Dignity Village is a city-recognized legal encampment of an estimated 60 homeless people in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. In the days before Christmas of 2000, a group of individuals living outdoors in Portland established a

tent city A tent city is a temporary housing facility made using tents or other temporary structures. State governments or military organizations set up tent cities to house evacuees, refugees, or soldiers. UNICEF's Supply Division supplies expandable te ...

. It evolved from a group of self-described "outsiders" squatting a city owned land to a self-regulating, city-recognized campground as defined by Portland city code. The encampment is located on a land near

Portland International Airport Portland International Airport is a joint civil–military airport and the largest airport in the U.S. state of Oregon, accounting for 90% of the state's passenger air travel and more than 95% of its air cargo. It is within Portland's city l ...

, and has elected community officials and constructed crude but functional cooking, social, electric, and sanitary facilities.

History

Dignity village was founded by eight houseless persons who pitched five tents on public land.CNN
The squatters then picked up significant media coverage and popular support. It was established in the Sunderland neighborhood near the Portland Airport. The group agreed to pay $2,000 in monthly rent, $17,500 per year for toilets and over $5,000 per year for garbage services. Repeated attempts to shut down the campsite were rebuffed by the Portland City Council. It then guaranteed the community's existence through at least 2010. In March 2019, a tiny house exploded at the encampment from its occupant using a leaking propane tank inside the structure. The 8' x 10' structure was destroyed, according to firefighters. A man living in it was injured.

Organization

Dignity Village is incorporated in Oregon as a

501(c) A 501(c) organization is a nonprofit organization in the federal law of the United States according to Internal Revenue Code (26 U.S.C. § 501(c)) and is one of over 29 types of nonprofit organizations exempt from some federal income taxes. ...

(3) membership-based non-profit organization, and is governed by bylaws and a board of directors with an

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population ...

chairman and other

corporate officer Corporate titles or business titles are given to corporate officers to show what duties and responsibilities they have in the organization. Such titles are used by publicly and privately held for-profit corporations, cooperatives, non-profit or ...

s. Membership is by application review. Dignity Village states that membership is not limited "based on religion, race, sex, sexual orientation, handicap, age, lifestyle choice, previous (criminal) record or economic status." Because past criminal convictions are not a negative criterion for membership, and because of dangers presented by continuing construction, children are not allowed to reside in the community. Continued membership is dependent upon following the community's rules of behavior, contained in their membership agreement: # No violence toward yourself or others. # No illegal substances or alcohol or paraphernalia on the premises or within a one-block radius. # No stealing. # Everyone contributes to the upkeep and welfare of the village and works to become a productive member of the community. # No disruptive behavior of any kind that disturbs the general peace and welfare of the village. Membership size varies and is limited by the physical size of the available space at the city yard site. As of January 28, 2016, approximately 60 residents made their home at Dignity Village.

Housing

Designated by the Portland City Council as a transitional housing campground, Dignity Village falls under specific State of Oregon building codes governing campgrounds. This provides a legal zoning status. Lack of building codes has shut down many other shanty town/tent cities in the past. Housing in the Dignity Village community previously consisted of tents,

hogan A hogan ( or ; from Navajo ' ) is the primary, traditional dwelling of the Navajo people. Other traditional structures include the summer shelter, the underground home, and the sweat house. A hogan can be round, cone-shaped, multi-sided, or squ ...

teepees A tipi , often called a lodge in English, is a conical tent, historically made of animal hides or pelts, and in more recent generations of canvas, stretched on a framework of wooden poles. The word is Siouan, and in use in Dakhótiyapi, Lakȟó ...

, light wooden shacks, or more substantial structures built using principles of ecofriendly green construction such as strawbale walls and recycled wood. Light clay straw housing was also built in 2003 as part of the

City Repair Project The City Repair Project is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Portland, Oregon. Its focus is education and activism for community building. The organizational motto is "The City Repair Project is group of citizen activists creating pu ...

's Village Building Convergence.

Community services

Among the services offered by Dignity Village for their residents include: * Access to television (limited) * On-site veterinary and medical care on a scheduled basis by volunteer doctors and nursesThe Olympian

Gallery

References

External links

Official site

"Dignity Village"
at ''

The Oregon Encyclopedia The ''Oregon Encyclopedia of History and Culture'' is a collaborative encyclopedia focused on the history and culture of the U.S. state of Oregon. Description The encyclopedia is a project of Portland State University's History Department, thOreg ...

'' {{coord, 45.591398, -122.636312, type:landmark_region:US-OR_source:googlemapssatellite, name=Sunderland Yard site, display=title 2000 establishments in Oregon Campgrounds in the United States Homelessness in Oregon Homelessness organizations Shanty towns in the United States Sunderland, Portland, Oregon Homeless shelters in the United States Populated places established in 2000