Portland area to lose more than 1,000 shelter beds

By the numbers: Multnomah County's $4 billion budget cuts 605 beds at shelters across the region, like the Bybee Lakes Hope Center, Laurelwood Center and the Chestnut Tree Inn Motel Shelter.

• The cuts were part of the county's strategy to climb out of a $67 million budget hole for homeless services alone.
• Meanwhile, under a city budget that has yet to be finalized, another 511 beds would be lost as Portland shores up a budget shortfall of more than $160 million.
• Those cuts would impact Northrup Shelter, Weidler Village and Reedway Village, among others.

Flashback: One of Mayor Keith Wilson's major campaign promises was to end unsheltered homelessness by adding shelter beds.

• He declared a victory of sorts in December after he hit his self-imposed goal of setting up 1,500 new shelter beds, but now a third of those beds are expected to be cut.

Yes, but: Commissioners sought to blunt the impact of the cuts by setting aside $6 million from the general fund to help transition people from shelters to permanent housing,

• $1 million of that is dedicated to helping find housing for people in shelters slated for closure.

• Commissioners said they hoped that would free more shelter beds.

What they're saying: "At a time when our community is experiencing historically high levels of homelessness, this proposal would significantly increase unsheltered homelessness overnight," Clifton Roberts, spokesperson for the nonprofit Transition Projects, told KGW.

• "We are calling on our elected officials for a plan that prevents hundreds of people from being pushed out on the streets."

The bottom line: For people who use the shelters, the loss of beds could leave them with few alternatives.

• "There is really no place else I can go to," Michael, a guest at the Clark Center Shelter in the Central Eastside, told KGW.