Helping the Homeless

Helping The Homeless!

             When it comes to working with individuals that is having money issues, stability or even homelessness; donating small items can make a huge impact in a persons life whether we believe it or not. Some individuals need to be asked what they need, or how can we help; while others will hold signs up; explaining what they need. Recently there was a situation; where a women and her two kids was standing on the side of the road; holding up a sign asking for water and food for her kids. So this women and her daughter seen the cry for help so they went into the store and bought Ritz crackers, fruit, and some water and handed it over to the homeless person and her two kids. The women was extremely happy and said "thank you and God Bless" It was not much; but this is just an   example of things that can help. Something that seems small to us, actually is a big deal for other individuals. 

                To help individuals as a community; people do not have to donate a lot to change a persons life. Even if we so them that we do care, and we are hear to help.  Homelessness can be an embarrassing time in a persons life, but with lots of resources, and help from the community; they can pull through it and we can end the suffering, and bring back the community we once loved. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d47dPK7IwgA    

            https://www.voa.org/homeless-people         

Addicts Need Help Too

            Many people look at those who have substance abuse problems and do not understand why they can’t stop. The real reasoning behind each individual varies and often starts with childhood issues that were coped with by the use of drugs. The abuse starts with the environment and influences around them that may have negatively influenced their choice to start. After beginning the drug, the internal chemistries of the brain are able to activate neurons to mimic the regular process. The change in how neurons are fired without the drug actually have very substantial impacts on a person’s thought process. The basal ganglia that normally plays an important part in positive motivation in thought is disrupted. After too much abuse, a person is not motivated by normal activities like eating, talking, learning and instead is only motivated to use again. This is only one part of the brain chemistry that changes after intense drug use and is linked to what is more commonly known as the dopamine cycle. A person has now learned from their brain that the only positive reward is to use the drug again. The lack of pleasure from everyday life is just one way that further treatment could help an addict. 

            So how do we break this cycle and why should we be involved? Treatment offers therapy to address the buried reasons why a person may have begun to use drugs in the first place. By addressing these issues, we educate people on other means of coping. As they learn to cope and are abstinent from the drug, the brain chemistry can normalize. It may not go completely back to the way it was before, but if strong habits are broken, then a person has a fighting chance. In the cases of drug addiction, changing one’s behavior has been scientifically proven to change one’s mind. You can see the dopamine sensors in one’s brain changing their activity after a long period of remaining sober. 

            Substance abuse often occurs after emotional stress or trauma. Learning how to help those with extreme cases may help you learn about healthier ways to cope with your own mental state. Substance abuse is also closely tied to mental illness. Mental illness is a continually growing issue in the Unites States and must be addressed. Substance abusers are also people that spread diseases through dirty needles and other means. Organizations like the Multnomah County Syringe Exchange gives clean needles as well as a safe disposal site for dirty ones.  The service may seem to enable drug use, when actually, it allows people to become more conscious of their health and the true dangers of their lifestyle. Behavioral thoughts and changes like this will help to make a greater impact in the community. Therapy centers are also good places for those that have created enough behavioral changes to want to change their entire lifestyle. Substance abusers are wanted to be overlooked by some community members, but if it is overlooked by everyone, then our health and mental wellness could be in jeopardy. 

Links:

Syringe Exchange- https://multco.us/hiv-and-std-services/syringe-exchange-and-disposal

De Paul Treatment Centers- https://depaultreatmentcenters.org

Burnside Shelter for treating addiction and homelessness- https://www.portlandrescuemission.org/homeless-services/food-shelter-services/

Don’t Say the Homeless Shouldn’t Have Pets

The homeless across the country cannot afford housing even when working a full-time job. Minimum wage is not always enough for proper housing. A number of homeless people also suffer from mental illness and cannot work. It was estimated in 2016 that of the 550,000 people on the streets every night, 25% of them suffered from a mental illness. Mental illness or not, pets have given people support. Some people tell stories about how they did not have pets until they lived on the streets. It is because it has been psychologically proven that having a furry companion can decrease stress, increase activity and therefor lessening depression, and increases people’s opportunities to socialize. Strangers may be less inclined to approach someone else but are much more likely to approach you if you have an animal. Animals break social barriers and allow the people in need to connect more with their community. The homeless may not be able to afford to take care of a house, but they will have the opportunity to care for something else. There are many organizations that help pets living on the street. Programs like Veterinary Street Outreach Services (VetSOS) have pop-up clinics that move throughout the Northwest. Other organizations, like the Portland Animal Welfare Team (PAW) are more permanent. They provide free veterinary care, not only to the homeless, but to everyone who qualifies for their complimentary services. It is important to spread awareness of these services because increasing the health of pets will increase the health of the impoverished and our community as a whole. Diseases such as Leptospirosis as zoonotic, meaning they can spread between animals and people alike. There are so many reasons why people in need rely on animals. They are companions that end up saving and caring for the people that once save them.

