© Nicole Hayden | The Oregonian/oregonlive.com/TNS Tall fences surround the Urban Alchemy tent site in Los Angeles, pictured on January 26, 2023.

Portland announced last week that Urban Alchemy, a California-based nonprofit, will manage the city’s first mass tent encampment, slated to open by the summer in the Central Eastside.

But during a tense information session Friday afternoon, neighbors challenged officials from the city and nonprofit, questioning if Urban Alchemy was up to the task of running the site and raising concerns that the mass encampment wouldn’t truly address Portland’s homelessness crisis.

The neighborhood association, The Brooklyn Action Corps, hosted the virtual information session. Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and Urban Alchemy’s chief of government and community affairs Kirkpatrick Tyler were on deck to answer questions. Only a few residents were invited to speak during the meeting. Many other residents voiced their concerns using a chat feature.

© Nicole Hayden | The Oregonian/oregonlive.com/TNS Neighbors said this patch of sidewalk was formerly filled with unsanctioned tents prior to the Urban Alchemy tent site popping up in Los Angeles, pictured on January 26, 2023.

The 100-tent site will be the first of what Wheeler eventually hopes will grow into six large encampments aimed at combating unsheltered homelessness. It will be located at 1490 SE Gideon Street, a location just north of Powell Boulevard and south of railroad tracks near Southeast 13th Place.

Urban Alchemy has said it will cost $5.1 million annually to run the site, not including the price of construction, utilities or daily meals for clients. That is a monthly price tag of more than $4,000 per tent.

Skyler Brocker-Knapp, Wheeler’s senior policy advisor, described the mass encampment plan as a “housing first” model because the goal will be to eventually help people access affordable housing.

© Nicole Hayden | The Oregonian/oregonlive.com/TNS The outside view of Urban Alchemy's Los Angeles tent site, pictured on Two Urban Alchemy employees drive to the Lincoln Safe Sleep site in Los Angeles on January 26, 2023..

Neighbor Alessandra Silver pushed back on that assertion, commenting, “so not housing first, then.”

“Housing first” is a term used within the social services sector that generally means placing someone experiencing homelessness into a temporary or permanent apartment, home or motel unit and then working through the individual’s barriers, such as employment, mental health or substance treatment, once they are safely under a roof.

Tyler told residents that the nonprofit’s internal data shows it has been successful at other sites. He did not elaborate on what metrics he was referring to.

In Los Angeles, Urban Alchemy hasn’t been particularly successful at helping people transition to permanent housing. As of Feb 6, fewer than 2% of people – five out of 261 – served at the Los Angeles tent site run by Urban Alchemy had transitioned to permanent housing, while 11 had moved to different shelters, seven had been reunited with family, three had moved to short-term housing, 115 had returned to the street and 35 had left to unknown places, according to data provided by the nonprofit to The Oregonian/OregonLive.

© Nicole Hayden | The Oregonian/oregonlive.com/TNS Barbed wire fences surround the Urban Alchemy tent site in Los Angeles, pictured on January 25, 2023.

“This camp is being used to remove houseless folks from the public eye instead of actually helping them,” wrote Bianca Riggs, another forum participant, in response to the lack of success rate. “Houseless experts are speaking out against this but the mayor doesn’t care to listen to their concerns.”

© Nicole Hayden | The Oregonian/oregonlive.com/TNS A wall of information at the Urban Alchemy tent site in Los Angeles, pictured on January 25, 2023. Tall barbed wire fences separates residents from the surrounding neighborhood.

Tyler has said part of what can delay people from transitioning to housing is the lack of available affordable units.

Given the monthly cost of each tent, many forum participants also questioned why the city wouldn’t spend that money to place unsheltered individuals in apartments.

“That’s more than I’ve paid for a one-bedroom apartment in Portland,” commented participant Maria Oto.

Wheeler said those monthly costs don’t simply cover the cost for people to live in a tent but also include the costs of having staff on site 24 hours a day, laundry, trash collection and other services.

© Nicole Hayden | The Oregonian/oregonlive.com/TNS Residents use shared toilets and showers at the Urban Alchemy tent site in Los Angeles, pictured on January 25, 2023.

However, Cody Bowman, Wheeler’s spokesperson, said contract services, such as mental health and substance use treatment, and other supportive services provided by the county are not included in the cost estimates.

Local homeless nonprofits have consistently questioned whether tents are adequate shelter, especially with the threat of severe winter weather and rain. Forum participants brought up similar concerns.

“A tent is still a tent, no matter the weather,” wrote Lisa Quiriconi.

Tyler has previously said Urban Alchemy will work with tent residents to add tarps and other barriers to secure tents during poor weather. During extreme storms, he said it is possible that residents would temporarily be moved to an indoor warming center.

© Nicole Hayden | The Oregonian/oregonlive.com/TNS The Urban Alchemy tent site in Los Angeles, pictured on January 25, 2023.

Multiple neighbors also commented on why they didn’t receive any outreach from the city or Urban Alchemy informing them about the project prior to the city announcing the nonprofit would manage the site. Wheeler said mailers were sent out to residents.

Gavin Bramley said since residents weren’t approached about the project, it already has broken trust between neighbors and the city.

Multiple neighbors also questioned how residents of the tent site would be kept safe in light of lawsuits that have been brought against Urban Alchemy.

The nonprofit has been the subject of numerous lawsuits, including several it settled that were brought by employees who alleged they weren’t paid fairly or given enough training for things like de-escalation and mental health crisis response, Anthony Prince, a lawyer who represented residents of a former Urban Alchemy site, told The Oregonian/OregonLive in January.

© Nicole Hayden | The Oregonian/oregonlive.com/TNS Tarvis Gray eats lunch at the open air cafeteria at the Urban Alchemy tent site in Los Angeles, pictured on January 25, 2023.

Tyler told residents other lawsuits against the nonprofit had been dropped because allegations were untrue.

However, in 2022, about 30 campers who lived at a city-run tent site operated by Urban Alchemy in Sausalito, a Bay Area city just north of San Francisco, sued the city alleging that an Urban Alchemy worker had supplied campers with and used methamphetamines while working at the site and that another worker had sexually assaulted a woman living at the site.

A federal judge barred Sausalito from renewing its contract with Urban Alchemy and banned two of the nonprofit’s workers from ever going to the site again.

Additional virtual information sessions will be held on March 21 and 23 at 5:30 p.m.. More information can be found on the city’s information page under “community conversations.”

© Nicole Hayden | The Oregonian/oregonlive.com/TNS Workers eat lunch at the Urban Alchemy tent site in Los Angeles after they spent the morning cleaning the facilities, pictured on January 25, 2023

Nicole Hayden reports on homelessness for The Oregonian/OregonLive. She can be reached at nhayden@oregonian.com or on Twitter @Nicole_A_Hayden.

©2023 Advance Local Media LLC. Visit oregonlive.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

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Kirkpatrick Tyler exits the Urban Alchemy tent site in Los Angeles, pictured on January 25, 2023.

© Nicole Hayden | The Oregonian/oregonlive.com/TNS