“On a frigid January morning in Portland, Ore., a tour through Dignity Village follows the same path its residents are required to travel. All were, or are, homeless. Newcomers to this homeless refuge huddle in the warming station, a small portable with photos of smiling former residents and where they are required to stay during a 60-day probationary period. They hope to graduate to a small makeshift home like Karen, a three-month resident whose boisterous laugh carries through the village…’There’s a real sense of pride here, a real sense of community that you don’t find elsewhere,’ she says. Called an “intentional community” by its members and a homeless encampment by outsiders, Dignity Village is a step toward curbing Portland’s skyrocketing homeless population.”