Links to free or low-cost animal healthcare:

PAW- https://www.pawteam.org

VetSOS- https://www.sfccc.org/veterinary-street-outreach

Find shelters that allow pets- https://www.shelterlist.com/page/shelters_for_pets

Homeless Shelters, Why is there an issue?

There are issues and frustrations regarding homelessness but I can't see the issue in creating homeless shelters. People who are homeless need help and when people are willing to help them by opening shelters, we as a community need to be supportive. Their are not nearly enough homeless shelters to house and help get these people back on their feet. So we needs places like this and need to be supportive when groups of people like this step up to the table to help. Let's be the change and find ways to do more for our community and not find ways to question people who are trying to do something positive. 

Supporting our youth in areas with poverty

Poverty is everywhere in inner city schools K-12! As a coach at an inner city high school I see a handful of our kids struggle to know how their going to eat unless their at school because of their situations home. They never know if there will be food. This is not something they are advertising but they will ask for food, wonder if there will be team meals throughout the week just so they can gage what to expect throughout their week. As a coach you try to do everything in your power to have something to provide for them throughout the week. At the local high school I work at our athletic director partners with a local food bank called the Hopscotch foundation. the Hopscotch Foundation will come by at least once a month with a van full of food, drinks, snakes and whatever else they can provide for our kids. They will even make sandwiches for post game meals if ordered in advance. It is a great foundation for our local schools in the Portland area because of poverty some of these kids go through. It gives our kids the opportunity to not have to worry about eating and also creates one less stressor for them in they're lives. Which is something we all try to achieve as coaches and teachers.

 Another great thing that our local high school does is provide summer meals at high school cafeteria's. From June 20-August 20 PPS nutrition services serves Breakfast and Lunch at local high schools for all stu
dents in the distract with a valid ID. This is such a great opportunity for our kids to be able to eat free of charge at there local school. At the high school I coach at we run a summer conditioning work out from 9:30-11:30 4 days a week and our kids benefit from this greatly because breakfast is from 8-9am and lunch is from 12:00-1:00pm. So our kids can wake up and head to the school to eat breakfast, complete there workout with there teammates and then head back up to the cafeteria for lunch. They get the nutrition they need for the workout and then food to re fuel there bodies after. As a coach we are proud that our schools do that because it gives our kids an opportunity that they wouldn't normally have.

At the high school I work at I am proud to say we try to help our kids in anyway we can and those are a few examples of things we do. Everything is for the kids and to help them to succeed in life! Our youth is the foundation of our future and we need to invest in them. By helping all walks of life we can help do that. Here is a link to help a a Foundation like HopScotch continue to do great things in our local community. Link Below!

http://www.hopscotchfoundation.com

Portland OR. Cares: Part 2. The Bad.

14,476 people are currently homeless in Oregon.

8,925 of those homeless are unsheltered. 

Portland is considered to be ahead of the curve when it comes to fighting the war on homelessness. Our city is praised as being one of the leaders of urban development, but the bottom line is that Oregon has the highest second rate of unsheltered homeless in the United States, right behind California. These two posts are going to compare and contrast The Good and The Bad being done for the homeless in Portland. This post is a two-part installment.

The Portland Mercury’s Queer issue just came out this week and the big News headliner: Oversight Questions Arise as Portland Pays to Clean Up Homeless Campsites confronts the unsuspecting reader. 

For those of you who aren’t familiar, the Portland Mercury is an alternative bi-weekly newspaper and media company founded in 2000 in Portland, Oregon. 

Half way through the article a realization occurs... you’re reading about a woman, who had been ran over by a clean up truck, and how the city program purchased her a hotel room for eight nights as condolences along with a new sleeping bag and tent. The price average tent is 100 dollars, and you can find sleeping bags for as cheap as 40. So, 140 dollars… Is that all this woman’s life is worth to Portland?

