C3PO Village
When the pandemic hit in 2020, Gather:Make:Shelter joined Creating Conscious Communities with People Outside—lovingly referred to as C(3)PO—a coalition of grassroots organizations that joined forces with the city of Portland to start the first villages providing shelter and basic resources for the most vulnerable members of our community experiencing houselessness. Together, we formed three COVID-safe shelter-in-place outdoor communities: BIPOC, Queer Affinity, and Blended Villages.
After the villages were created, GMS launched a gardening program focused on developing gardening classes and creating engaging plant-infused spaces to help enhance and transmit calming beauty into the three C(3)PO shelter-in-place villages. The garden initiative took shape in response to conversations with C(3)PO villagers about their skills, interests, and needs,The garden and landscape program eventually grew to encompass space planning and gardening employment opportunities outside GMS.