Not Just About Housing: How Empathy Impacts The Unhoused

While tiny home and micro-shelter village initiatives to provide safety and support for unhoused people are becoming more common, the issue of placement remains a significant barrier. As Portland, Salem, and Eugene continue to push forward on village placements to address the ongoing crisis of unhoused populations, neighbors of proposed sites have continued to create obstacles. But among the continuing oppositions of village placements, there are stories highlighting the role empathy plays as a fundamental part of successful initiatives to support unhoused individuals.

The Statesman Journal covers Lisa Arana and Brenda Chandler's micro-shelter installation on their own property while other neighborhoods continue to oppose micro-shelter village sites: At a time when others in the community are saying "Not in our neighborhood" to micro-shelters for the homeless, one South Salem couple is saying "Yes, in our front yard." 

OPB's coverage of Portland State University's Village Research and How-To Guide offers additional encouragement that neighboring residents who initially opposed the installation of tiny villages "often moved from being really against villages to being some of their biggest advocates."

One key to unlocking effective empathy for people who are unhoused is through breaking down the stigmas that often surround the issue of becoming unhoused. According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, contributing factors to being unhoused span everything from economics and health to racial disparities and escaping domestic violence. Portland Rescue Mission dives further into the problems and solutions affecting people in unhoused situations, including the devastating effects of isolation and loss of community. 

More information on local housing initiatives can be found at the following links:

Portland Safe Rest Villages 

Salem Micro-Shelter Villages

Eugene's Opportunity Village

- RG