‘It is more than a building’: Just Compassion’s 60-bed shelter dedicated in Tigard

Published 9:30 am Thursday, March 20, 2025

Eating from a plate of snacks after the formal dedication of Tigard’s new Just Compassion Shelter and Resource Center on Wednesday, March 19, Danielle Leverberg, a homeless woman originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, expressed thanks that the 10,000-square-foot facility had come to fruition.

She said the Tigard nonprofit facility — which currently operates out of a remodeled home next door and offers overnight beds to those in need — has literally kept her alive, providing clothing, food and a place to stay over the last year or so. Leverberg said she watched the shelter go up from her vantage point next door at a time when it was simply a “hole in the ground.”

“The staff at Just Compassion: They’re like family to me,” she said as her eyes welled up with tears. “I mean, they took care of me.”

The new 60-bed shelter formally opens Monday, March 24, when those who overnight in the 1,800-square-foot daytime resource center — a renovated home at 12260 S.W. Hall Blvd. — will walk a few dozen feet and begin using the new year-round shelter at 12264 S.W. Hall Blvd.

The new site will allow pets, offer guests showers, hot meals and case management. It will also offer mental health support from Sequoia Mental Health. Among the highlights of the new building are expansive second-floor sleeping quarters that feature rows of state-of-the-art, bed-bug-proof steel bunk beds and accompanying lockers.

The new Just Compassion building was designed by Urban Patterns, a Portland-based architectural and real estate development firm.

Dignitaries weigh in

on shelter accomplishment

On Wednesday, dozens of state and local officials (including Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek), joined other project partners and well-wishers to completely pack the center’s new dining room to pay tribute to how they reached this point.

“Washington County funded the shelters expansion in part with $9.8 million from voter-approved Metro supportive housing services (SHS) measure,” said a joint statement from Washington County and Metro.

Other funding for the center came from a variety of sources including $4 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding and more than $650,000 in Washington County Community Development Block Grants along with grants from Care Oregon, the Oregon Community Foundation, Home Builders Foundation and the city of Tigard Redevelopment Assistance.

Darla Tillman-Samuelson, Just Compassion of East Washington County board chair, said the nonprofit organization started as a group of people trying to distribute care through various local churches and expand services for the homeless from Tigard’s Foursquare Church, which originally hosted a day shelter. The group eventually found two adjacent houses to serve the community — One of those was converted to the current resource center, the other was torn down to make room for the new shelter.

“I just want you all to know most of all that this building is to serve people, those people we saw, we see, those people we hear, and those people we know,” Tillman-Samuelson said.

Kotek announces progress in adding shelter beds

Kotek explained that the state’s homelessness crisis is a challenge and praised Just Compassion’s ability to house 60 people in the overnight facility, with the ability to house another 40 during winter months next door.

“Those are people who, in some tragic cases, could die if it’s too hot or too cold. This place will be providing that shelter, and that is amazing,” Kotek said. “You all did that to make that happen for people.”

Kotek said under her emergency order, the state is on track to support more than 4,800 new shelter beds, rehouse 3,300 households and prevent another 24,000 households from facing the possibility of being homeless.

Tigard Mayor Heidi Lueb praised the Just Compassion Shelter & Resource Center as well. “It is more than a building; It’s a beacon of hope, it’s a place of safety, and it’s a critical step forward in our collective effort to address houselessness in Tigard,” Lueb said. “It will also benefit our entire community by providing a safe and stable environment for people to access the resources they need to get back on their feet.”

Kathryn Harrington, chair of the Washington County Board of Commissioners, said from May 2020 until today, the county went from having no year-round shelter beds for adults experiencing homelessness to 375 beds. She said Washington County has two more facilities in a construction pipeline.

U.S. Rep. Andrea Salinas of Oregon’s 6th Congressional District said, “By providing people struggling with homelessness a stable, compassionate place to land, along with the services that meet both their immediate and long-term needs, this center will serve as a vital resource in our efforts to address the homeless crisis here in Tigard.”

The Tigard Democrat said her office helped move the new Just Compassion structure forward at a point when a lack of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permitting threatened to delay the project which would have meant the site would not receive the $4 million in ARPA funding.

Metro Council President Lynn Peterson said part of a report she reviewed found that 75% of those who are homeless listed having a sense of belonging and community as being something that was extremely important to them.

“The second thing that they found most important was help navigating services, which many said felt impossible. They don’t want to call a phone number and get put on hold, and they need humans who know them as individuals and care about them,” said Peterson.

Vernon Baker, executive director of Just Compassion of East Washington County, said there have been more than 750 donors who have contributed at some point to Just Compassion. While some have given large donations, he’s also impressed with those who are only able to give 50 cents or $1 on a regular basis, noting that “they cared enough about Just Compassion to even give that and, you see, no small amount is too small because whatever you have to give … we appreciate it and it helps us moving forward.”