Shelters

The housing crisis in Portland Oregon. There are currently 6,633 people experiencing homelessness according to multco.us.

A lot of resources provided in the Portland Metro Area that are listed have stipulations or rules that have to be followed. A lot of the housing options have waitlists, and the shelters are usually first come first server. This can lead to a lack of diversity. It is harder for people to get into places if they have signs of a mental illness or a form of addiction. These resources can be seen as difficult to use for those people. However, there are programs and resources for those who are experiencing that.

Ahomeforeveryone.net provides resources for and “manages contracts with service providers who provide housing placement and retention services, emergency shelter, severe weather shelter, job skills training, and other services.” This establishment was made in 2016 to help those experiencing homelessness. 

Safe villages have been popping up all around the Portland area and are going to keep popping up to help those who need it. www.portland.gov provides the information needed to apply for one of their mini homes in the safe villages. They also provide mental health screening and job stability. 

Most of these shelters and safe shelters are by referral and have requirements that need to be met before an applicant is accepted. These shelters are to acclimate people into more stable living environments. However, the cost of living in the Portland area is high. On average the rent in Portland is around $1,746. These resources provide safe housing while working towards getting people into a healthy routine and acclimating them into a new housing environment. 

Cassidy Brown

A Way Back Home

The Path Home is a nonprofit organization based in Portland, Oregon that focuses on helping homeless families with children. Founded in 1992, originally known as The Portland Homeless Family Solutions, the organization operates a family shelter and provides a range of support services to help families get back on their feet.

The Path Home shelter can accommodate up to 36 families at a time and provides a safe, supportive environment for families to stay while they get back on track. The shelter offers hot meals, access to showers and laundry facilities, and a range of support services, such as housing assistance and job training.

In addition to the shelter, the Path Home also offers a range of other services to help families in need. These include a case management program that helps families access services such as medical and mental health care, as well as a school liaison program that helps children in the shelter stay on track with their education. The organization also offers a parenting program that provides support and guidance to parents, as well as a mentoring program that connects families with volunteers who can offer support and guidance.

The Path Home is dedicated to helping homeless families not just in the short term, but in the long term as well. To that end, the organization offers a range of programs designed to help families get back on their feet and become self-sufficient. These programs include job training, financial literacy training, and housing assistance.

The Path Home is funded through a combination of government grants, private donations, and fundraising efforts. The organization is always in need of support, whether it be through financial contributions or volunteers who are willing to donate their time.

The Path Home is just one of many homeless support organizations in Oregon that are working to help those in need. By providing shelter and support services, these organizations are making a real difference in the lives of homeless families and helping them get back on their feet. The work of organizations like the Path Home is vital to addressing the issue of homelessness in Oregon and ensuring that all members of our community have access to the support they need.

Link to The Path Home main page.

By: Auston Anglin

Cost of Living Compared to Minimum Wage

 

Cost of living and minimum wage are two important metrics that have, for obvious reasons, gone up over 

the past decade. However, the only issue is that these two metrics have not seen an equal increase over time.

It’d be assumed that as the standard amount of money it takes to live rises, the minimum wage would rise 

to match it. 

Since 2012, the average cost of rent for a 1 Bedroom apartment in the Portland area has increased from 

$835 a month to $1,744 a month. That is a 109% increase. 

Since 2012, the Portland metro minimum wage has increased from $8.80 an hour to $14.75 an hour. 

That is a 68% increase. 

According to livingwage.mit.edu, the current living wage for Multnomah County is $21.60 an hour. 

As the numbers above indicate, there is a clear disconnect between these two figures. Even in the Portland 

area, where minimum wage numbers are far better than most other parts of the country, we still don’t see a 

balanced increase. This is an issue. When you give companies a minimum amount they must pay their 

employees, it’s hard to expect them to pay much above it. That’s why the minimum wage was established. 

To ensure that employers provided an amount indicative of a minimum standard of living. These numbers 

show that that trend has not been kept going, and that creates a serious problem for entry-level workers. 

 

 

By Taite Harms 

Building Dignity, Restoring Power, & Promoting Autonomy.

Path Home, formerly Portland Homeless Family Solutions, have been serving the Portland area for the past 15 years. Path Home's mission is to better envision a world where every family facing housing insecurity can find—and keep—a permanent home. 

Path Home recognizes that there are an estimated 5,200 people who are experiencing homelessness in Portland (according to the Multnomah County's 2022 Point-in-Time Count of Homelessness.) Path Home offers four program options to local Oregonians:

Housing First: Families have a safe, warm place to sleep every night of the year. We have all the comforts of home – private sleeping spaces, food, showers, laundry, computers, and clothing. We rely on a team of over 300 volunteers to help provide supportive, compassionate services

Prevention: Families with a 72-hour eviction notice get to keep their housing. We pay security deposits, moving costs, or back rent for families so they never have to experience homelessness with their children.

Shelter: Families have a safe, warm place to sleep every night of the year. We have all the comforts of home – private sleeping spaces, food, showers, laundry, computers, and clothing. We rely on a team of over 300 volunteers to help provide supportive, compassionate services.

Adult Education: Families take evidence-based classes to learn new skills they can use to get and keep housing. Our classes include Incredible Years Parenting, Rent Well Tenant Education, and the ARISE Life Skills Curriculum.

With the support of generous people, Path Homes help over 400 families each year find permanent housing! 

https://youtu.be/sk_bgsDmjZM 

Written By: Madeline Emmi

Changing the Way We Think About Theft

I’ve been working at a high-traffic grocery store for the past few years, and going a day without seeing multiple people steal is a rarity. What started as something quite suspenseful and shocking to witness has quickly become an everyday norm of working retail. However, while I’ve come to adopt a nonchalant attitude toward the thievery, it seems that many can’t help but continue to exhibit signs of aggression and hatred. For whatever reason, they see the stealing of groceries from a giant corporation as a personal attack, and while they can’t touch them, they still choose to chase the thieves down and belittle them every chance they get. The blunt truth of the matter is that they see these people turning to crime to get what they need and blame it on the individuals’ lack of motivation instead of a sign of desperation.

