Funding approved for drug treatment in Portland, sobering centers face lack of resources

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) – Multnomah County commissioners have approved funding to address the lack of drug treatment resources and sobering centers in the Portland area, adding new treatment beds to an existing facility.

Fora Health is an information center specialized in drug treatment and recovery. They built their new facility in East Portland in 2021, but thanks to new funding from the county, they will expand again and add nearly 50 new treatment beds.

“This is our residential floor, on that side there are beds for women, these are beds for men,” said CEO of Devarshi Bajpai Fora.

Fora Health currently has 24 detoxification treatment beds and 70 residential treatment beds.

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The Multnomah County Diversion Center opened Monday morning, giving people arrested for drug possession the opportunity to choose treatment over jail time.

“Well, I’m addicted to meth and it’s so horrible and disgusting and I’m ashamed of it and I don’t want to be labeled a tweaker,” said Michele Woldrich, a Fora patient.

Woldrich has been with Fora for just over a month and is following her treatment day by day.

“This is my calendar, I wake up every day and make an X, so day 37 is tomorrow. I’m here for 90 days,” Woldrich explained.

Before she came to Fora, Woldrich encountered a problem that many people seeking treatment face: long waiting lists.

“Oh my god, it took three months! I called every day for three months.” Woldrich said.

“We have such a long waiting list for residential treatment. I would like to use residential beds to stabilize people if they have a slip, get them back on the right track to recovery and get them going again,” Bajpai said .

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Several organizations are coming together Saturday in southwest Washington to help people get rid of unused or expired medications.

14 programs across the province will add a total of 256 new treatment beds. These range in use from stabilization to transition and recovery programs. The CEO of Fora says there is an urgent need to help people on their recovery journey.

“Over the past two years, people have spent weeks or even months in our beds waiting for housing. That’s what keeps them here. They are occupying a bed that could be occupied by someone who needs it quite badly, but we don’t want to send someone with a good foundation of recovery onto the streets and struggle and lose the progress they have made,” Bajpai said.

Bajpai said the lack of beds is the biggest barrier keeping people from participating in housing programs like Fora, meaning the sooner they add more beds, the better. Bajpai said they hope to have Fora’s new beds come online in the fall of 2026.