East County engagement favors distributed shelter services; Multnomah County reviews Cook Plaza options

At a Multnomah County Board of Commissioners briefing, Commissioner Vince Jones Dixon on behalf of District 4 presented findings from a 90-day pause and community engagement about the planned East County Homeless Resource Center at Cook Plaza, saying the process showed East County residents want homeless services distributed across the district rather than concentrated in Rockwood and Gresham.

The engagement, led by Jones Dixon’s office with Homeless Services Department staff, involved listening sessions, a map exercise and a follow-up survey of 44 participants representing neighbors, city and county staff, service providers, faith-based organizations and people with lived experience. Ashley Graff, strategy and policy director for Commissioner Jones Dixon, summarized three main findings: priority location criteria (accessibility and safety, avoidance of concentrated siting in Gresham/Rockwood, caution about siting near schools, and siting where need exists); priority community impacts to mitigate (safety and livability concerns, credible and accountable operators); and priority service needs (family shelter, upstream prevention, navigation services and a visible day center).

Jones Dixon framed the engagement with a personal story about a neighbor he had met while serving on the Gresham City Council, saying, “This work must always be about people, not just programs or buildings, about dignity and about…