 I can’t help but assume that these reactions I’ve noticed in my own store are similar to those across the city, and it’s clear that the viewpoints of these upset individuals have become distorted. The rise of petty theft in Portland is directly related to the rise of homelessness, and this rise isn’t indicative of widespread laziness, but is instead a clear indication of the growing economic crisis we find ourselves in. Those seeking to stop theft shouldn’t be advocating for heightened security measures, but should instead be looking to support one of the many causes out there aiming to solve this crisis (many of which are directly discussed in other posts on this blog). The upsurge of shoplifting tells us a whole lot more about our status as a country, and as a joint population, than it does about those individuals choosing to steal. 

 

by Taite Harms

Giving Hope. Restoring Life.

 

Portland Rescue Mission has been giving hope and restoring life to men, woman, and children who are experiencing homelessness since 1949. This organization is a faith-based, and strives to serve as mentioned in Isaiah 58:10 which reads,

"Feed the hungry and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be light as day." 

Portland Rescue Missions serve the Portland community in a number of different ways:

Urgent Needs Met: At their Burnside Shelter, they offer nutritious meals, safe shelter, and supportive programs that provide dignity, cultivate trust, offer hope and encouragement, and provide pathways off the street. 

Addiction Recovery: Through their one-year New Life Restoration Programs, they offer men, woman and children holistic, relational care to overcome addiction and negative life patterns while building healthy relationships in a restorative community leading to independent living. 

Vocational Trainings: Program participants gain job readiness at all of their facilities, developing job skills as they serve alongside staff in various roles. They can also receive job training at their social enterprises - Mission Bar-B-Que and Drive Away Hunger. 

Transitional Support: Their community houses for Shepherd's Door graduates allow woman and moms with children to have extra support as they transition to independent living. 

Looking to Give? You could change a life TODAY! 

"Just $24 provides two nights of care – a hearty meal, hot shower, clean clothes, and a safe night’s rest."

For more information visit - https://portlandrescuemission.org/

By Madeline Emmi 

Why is a segment of homeless victims crammed in and erased in a P.O.C labeling fishbowl?

 

The result of the point in time of families experiencing homelessness on the night of Wednesday, January 28, 2015, in Portland, Gresham, and Multnomah County.  41% were said to be “people of color” A term that is archaic and erases the special needs of black Americans as other cultures that simply have melanin with different concerns. While this percentage cascades through these sentences you have to ask yourself what if I were crammed into this P.O.C (People of Color) grouping which ignores me and as result erases my special concerns culturally as a homeless person. You have to wonder why the gatekeepers of this term are doing this to you.  Who does this 41% speak to individually in this grouping? And why is it used for categorizing the homeless in politics and media?  If this labeling affects you, have to ask yourself and wonder who will advocate for you in your plight and special fate of being black American and homeless. This is a way to homogenize and raffle your culture in a homeless fishbowl class system. When will your raffle ticket win you out of being homeless? This erases the special and private problems you face as Hispanic American, Black American, Native American, etc. Grassroots advocate mainstays in those groups will let you know that too! They advocate for their individual cultures and rightly so. Get away from the judgment calls on how they ended up on the streets. Indeed, No one should have to go hungry in Portland or The United States. Maxine Waters found her way to curse out black American homeless people that were simply asking for help and she used the F word towards them. They were expecting her to understand. Is this the type of behavior you’d want to be reciprocated to you as a black American homeless person? 

As a homeless black American would you enjoy the systematic labeling system P.O.C to erase your special needs?

Local change is good, but this is a national push. If you would like to change this continuum, please click the link below:

https://nationalhomeless.org

By Curtis Dunlap

Completing the Triad of Solving the Homeless Crisis

 By: Daniel Bloomfield

Mental illness and drug addiction rehabilitation will not solve the homeless crisis if affordable housing is unavailable. Oregon has all the ingredients for the perfect recipe for a homeless crisis. 71% of homeless people report having a disabling condition, mental illness and drug addiction being tied at number one spot for the most commonly reported at 38%. Both the number of people reporting mental health issues and illicit drug use in Oregon are above the national average. While it leads the nation in those two root causes of homelessness, a third factor contributing to homelessness cannot be ignored: housing affordability. 

According to a study published in 2022 conducted by Gregg Colburn and Clayton Page Aldern, cities with higher housing costs see more homelessness than cities with higher poverty rates. This is a big problem for Oregon, which ranks dead center on the national average for income levels—defining the median—but has the eleventh highest housing costs in the United States. A 2022 legislation added $500 million to help solve the crisis, 43% of which will go to housing and rehabilitation. Unfortunately, the bulk of that 43% will go to nonprofits who either provide temporary shelters, which perpetuates homelessness, or permanent housing vouchers, which encourage underemployment. 

So, what can be done? Instead of allowing private organizations masquerading as charities to profit off the homeless crisis, the money should be going to training and employing rehabilitated peoples and empowering them to afford housing independently. Examples of organizations that do this are out there, like Central City Concern and the Blanchet House. Such organizations should be given priority over private contractors who pay employees $70 per hour to sweep homeless camps, a wage more than double the average income. The funding is there, but the leadership to properly guide the direction of the funding is lacking. 

We can throw all the money in the world at rehabilitation services for mental and addiction, but without affordable housing, the existing systems will continue to perpetuate the same cycles of homelessness.