Meet Our Team
Tara S.
Tara has been with Transition Projects for over three and a half years and is currently a Mobile Engagement Team Supervisor.
Outside work, she enjoys binge-watching on streaming platforms, creating spray paint art, reading fantasy and sci-fi novels, and spending time with her dog, Charlie, and fiancé, who also works at Transition Projects.
We appreciate Tara’s dedication to our participants and hope you’ll take a minute to learn more about her Transition Projects journey in her own words.
Tara (R) with her dog, Charlie, and fiancé.
What brought you to Transition Projects?
I was a homeless drug addict on the streets of Portland for 10 years of my life. My first experience with Transition Projects was when I was three days sober, and I was offered a bed at the Willamette Center on April 1, 2017.
I cried when they told me I would have a warm place to sleep that night. I knew that I wanted to be that person who offered folks a safe and warm place to sleep.
What has your time been like?
I started at Transition Projects as floating support on the graveyard shift on June 1, 2020. After a year and a half in that position, I had an excellent working knowledge of the shelter spaces.
Then, I got a job at the Banfield Shelter Motel, but doing outreach has always been my goal and passion. So, when a position on the outreach team opened, I applied.
I have been on the outreach team since February 1, 2022. I LOVE going out to the camps, some of which I used to live in, and sharing my story with the people we meet.
What do Transition Projects and your work here mean to you?
Helping folks and sharing my experience, strength, and hope with them is my career and my passion.