The Office of the Governor of the State of Oregon
05/15/2026 | Press release | Archived content
5/15/2026: WeShine PDX 5th Birthday Remarks
WeShine PDX Remarks
Happy fifth birthday, WeShine PDX! Thank you for having The First Lady and me here to celebrate this milestone. Five years, three micro villages, and countless lives changed. That is what happens when dedicated Oregonians refuse to accept that homelessness is unsolvable and instead roll up their sleeves and get to work.
I had the honor of speaking at the opening of your third village, and it's wonderful to be back celebrating with you. What you've built here matters as not just a physical space, but as community that provides dignity and gives people hope.
Homelessness is a challenge as complex as the people experiencing it, and there's no such thing as one-size-fits-all solution. We have a lot of work to do to, which is why it's so important to both recognize and celebrate our wins.
When I came into office, over 20,000 Oregonians were experiencing homelessness. It was clear that we had a humanitarian and economic crisis in our state. And we had to make big, bold moves - and fast.
On my first day in office, I declared a statewide emergency. With the legislature's partnership and the work of local partners like WeShine, we created a statewide shelter system grounded in regional coordination. Allowing our diverse communities to deliver services to their neighbors in the ways that worked best for them.
Across the state, with partners like everyone in this room, my homelessness emergency response provided funding for thousands of shelter beds, rehousing over 5,500 Oregonians, which represents more than 1 in 4 people that were experiencing homelessness on my first day in office.
The work we've done together is a strong start but it's only the beginning. The urgency remains and we have more work to do together. Despite a difficult budget environment, we remain unrelenting in our goal: ensuring every Oregonian has a safe place to sleep and build a life.
The Oregonians walking through WeShine's doors are getting a chance to start on their journey toward stability, toward opportunity.
You are proof that this work can be done with compassion, in the community, and deliver results for those in need. You've shown what's possible when we center dignity in our response to homelessness. You've created spaces where people aren't just surviving - they're rebuilding.
So, thank you. Here's to many more years and to the countless Oregonians whose lives will be changed because of the work that you do.
The Office of the Governor of the State of Oregon published this content on May 15, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on June 12, 2026 at 23:57 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]