Mooney.
The job of the students was to design a stage for the annual Pickathon Music Fest that could be deconstructed with the pieces becoming the trusses for the pods. Clackamas county asked for volunteers to build the pods and with all the help they received, they should have all 30 done by the end of February.
These sleeping pods will be placed in a community which will provide addiction and mental health services, as well as financial planning, resume building and classes on learning a trade. The belief is that by providing a community for the veterans, they will be better able to track and support a group of people that has given so much to all of us.