After nearly 40 years serving homeless youth, Portland transitional housing program forced to close

Mallory Worley was all alone at 17. Adult after adult had given up on her.

She was placed in foster care at age 6. Adopted at age 10. Kicked out of her adoptive home at age 16. Reunited with her biological mother that same year. And then quickly estranged from her again.

By 19, she was couch surfing and staying with her stepbrothers in Portland. Then, she discovered she was pregnant. Finding herself with no other option, she applied to live at Bridge House, a transitional housing program for homeless youth run by longstanding Portland nonprofit Janus Youth Programs.

“If I didn’t have Bridge House, I promise you I would not be here today,” Worley, now 21 and living independently, told The Oregonian/OregonLive. “(Bridge House) gives people a chance to really start over in life. It gives home vibes.”

On Friday, after nearly 40 years serving more than 500 young homeless people, many of them people of color or identifying as LGBTQ+, Bridge House closed due to lack of funding….

Read the full story on The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Photo courtesy Mallory Worley.