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About Homelessness

Andrew Hall, Safety/ Health/ Wellness Advocate

We are so proud of our amazing Assistant Director, Andrew Hall, who won the award for Safety/ Health/ Wellness Advocate at last month Governor’s Occupational Safety and Health (GOSH) Conference. OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, held their annual conference, the largest safety and health conference in the Northwest, which honored fourteen people within the state who make safety a priority within the workplace.

Andrew has been with the Mission since 2015 and since that time, has served on the safety committee, created a violence-prevention policy and has provided the training to his staff. He recognizes the importance of safety and health within his work place,

Everything we do hinges upon safety. What we do at Portland Rescue Mission is unique and vastly important… We would not be able to serve our guests unless we first established a safe environment through which we can then offer holistic services.

This can only be accomplished through the training of all staff.

“We must train our staff to make wise decisions that will set the tone for our facility and assist in mitigating potentially dangerous situations, and in turn, we must guide out guests toward engaging with us on safe terms so that all can receive the services we wish to offer.”

Our Burnside Shelter provides 75,000 nights of safe shelter each year, as well as food, showers and clothing to thousands of people who are suffering with homelessness in the Portland area. Andrew understands that it not only takes work, but love, to create an environment that is safe enough for any person who walks through our doors, no matter where they are in life.

“Invest in safety,” Andrew says, “not because it is important or expected, but because you genuinely care about your co-workers and clients. When the holistic well-being of your peers and clients is the center of your work, safety becomes automatic.”

Thank you, Andrew, for all of your hard work at our Burnside Shelter and for providing a safe environment for our neighbors in need!

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