Future of Family Shelter in Portland

Last evening I sat in on a meeting about the Portland Family Shelter on Chestnut Street. It has been the subject of concern and the council convened to answer some questions: * Is the shelter being used properly for the right families and are state and federal funds for this being collected? *Should the service of providing Family Shelter be discontinued? *If yes, how can we accomplish this? *If no what would the impact be? *What data needs to be collected and presented to make an informed decision about this? My five favorite options were existing real-estate that would make sense economically, logistically, and would meet the Family's needs. I sent them over to to the council for review. I favor these options because they are in existing building that are for sale or are unused and are perfect choices given the needs of the families who will use them.

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