Portland City Commissioner Dan Ryan had hoped to have six Safe Rest Villages, planned tiny home communities for residents without homes, open across the city by the end of 2021. That didn't happen. The process has been slower and harder than anticipated, but in this week's episode of Straight Talk, Ryan said the work has taken on new momentum and he hopes to have all the sites open by the end of this year.

Mayor Ted Wheeler's emergency declaration in February was pivotal, Ryan said, because it gave him office emergency powers to expedite village locations. And even with only some of the villages open, Ryan said city staff and partners are already starting to see the results they were hoping for. In the past three months, 23 people who were once living on the streets have transitioned through existing Safe Rest Villages and into permanent housing.