“Advocates for the homeless say the event represents a pattern of bad behavior by Rapid Response, which has allegedly engaged in physical altercations, destroyed people’s belongings—including much-needed medication—and driven recklessly through homeless encampments. Blackwolf’s experience shows how, for many living outdoors, contracted trash cleanup crews have become the face of the city. And it’s not a very friendly one” (Schmid).

“I’m just a person on the trail,” she says. “They bought me this room and this tent and stuff, like, to shut me up. Like they know they’re wrong. Because the guy just said, ‘Oh, I’m sorry I ran you over,’ just peeking his head in the tent door. Is that how you would apologize to somebody you almost killed?”- (Blackwolf interviewd by Schmid)

According to Schmid’s research and the Portland city audit, “What started as a temporary response to people living outside has evolved into a program spending more than $3.6 million annually.” This money is funding Rapid Response, the key local contractor for “cleaning up” homeless camps and The Homeless/Urban Camping Impact Reduction Program (HUCIRP) is the city program that oversees the clean ups. “On May 22, Portland City Council voted unanimously to authorize a competitive process to win HUCIRP contracts that, over five years, will pay out an estimated $25 million” (Schmid). Rapid response employees are compensated $79.99 an hour for “assistant worker,” $89.00 an hour for “lead worker,” and $1 million annually from the city. How gracious of the programs to provide Blackwolf 140.00 dollars and eight nights at a hotel, for almost being killed.

The dehumanization provided through Portland’s city works program is disheartening and appalling. Rapid Response’s work description is summarized as “removal and disposal of bio-hazardous waste, hoarding, and gross filth.” The homeless are referred to as “feral humans,” and “shit-birds.” Rapid Response is one of the only contracted city clean up programs that require relocation of the homeless, resulting in an endless chase of cat and mouse. A few of the horrifying experiences associated with forcing homeless people to relocate include physical assault, disposal of property, and disposal of medicine. When HUCIPR was accused of harassing the homeless the responded,

“We try to reduce the amount of harm or trauma that the people doing this work on behalf of the city are inflicting on people,” Hillier responded. “I don’t know that I’d feel good to say that we don’t ever inflict any kind of trauma, because when somebody’s living outside, and somebody comes and tells them, ‘We’re going to collect property,’ that’s a traumatic experience inherently.” (HUCIPR)

        For such a progressive city when it comes to human rights, equality, and urban development, the fact remains that Portland isn’t perfect and in many ways, it’s bad. Gentrification and the majority populous of rich white capitalistic residents are curating the streets. Homelessness it ugly, people don’t want to see it, and Rapid Response sounds more like an extermination program than anything else. This bring up underlying concerns about how we actually view the homeless, and their value as human beings, regardless of a stable roof over their heads. It could be considered that we treat our stray dogs better than our humans. 

Click here to see the original article in The Mercury. 

A Personal Perspective on Homelessness, Part II

In Part I of this post, I briefly described my experience with becoming homeless. The difficulties I faced at the outset seemed insurmountable. There were byzantine government agencies to navigate, stingy assistance organizations, and judgmental people everywhere - including me.

Fortunately, there are conscientious, well-informed people still around who recognize the nature of the changing world. These people are working in positive ways not only to help alleviate the pain of those who are homeless, but also work to discover the root causes of homelessness and eliminate them.

In our area, there was a group of people who understood that there had been a major shift caused by the Great Depression of 2008. They knew that now there was an emergent underclass of ex-middle-class professionals who were becoming unemployed and homeless despite their education and experience - casualties of economic war rather than the societal dropouts that homeless are commonly seen as. This group assisted us and was instrumental in getting me back on my feet after my wife died. What this showed me was the effectiveness of targeting each person's actual needs instead of assuming that everybody is in need of help for exactly the same reason. This outlook is what helped me avoid becoming a casualty of homelessness myself.

Despite anything one may hear to the contrary, homelessness is not an insurmountable problem. There is far more good news than bad, and it is my hope that by sharing my story of good news in the war against homelessness, that I can counteract the hopelessness that not only makes things worse, but is not as warranted as some may believe.

Yes, there are still homeless people. But, we are slowly learning as a society to appreciate why it happens and provide real help rather than immediately judge all homeless persons as the dregs of society. By so doing, we can then eliminate the fear of the homeless that comes from the fear of becoming the homeless.

