The Portland Hotel Society converts hotels into affordable housing residencies that offer shelter to people with mental illnesses, physical disabilities, and substance abuse problems, as well as to individuals who cannot obtain permanent housing. Based in Vancouver, Canada, the Portland Hotel Society’s converted housing developments include the Rainier Hotel for women.
Opened in 2009 as a women’s treatment center, the Rainier Hotel provides housing for women recovering from alcohol and substance abuse. Originally constructed in the 1920s, the three-story hotel offers shelter to women as they undergo addiction and substance abuse treatment through a program that caters to their specific needs. Staff work individually with women to help them take control of their lives and overcome their problems where traditional treatment settings have failed. The program also delivers stepped progressive care that enables women to work at their own pace.
Stays at the Rainier Hotel average six to nine months, and the majority of participants are discharged with access to long-term housing. Housing accommodations are arranged according to length of stay, with alcohol and drug treatment participants on the second floor and long-term residents on the third. The hotel operates in partnership with Vancouver Coastal Health and Health Canada, which began construction efforts to convert the hotel in 2008.
