Mental Health is one of the biggest issues in the United States today, affecting most of the country's population. As inflation has risen over the past years, so has the lack of supply and treatment for individuals who are experiencing homelessness. What makes this issue significant is that, with many struggling with homelessness and barriers to treatment they are stuck remaining in a cycle of being unstable. This blog will explores the different causes of homelessness in Portland, looking for innovative solutions and re-examine the role that mental health have in our community.
What The Health?
According to a The Oregonian article by Nicole Hayden, 63% of Portlanders reported suffering from mental health issues. Of all the people surveyed: over 65% of people experiencing homelessness suffers from depression and anxiety and stated that mental health have made it difficult to find a house. When they were offered to help with housing however, 75% of people experiencing homelessness were never contact again regarding updates. The stress, hunger and exhaustion of being homeless really worsen the mental health of the individuals and if often mistreated can really impacts another person's life or behaviors.
As homelessness continues, many people are more against getting help due to the judgement of others or the police brutality occurs when homeless encampments are happening. Honey, a Portlander experiencing homelessness stated that her camp was swept by the city at least 4 times, an encampment resident was shot, another fatally overdosed and so on. As a result this only worsened Honey's mental health and distrust in accepting health from others.
The Problems Surrounding Homelessness:
As mentioned above, inflation is a clear indicator that homelessness exist. Chronic homelessness is challenging to interrupt because of the way the person think, since homelessness puts you in a state of constant high alert, where you choose "flight, fight or freeze", the brain's fear center is overreactive. This dulls the brain's prefrontal cortex, which regulates critical thinking and emotions, stated by Alex Zielinski in an OPB article "How homelessness in Oregon started, grew and became a statewide crisis".
Another reason contributes to this is limited housing inventory, as a result landlords are able to keep rents high. We then find a direct correlation between high homelessness rates and high housing rates, among the wealthier cities they are prone to have higher homelessness rates comparing to less wealthier cities.
What Has Been Done?
Housing and more importantly case support for financial assistance and helping out with difficult paper work has lead many people from experiencing homelessness to being more content with their lives as a result. With mental health affecting their ability to fill out long and difficult paper work, case managers are there to provide them with the tools and assistance they need in order to obtain shelter. In Honey's word from The Oregonian article, "Not everyone has a case manager, sometimes people just direct you to someone else or tell you to do it yourself, but everyone deserves a case manager, we don't have enough of them".
Path Home would be the perfect resource for people like Honey who's experiencing homelessness, they offer housing, financial assistance as well as shelter and basic needs that every family need. Path Home also has shelter for families filled with needs as they're searching for a new home, cash allowances every month so they can provide for themselves, case management to deal with difficult housing paperwork and as well as long tem assistance as they transition into their own home. Portland Street Medicine is also good resource for many people experiencing homelessness, they do their best to treat and take care of many unhoused community members who are in need of help.
As homelessness reduced and many are return with shelter and family in place, we can see expect lower levels of stress and mental health issues declining as a result. Many nonprofits including Portland Street Medicine, Transition Project and Path Home are excellent resources for others to support and stop the rise of homelessness.
While housing rates are definitely something we can't control, we can lower down homelessness and mental health in the place we need by supporting and helping nonprofit organizations who are providing these powerful resources to people experiencing homelessness and mental health issues. At the end of the day, everyone deserves shelter and a happy family without constant fear of fight or flight.
Reduce the rates of homelessness and increase more assistance today by donating to
or if you want to check out other resources I'll link below:
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