The group that helped us, Project TOUCH of Temecula Valley, CA, is still going strong and making real positive changes to the lives of the homeless by working to make them ex-homeless. They have published a comprehensive resource guide (PDF document) that, while focused on the geographical area they serve, provides an excellent summary of the steps and actions to take when tackling the problem of homelessness from every angle. It is based on a history of continued adaptation and success in addressing the needs of both the homeless and the communities in which they live.

Illustration by Christoph Niemann

A Personal Perspective on Homelessness, Part I

I have been homeless myself and it was an extremely traumatic experience. My wife contracted sudden pneumonia and died while we, our 3 kids, and 2 dogs lived in a motel. Compounding the misery of the physical realities of homelessness was the depression, anxiety, and shame that goes with being an economic failure in modern America.

Year by year, month by month, people are cornered into smaller and smaller boxes with debt, lack of credit, and worse paying jobs that are harder to get, until eventually one slips though the ever-widening gaps in the social safety net. Once one slips through that net, the probability of finding a way back to financial solvency let alone attaining a previous level of living decreases. Once one acquires a label of "homeless", one also acquires the stigma and stereotypes associated with it. One is essentially ostracized from "regular" society. We were right at that point when a few people refused to look at us as stereotypical homeless people and dismiss us as such.

Organizations and government agencies did offer us some assistance, as they commonly do for homeless persons, but their help was generalized, stingy, and dished out with bonus helpings of judgmentalism. This unhelpful state of affairs is an outgrowth of the perspective that believes in vaguely throwing some pittance of money at a problem and calling it "good enough" - while simultaneously complaining that "giving homeless people money" doesn't help, and that we as a society should be cutting back on welfare programs.

Some people buy into this outlook so much that they will refuse any offers of help made to them in daily life on the grounds that "If you help me now, I'll just become dependent on your help." Meanwhile, the people who control information by owning media companies and bribing government officials, bombard the populace with sounds and pictures designed to entrench this outlook in their minds - keeping themselves in power and letting the lower classes destroy each other while telling each other to give the rich people a break.

Given such a situation, what was a newly-made homeless family to do? This wasn't supposed to happen. We had gone to school, worked hard for years doing all kinds of work, paid our taxes, and it wasn't enough anymore. It looked like the end for us, and for my wife, it was. With the help of others, though, there would be a positive outcome.

Portland OR. Cares: Part 1. The Good.

14,476 people are currently homeless in Oregon.

8,925 of those homeless are unsheltered. 

Portland is considered to be ahead of the curve when it comes to fighting the war on homelessness. Our city is praised as being one of the leaders of urban development, but the bottom line is that Oregon has the highest second rate of unsheltered homeless in the United States, right behind California. These two posts are going to compare and contrast The Good and The Bad being done for the homeless in Portland. This post is a two-part installment.

The Good: Street Roots

By now, common visitors to our blog are familiar with Street Roots, what they do, and who it helps. If you aren’t in the know:

Street Roots, established in 1998, is a weekly newspaper created in Portland, Oregon. It is often sold by members of the local homeless community looking to get back on their feet, and much of the content of Street Roots aims to address these issues in order to try to alleviate issues of poverty and homelessness. Street Roots works closely with the community in various Advocacy programs with intentions to face and address underlying social issues in order to help their community to thrive.

Watch this video for heartwarming insight into Vendor life and the impact Street Roots has on the community:

Street Roots is undeniably the best, grass roots, socially based, community impacting homeless program that Portland, Oregon has to offer. Through the implementation of Street Roots, a space for people to build community was provided, and it turn, a breaking of the stereotype of homelessness follows. This positive approach to dealing with homelessness makes any resident of Portland proud and sets a formula and standard for other communities to follow... Sadly, not all programs dealing with the homeless in Portland are as kind, impacting, and efficient as Street Roots. What is considered The Good is responsible, respectful, humanitarian ways of not only communicating with, but treating of the homeless. Oregon homeless involvement is undeniably doing its due diligence to provide solutions statewide, yet, is it enough and do they have the resources to efficiently manage this crisis? Do enough people care about the wellbeing of humans, rather than a quick fix, out of sight out of mind solution? Check back to learn about Rapid Response, the most efficient way to clean our streets, by ruthlessly displacing the homeless over and over again. Stay tuned.