Throughout Oregon's history of relations of people without homes, there has always seemed to be voices speaking out against providing some form of help for the people in need.
Pre pandemic, in 2016, commissioners of the county of Multnomah approved of a shelter program which would enable the city to house 100-120 homeless people from Southeast Portland. According to Amanda Waldroupe from StreetRoots, "Dozens of residents from the Foster-Powell and Mt. Scott-Arleta neighborhoods attended the Board of Commissioners meeting to testify for or against the shelter." During the commission meeting, the participants voted for providing a building to house the homeless. As further stated in Wldroupe's analysis, "some booed, others hissed and a couple of people threw up their hands or shook their heads. There was also some applause."
While the decision was favored of helping the homeless population, it still left people with the same sentiments going in. That sentiment being NIMBY-ism, which can be interpreted as the viewpoint one would take in saying "Not In My Backyard" or the standpoint of not wanting to help homeless people stay in a place close or in the realm of their homes. But why would residents have such views against trying to help those without homes stay in a place which gave them shelter?
In a forum later held held by the mayor of Portland, Ted Wheeler and Multnomah County Chair, Deborah Kafoury, 150 residents appeared to the forum who disagreed and booed at the idea of a confirmed shelter being put up near their neighborhood. According to Waldroupe, Kafoury told Street Roots, “I think they’re afraid of the unknown... They don’t trust government. They see all these social ills occurring, and they don’t see that government is working hard enough to change it.”
In 2018, a letter, which was sent from the Neighborhood Association to the once-was Mayor Charlies Hale, initiated the engagement of the Village Coalition and some staff of the Joint Office of Homeless Services. The two services provided information to the neighborhood citizens how they would enforce a protective environment for them and the housed homeless, and they also provided an open house of the housing area. After all the information was provided to the residents, Waldroupe writes, "There was even a vote to approve the village, an unprecedented step taken to garner support. The vote was held in early March, and neighbors overwhelmingly voted in favor of the village, 178 to 75."
As of today, the homeless housing shelter known as the Kenton Women's Village is still up and running today and provides a safe and welcomed community of once homeless women. There they receive help in mental health services and housing.
If you would like to donate or simply view how the Kenton Women's Village is helping women of the homeless population, visit their website: Kenton Women's Village.
-Dustin G-C
Source: Waldroupe, Amanda. "'Not in my backyard': Neighbors demand a say in homeless solutions," Street Roots. https://www.streetroots.org/news/2018/02/02/not-my-backyard-neighbors-demand-say-homeless-solutions, article published February 2, 2018.
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