Have an idea for a creative emergency shelter in Portland? Local government wants to hear your pitch

Portland’s homelessness services bureau is asking community organizations to submit proposals for new emergency shelters for people experiencing homelessness that break the molds of what already exists.

In Multnomah County, 1,300 year-round 24-hour shelter beds already exist, mostly clustered in Portland. Those shelters come in a variety of forms including standard congregate shelters with cots to tiny home villages to sanctioned pod clusters.

But there are still more than 2,000 unsheltered people living on the streets, accounting for about half of the county’s homeless population, according to the most recent official one-week count, conducted in 2019.

The collaborative city-county Joint Office of Homelessness Services posted a request Wednesday seeking creative proposals for indoor or outdoor shelters, ranging from places where people can safely live in their RV, van or car to…