The 30 residents of Hazelnut Grove invited the public last weekend into their shared living space, built quasi-legally on city property across from a rail yard in North Portland.
Groove in the Grove -- a day of free food and live music -- was quite possibly the first festival ever hosted by a homeless camp.
Then again, I'm not sure homeless camp is the best way to describe this community, tucked out of sight near the intersection of North Greeley and Interstate avenues.
Residents here don't consider themselves homeless. Although some, as they say, are "houseless," Hazelnut Grove is their home.
Residents have constructed sleeping pods and tiny houses, share a cooking and dining space and have a sense of safety, dignity and pride in what they've built. Some housing advocates see this village model as a less expensive and more effective alternative to a $100 million homeless shelter project proposed for a 14-acre Port of Portland property.
People need more than just shelter to rebuild their lives, these advocates argue.
They need community.
To be honest, I had my doubts before visiting Hazelnut Grove. I expected the camp to be dingy and vaguely dangerous, but found it instead filled with brightly colored artwork: paintings, signs, banners and quilts stitched from strips of tarp.
I'm sure residents cleaned up for the visitors, but the space itself was cozy and well maintained. Since the original settlers moved onto the plot of land in October, residents have installed French drains, gravel paths and wooden walkways. Some still live in tents, but others have built tiny homes with a patchwork of donated materials. I saw plants on their windowsills and breezy patio spaces. It felt more like a quirky, makeshift summer camp than a refuge for the homeless.
"They're here building a future," said resident Joe Bennie. "They're here knowing if I contribute to what's going on and help build my house -- and they'll help me build my tiny house -- I have a home, I have permanence, I have something, and I helped do it with my own hands."
The residents of Hazelnut Grove have rules and codes of conduct. Everyone pitches in, whether it's by preparing group meals, taking out the trash or helping build homes.
They've done all this mostly through donations. They have no running water, but the city has given them tacit support by providing fencing, garbage service and a portable toilet.
"Something like Hazelnut Grove is a perfect example of how it can be done correctly," said Jessie Sponberg, an activist and former mayoral candidate who helped organize Saturday's event. "Just free up small chunks of land, put together a loosely organized group and let the perseverance of humanity just shine through."
Desiree Rose, 57, is a petite woman with long gray hair who gets around the camp with the help of a cane. She spent weeks living along the Springwater Corridor trail before moving to Hazelnut Grove in May.
"Don't get me wrong, I liked being alone. I didn't mind it," Rose said. "But being here, in a community of other people who are passionate about the things that I am and people who care about me and are patient with me and who help me... they help me so much just being caring."
Volunteers with the nonprofit group Oregon Tradeswomen are building her a tiny house using supplies donated by the ReBuilding Center in north Portland. It will be a significant step up for Rose, who sleeps in a tent now.
"That will be the only house I'll ever be able to have," she said.
Hazelnut Grove has no long-term arrangements with the city to legally stay on the property. Portland Mayor Charlie Hales, in fact, has said he plans to relocate the camp, although there's been no time frame or new location given.
That's been frustrating for Hazelnut Grove's neighbors, too. Chris Trejbal, board member of the Overlook Neighborhood Association, said the camp today is smaller and more organized than it was last fall, but neighbors remain frustrated by a lack of communication from the city.
"The city needs to be engaging with the neighborhoods on this," he said. "Talk to the neighborhoods, explain it to them, listen to their concerns and address them. And right now, that's not happening."
Trejbal said he wasn't opposed to the premise of a small village for homeless residents, but it should be permitted, regulated and in a different location. That could still be a location in Overlook, he said, but the camp's placement at the bottom of a bluff is difficult for social workers or utility providers to access.
Even so, the conversation left me hopeful that a consensus could be reached between Overlook residents and Hazelnut Grove. The biggest sticking point may be not about location, but about permanence.
While some residents have used Hazelnut Grove as a stepping stone to traditional housing, there are other free spirits who'd be happy to live in this "weird utopia forever," as Sponberg said. How do we best take care of these folks on the margins of society? Villages scattered throughout the metro area could be one solution.
But city councilors seem less interested in villages and more interested in a large shelter complex to be located on industrial Port of Portland property, at Terminal 1.
When I first heard the Terminal 1 shelter idea, I was excited to see the business community step up and endorse the project. But after spending weeks talking with homeless advocates and people who have experienced homelessness, I'm not sure it's the right approach.
Any solutions to the problem of homelessness should include the input of those affected by it, and many of those people do not want to stay in a large shelter. They will feel unsafe. They will feel warehoused. Several folks referred to it as a "concentration camp" to hold people rounded up from the streets.
In contrast, the city could support not homeless camps but low-income villages placed in small plots. Clean, organized, purposefully-sited villages could help break down barriers between the housed and the houseless. Social and mental health workers could visit villages directly and make sure basic needs are being met. Caring for the homeless and the poor could be a responsibility shared throughout the city. Those looking for long-term housing could find a community.
And it would cost far less than $100 million.
-- Samantha Swindler
@editorswindler / 503-294-4031
sswindler@oregonian.com