 |
| (Image courtesy of Nathan Dumlao via Unsplash.com) |
For anyone who lives in the Portland area, the sight of homeless encampments is all too familiar. Tent cities are so prevalent, they’ve become a distinguishing feature of the Portland landscape. For some, they seem to pop-up overnight and are a threat to public health and safety. For others, they’re the closest thing to a safe haven that houseless individuals can get, providing some form of protection from the dangers of living on the streets. In Portland city limits alone it is estimated that over 2,000 individuals sleep unsheltered on the streets every night. In just the past couple weeks, city officials have decided to take “aggressive” measures to clean, downsize, and completely remove the number of homeless encampments. It’s leaving many individuals experiencing houselessness to wonder, “Where else do we have to go.”
These strict new tactics in the treatment of homeless encampments come after a year of a more laissez-faire approach, stemming largely from burdens on society from the COVID-19 pandemic as suggested by the Center for Disease Control (CDC). But the issue of homeless encampments isn’t a new one. It’s something that the city has struggled with for years.
From the city’s perspective, “These new protocols reprioritize public health and safety among houseless Portlanders and aim to improve sanitary conditions until we have additional shelter beds and housing available,” wrote in a letter from Mayor Ted Wheeler and the rest of the City Council. It continues, “Bureaus are currently inventorying city-owned properties for viable shelter or camping sites.” Unfortunately, however, the city cannot offer an updated timeline on when or in what capacity those city-owned properties will be available.
Many houseless residents are seeing this as an attack, with Portland Police under investigation for discarding personal property during sweeps, and fear that there won’t be any safe places left to go. It can be especially challenging for individuals new to houselessness. Losing one’s home is already a terrifying situation, but individuals without prior experience of being houseless, are particularly vulnerable to finding themselves in unsafe locations. Current trends are disproportionately affecting people of color. It is estimated that African-Americans in Portland are at a higher risk of experiencing houselessness, and statistics have shown a 48% increase over the past two years in the number of unsheltered African-Americans.
THE NEW GUIDELINES
Eviction notices will be posted at campsites that fail to comply with city ordinances, with the city prioritizing evictions with eight or more structures, and ones that block public sidewalks. Other criteria meeting grounds for eviction include:
Places where human waste is prevalent
Locations where biohazardous materials, including needles, are present
Encampments considered a fire hazard
Locations reported to have repeated violent or criminal activity
Encampments that are impacting a school
No comments:
Post a Comment