Meals on Wheels forced to shut down Portland location over crime, safety concerns

Meals on Wheels Chief Executive Officer Suzanne Washington told reporters, “It’s been a long time coming." One location was on Elm Court in downtown Portland, Oregon. The site had stopped offering dining for congregations of people after lockdown policies were implemented during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Elm Court location was never able to reopen for in-person dining after the policies allowed for restaurants to resume serving people in person.

The location had instead turned into a hub for delivery drivers to pick up food to later get to seniors in their homes. However, that has had its own challenges with safety because of crime, the CEO said. “I can’t keep our staff safe and our volunteers safe because there’s always something happening,” she said. “We’ve been threatened with knives, and fires have been set. It was time to close.”

"Every day, they’re stepping over feces, and there’s needles and drug dealing and deaths,” Washington added, emphasizing that the organization has had a difficult time keeping volunteers. She added that staff had to step over a body one time to get into the building, per KOIN.

The location on Elm had been there since the early 2000s, but the neighborhood has seen better days. Many problems with safety came with the pandemic, as well as the rise in fentanyl users.

Sean Meece, who lives in the Southwest 11th Avenue and Main Street area of downtown Portland, said the location of Meals on Wheels had grown to be part of his community. The congregate dining they offered before, he said, was an enjoyable place for social connection, but that has gone by the wayside because of the safety concerns.

“If you’re out here by yourself, don’t come out here at night. Because within a mile or two-mile radius, it’s not a fun place to be by yourself,” Meece said. Meals on Wheels will still deliver food to those in need in the area, but will not be operating out of the downtown Portland location.