ightwatch

OPERATION

      The M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust has awarded Operation Nightwatch a three-year grant to fund a mobile hospitality center in the expansion of its ministry.
      The mobile hospitality center–dubbed “Nightwatch on Wheels”–will allow Operation Nightwatch to extend its work of hospitality to Portland’s homeless, low-income, and mentally-ill beyond the confines of its downtown Hospitality Center, located at 522 SW 13th.

       “The fact of the matter is that the demographics and geographics of homelessness in our area have changed,” said Gary L. Davis, Nightwatch’s Executive Director. “When we moved into our current location in the early 1990s, our Hospitality Center was lodged in one of the epicenters of Portland’s homeless population. Today, only one-third of the area’s homeless can be found downtown. They now can be found spread into the neighborhoods and the suburbs. That’s because one of the fastest growing segments is families. Because they cannot easily access our services downtown, our mobile hospitality center will be able to take our services to them.”

        Operation Nightwatch is an ecumenical night ministry that has been serving the needs of Portland’s poor and homeless since 1981. Its downtown Hospitality Center offers a welcoming, safe place off the streets where guests can relax, interact with volunteers, and receive after-hours services. The mobile hospitality center will duplicate this work in other spots throughout the metropolitan area where homeless clusters can be found.
         The M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, created by the will of the late Melvin J. Murdock, co-founder of Tektronix, seeks “to enrich the quality of life in the Pacific Northwest by providing grants and enrichment programs to organizations seeking to strengthen the region’s educational, spiritual, and cultural base in creative and sustainable ways.”