Mission staff and Burnside exterior renovation project managers Chris Hall and Dave Ketah.
Our Burnside Shelter has gone through radical change in the last couple years. In 2013, we renovated the entire second and third floors of the building to make space for dozens of men and women in our transitional Link and Connect programs. We also transformed our chapel into a community center to give our homeless friends a safe, relational place to be during the day.
This year, we’re excited for some brand new changes. Renovations will help our physically disabled guests more easily navigate our facility. We’re also looking forward to having twice the cold food storage space for this upcoming holiday season thanks to a brand new refrigerator/freezer unit. And, for the first time ever, we have a full HVAC system in our overnight guest dormitory that sleeps dozens of people each night.
And in the last few months, we’ve been updating the outside of the building to reflect the positive improvements we’ve made to the interior. We’ve repaired the concrete and covered it with a fresh coat of top quality paint to brighten up the building that so many people call home.
“In a very simple way, we’re improving the look of our facility,” says Dave Ketah, our facilities manager. Â “It’s going to look much cleaner, and will be more durable and energy-efficient. But it goes so much deeper than that.”
Our Burnside Shelter truly is a lighthouse of hope for hurting, homeless people wandering the streets of Portland. Having a facility that literally displays a fresh, bright appearance is important as a first impression to people looking to turn their lives around. And we couldn’t do it without help from our friends in the community like you!
“We depend on some significant discounts with contractors. There’s been so many generous people and organizations who have made this work even possible. And our building already looks dramatically better!”
We encourage all of our supporters to take a tour of our facility to see the impact of what their gifts are doing. So if you haven’t had a tour of the Mission, call 503-746-9646 to set one up today!
As we gear up for the holiday season, we’re incredibly thankful to have compassionate, generous friends like you working alongside us. To make a donation today, please visit www.PortlandRescueMission.org/Give.