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

homeless Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...

people in Portland, Oregon, United States. In the days before Christmas of 2000, a group of individuals living outdoors in Portland established a tent city. It evolved from a group of self-described "outsiders"

squatting Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building, usually residential, that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there ...

a city owned land to a self-regulating, city-recognized

campground A campsite, also known as a campground or camping pitch, is a place used for camping, overnight stay in an outdoor area. In British English, a ''campsite'' is an area, usually divided into a number of pitches, where people can camp overnight u ...

as defined by Portland city code. The encampment is located on a land near Portland International Airport, 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 Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

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 Law of the United States#Federal law, 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 exe ...

(3) membership-based non-profit organization, and is governed by

bylaw A by-law (bye-law, by(e)law, by(e) law), or as it is most commonly known in the United States bylaws, is a set of rules or law established by an organization or community so as to regulate itself, as allowed or provided for by some higher authorit ...

s and a board of directors with an elected

chairman The chairperson, also chairman, chairwoman or chair, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the grou ...

and other corporate officers. 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, hogans, teepees, light wooden

shack A shack (or, in some areas, shanty) is a type of small shelter or dwelling, often primitive or rudimentary in design and construction. Unlike huts, shacks are constructed by hand using available materials; however, whereas huts are usually ru ...

s, or more substantial structures built using principles of ecofriendly

green construction Green building (also known as green construction or sustainable building) refers to both a structure and the application of processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle: from plannin ...

such as strawbale walls and recycled wood.

Light clay Light clay (also light straw clay, light clay straw, slipstraw) is a natural building material used to infill between a wooden frame in a timber framed building using a combination of clay and straw, woodchips or some other lighter material. His ...

straw housing was also built in 2003 as part of the City Repair Project's

Village Building Convergence 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 pub ...

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'' {{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