Wes' Story
'It's been a journey.'
Participants find path to stability at newly opened Delta Park Shelter.
For Wes, one of the first participants at Multnomah County’s newly opened Delta Park Shelter, the program has offered a valuable place to find stability.
A converted motel in North Portland, the shelter opened in spring 2025. It’s operated by Sunstone Way, with funding provided by the Supportive Housing Services Measure and the Homeless Services Department.
With 60 rooms, the 24/7 shelter offers comprehensive wraparound services aimed at supporting people experiencing homelessness as they stabilize, heal and move toward permanent housing.
Those wraparound services — tailored to his needs — are helping Wes find a path to housing that works for him.
‘You lose yourself’
Wes said he’s cycled in and out of homeless services over the past 15 years. He’s lived in shelters, sober homes and other housing, but kept ending up back where he started. Wes said he first fell into homelessness after facing jail time and having no other places to go upon release.
“It was a mix of using drugs, and not just that, personal choices I was making. I was putting my safety and well-being at risk,” he said.
“After 15 years of homelessness,” he said, “you lose yourself.”
Sunstone Way offers support
Getting connected to Sunstone Way, staying first at a congregate shelter they operate, was a huge step forward. But while the congregate setting can work well for many people, it wasn’t a good fit for Wes. Happily, he built strong connections with shelter employees who ended up being his advocates and helping him find other shelter options that better fit his needs.
Pandemic funding and the Supportive Housing Services Measure have helped Multnomah County and partners not just develop, but also significantly expand, motel and village-style shelters in recent years. Those models serve people who might not have succeeded in traditional congregate shelters, helping them thrive. Overall, since 2021, the number of people served in Multnomah County shelters month by month has doubled.
“I advocated for him,” said Ndem Nkem, the behavioral health lead at the Delta Park Shelter, who’s worked with Wes at multiple Sunstone shelters. “I knew the congregate space would not be good for him.”
First, Nkem helped Wes move to the Multnomah Safe Rest Village, which Nkem said was a much better setting for Wes. “Through MSRV, I feel like he got a little more stability, and added more tools into his toolkit,” Nkem said. “It was such a huge difference and shift being there.”
When the Delta Park Shelter opened, Nkem then helped Wes move there, seeing it as the next step on Wes’ path to housing.
“We want to meet people where they’re at,” Nkem said. “The next thing is finding housing that works for him and fits good for him, and that way he still feels that wraparound support.”
For now, Wes is finding peace at the shelter, and taking steps toward positive change. “It’s been nice. It’s been a journey,” Wes said. “I’m in my bed. I made it.”
