St Francis Shelter

St. Francis Shelter has provided temporary housing for homeless families with children in Marion County and Polk County, Oregon since 1987.   St. Francis Shelter’s purpose is to moves families from the crisis of homelessness into stable, safe and long term housing.   

In fiscal year 2014-15, St. Francis Shelter provided safe, temporary housing and professional case management to 34 families living at St. Francis Shelter, including 49 adults and 81 children.  Of those 34 families, 33 families (97%) moved into and remain in safe, permanent housing.   60% of these families increased their income while working with St. Francis Shelter and 26% fewer families are receiving public assistance of any kind.

Families who come to St. Francis Shelter live in fully-furnished, self-contained one or two bedroom apartments.  During the 2014-15 fiscal year, St. Francis Shelter increased its program capacity to serve two additional families for a total of thirteen families units to better serve the needs of families in our community.

Families staying at the shelter are responsible for purchasing their own food and clothing and must demonstrate that they are working towards securing permanent housing and/or employment, and are completing any court-ordered treatment and/or classes while they are here.  Families must also participate in a mandatory savings program, by which they save (via a trust account) a mutually agreed-upon amount of money each month, which is returned to them when they leave the St. Francis Shelter program.  This program element not only builds the habit of saving money each month, but allows them to accumulate their deposit for their permanent housing.

As part of the St. Francis Shelter program, Professional Case Management is provided for each family including financial management, community resource referrals, parenting and child development as well as employment coaching and assistance with securing permanent housing.  Assistance with securing permanent housing includes coaching on presenting to landlords, help assembling housing application packets and support for appealing a rental denial.

In addition, St. Francis Shelter maintains a library that is staffed during after-school hours by volunteers who engage the children in arts and crafts projects, read to them, tutor them and generally provide a safe environment for them to have “kid time.”

St. Francis Shelter has extensive volunteer support with over 5200 volunteer hours provided annually.

A portion of St. Francis Shelter’s apartment units are set aside as low-income rentals. This provides the opportunity for some shelter clients to transition to self-support; provides much-needed affordable housing to people on limited incomes; and also provides rental income for shelter operations.

St. Francis Shelter is located close to public transit and neighborhood schools, although children living at the shelter can attend either a neighborhood school or the school they attended prior to becoming homeless.

St. Francis Shelter also has a community garden on its grounds, to provide clients with training and the ability to raise a portion of their own food.