Old Town Fresh at Floyd’s Coffee Shop

Old Town Fresh is an initiative organized by Laquida Landford in April 2020, in response to the urgent and pressing needs of the homeless population, left without basic services during COVID-19. Based at Floyd's coffee shop in Downtown Portland, the initiative provides a variety of amenities in a welcoming and peaceful environment to help unhoused neighbors stay “healthy, fresh, and clean” while safely gathering and making new friends. Old Town Fresh currently offers: fresh produce, hot meals and water, showers and toilets, lockers, hygiene and sanitation items, PPE equipment, clothes and sneakers, a barber service, free criminal record and eviction expungements, court assistance and legal advice and referrals. In the near future, the hope is to install a public telephone to help the Old Town Community to access free calls all over Northern America and community information related to COVID-19. The initiative is also an important tool for storytelling around alternative shelter (the AfroVillage) and for sparking conversations with community members and local authorities around fundamental basic needs such as hygiene and sanitation, food scarcity, mental and physical health, and safety during COVID-19. It’s a human right to have a safe place to shower and use the restroom.