Portland homeless services nonprofit Blanchet House will celebrate the opening of Bethanie’s Room this fall, a new overnight shelter serving women and nonbinary people.
Scott Kerman, Blanchet House executive director, frequently sees a gap in services for women accessing meals at the nonprofit.
“They have had the worst night of their life except the one that is coming and the one after that and after that,” Kerman said. “What progress can people make during the day? They need to sleep at night so they don’t sleep all day.”
While there’s no set opening date, the plan is for Bethanie’s Room to open in October or November at 1015 Northwest 17th Ave. The privately funded shelter will serve up to 75 people per night.
“The plan is to offer referrals from partner agencies and other referral sources while also providing opportunities for other kinds of access, which is trauma-informed,” Kerman said. “We also plan to offer opportunities for hospitals, police and other emergency services to transport women to Bethanie’s Room overnight.”
Research shows getting enough sleep is vital for health, safety and cognitive functioning, according to the National Institutes of Health. However, many women living on the streets don’t sleep at night, taking stimulants to stay awake because of the immediate dangers that meet them in the dark, Kerman said. Vulnerable to being assaulted and robbed, they are scared to fall asleep. Sleep deprivation is a significant barrier to homeless women accessing support services for housing, employment and overall health.
Kerman said staying overnight at the shelter will give guests a chance to get a good night’s sleep so they can think clearly and focus on moving forward with their lives. That can make the difference in finding housing, jobs, health care or treatment, Kerman said.
Bethanie’s story
Blanchet House named the shelter after a longtime guest. Bethanie, known as a talented multi-instrumental musician, was tragically killed in a hit-and-run last August. She was 41 years old.
“Shortly after that, as a team we decided we had to do something,” Kerman said. “Too many women are traumatized and die. They are manipulated, assaulted and trafficked when they show up. If this can save a woman’s life, it’s worth it.”
Bethanie had mental health challenges that emerged in college and she had previously suffered a traumatic brain injury, Kerman said. Her parents are comforted by the fact that she wasn’t completely alone, she was cared for by service providers who knew her. Kerman believes Bethanie’s story represents a lot of women.
Amenities
Bethanie’s Room will most likely have doors open from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. each day. The nonprofit plans to evaluate the flow of the neighborhood and avoid allowing guests to congregate outdoors when it tends to be busy. They will be thoughtful and see how the hours connect with the whole area, Kerman said.
Blanchet House tapped Sera Architects to design the space with a low-key color palette. The interior will feature a trauma-informed design for furniture, walls, lighting and window coverings, Kerman said.
Bethanie’s Room will provide a place to sleep, plus coffee and snacks — but not meals.
Blanchet House is waiting for a city permit for a bathroom remodel so they can hire contractors to add more bathroom capacity. They will also get started on security cameras and electrical work. As they have done for a few years with their meal service, Blanchet House will utilize private security.
“What we do is people-driven, so with anything we do, there’s a person attached,” Kerman said. “We provide time off and benefits for a robust staff, investing in them and their well-being. It’s emotionally and physically draining work. People go into this work because of lived experience which has inspired them. They bring authenticity and perspective not everyone shares who hasn’t walked the journey.”
Staff will work overnight, trained to help clients 365 days a year.
Symbiotic relationship with services
Blanchet House wants to collaborate with other organizations when Bethanie’s Room opens, Kerman said. Since the overnight shelter will not provide additional services, many clients will access services from providers like Rose Haven during the day.
Katie O’Brien is the executive director of Rose Haven, a nearby day shelter providing meals, showers and other services for women, transgender and nonbinary people.
During the pandemic, Rose Haven built a collaboration with Blanchet House when they both stayed open. They ended up in a peer friendship when Blanchet House provided storage for Rose Haven, O’Brien said.
“We are in good communication and Blanchet House wants to understand this demographic well,” O’Brien said. “Their interest in overnight shelter and our support with day shelter go together.”
Rose Haven staff see people who have been up all night and crash during the day, O’Brien said. She agrees with Kerman about the difference a night’s sleep can make, so during the day, clients can address other challenges with clear thinking and decision-making.
“Most women living outside have experienced abuse and come in with trauma from the night before,” O’Brien said. “Those factors make it not reasonable to address challenges. We are excited about the trauma-informed safe space for our guests at night, with people who are trained to help them. They come here to meet with advocates about housing, health, recovery, and a common law center now to help with restraining orders.”
Blanchet House will accept shelter referrals from partners like Rose Haven, Catholic Charities and the Behavior Resource Center. They will also be available for emergency response at night, working with Legacy Hospital, Kerman said. The shelter will have a dedicated phone number for the hospital to connect them with people being discharged in need of shelter.
“Everybody’s journey is unique and our goal is to work with colleague organizations to help shelter clients to advance,” Kerman said. “Building trust is important for moving people to next steps with shelter clients, depending on what they need and other organizations they connect with.”
Funding: private vs. public
Blanchet House has been privately funded for 73 years and will not depend on any type of government funding for Bethanie’s Room, according to the nonprofit. Kerman said it can be challenging to raise money, especially as expenses increase and services expand.
“The benefits include not being tied to the political winds of change,” Kerman said. “As we’ve experienced this year, public funding can shift for lots of reasons, including when the city or the county simply doesn’t have the revenue to sustain it.”
Blanchet House purchased the building for $2.1 million and has budgeted a half million dollars for renovations to get it ready. The budget for the first year of operations will be $1.5 million, Kerman said.
“We are funding Bethanie’s Room with reserves and fundraising specifically for this project, and the response is phenomenal,” Kerman said. “We are grateful for the generosity of people who support us.”
Since COVID, the need for services has grown, according to Kerman. For Blanchet House, things like insurance, food, utilities and hiring a plumber are expensive.
“There’s a lot of advantage to committing to something ourselves,” Kerman said. “We are doing this because we need to, whether we have public funds or not. It’s mission-driven. We don’t want to be in a position with city or county funding and then have that cut after year one. We manage the criteria on how we want to operate; we like being in the driver’s seat.”
Rose Haven and Blanchet House have this in common.
“We’re not dependent on public funding; we both depend on private funding, so we are more nimble and choose partners and collaborate,” O’Brien said. “We both received Supportive Housing Services funding. This represents about 8% of our budget and shows appreciation for our work. We are trusted by philanthropy to do things well. Slow-moving public funding makes it hard to be nimble or think long-term.”
O’Brien predicts homelessness will increase because of federal funding cuts. Rose Haven is open to collaborating with the city on what a response might look like.
“The upside is that we are engined by community for community, and that sends a powerful message about how much the guests we serve are valued by their housed neighbors,” O’Brien said.
Other women’s shelters
There are very few women’s shelters in the Portland area. Jean’s Place in Northeast Portland is a women’s shelter with services and meals. Chestnut Tree Inn Motel shelter on Southeast Stark Street has 56 rooms for women only. Kenton Women’s Village is an alternative shelter with 15 sleeping pods for women.
Kenton Village gets half its funding from Catholic Charities and half from the city of Portland and the Multnomah County Homeless Services Department. Victoria Waldrep is the director of Homeless and Transitional Services for Catholic Charities. Waldrep made some comparisons between private and public funding.
“The difference is in how we report, with less restrictions privately and different reporting,” Waldrep said. “The amount from the city can change.”
Women can sleep at Kenton Village at night or during the day and bring their pets. The shelter supplies refrigerators so guests can store food and cook for themselves.
“We got a grant from Hope for the Homeless with no restrictions on how to use it as long as it benefits women,” Waldrep said. “It is renewable as long as it’s successful. We used it to buy a barbecue so women can cook outside. We want any funds we are given to elevate the quality of life for people who live at the village.”
Good neighbors
As soon as they got the keys to the property, Blanchet House staff planted flowers and cleaned up trash.
“We want to do everything we can to earn our neighbors’ trust and that will happen when we open,” Kerman said. “We want it to be safe and successful for neighbors and clients.”
A report from the Portland Police Bureau shows a decrease in crime in the areas surrounding two of the city’s overnight shelters, SAFES, at 30 SW Second Ave., and Moore Street Shelter, at 5325 N Williams Ave. The comparison was made six months before the shelters opened and six months after. This aligns with Mayor Keith Wilson’s belief that sheltering vulnerable people creates safer neighborhoods.
Street Roots is an award-winning weekly publication focusing on economic, environmental and social justice issues. The newspaper is sold in Portland, Oregon, by people experiencing homelessness and/or extreme poverty as means of earning an income with dignity. Street Roots newspaper operates independently of Street Roots advocacy and is a part of the Street Roots organization. Learn more about Street Roots. Support your community newspaper by making a one-time or recurring gift today.
© 2025 Street Roots. All rights reserved. | To request permission to reuse content, email editor@streetroots.org or call 503-228-5657, ext. 40.
This article appears in September 3, 2025.